Can You Dig It?

I started digging out the fruit tree bed to be way back on May 2nd.

I have lost track of how many hours, bucket loads of stones, aches and pains this job has entailed. My spreadsheet has fallen by the wayside.

I would guess at least 120 hours of my time.

But today, at about 4.30 p.m., I finished.

Thanks are due to Penny for her help - she certainly got me off to a good start. My nephew Daniel also gave up one afternoon of his time in preference to be dragged around the shops yet again by my sister. Paul also aided in the removal of a particularly large rock (see previous post) and remembering to bring me out coffee some days...

The soil level has dropped about 15 centimetres.

This works out to about 4 cubic metres of unwanted materials removed. This included large slabs of concrete in the last few metres where our builders had obviously been working.

Now I need to go back to where I started and re-weed it.

And then weed the cow muck left over from the veggie patch before forking it in. And begging Margaret for some more.

And then weed and sift the remaining topsoil and fill the bed. I am not sure I have enough but I have a back-up plan.

And then, maybe just maybe, I can order my fruit trees...

It's gardening, Jim, but not as we know it...

I am stuck in the house waiting for the wind to drop.

Was making good progress on the fruit tree bed but yesterday put a spanner in the works.

The first rock encountered would not budge. I excavated around it to find a second one above and overlapping the back of the first. The best part of an hour spent to get them both out.

A little later and another one found. It was disguising itself as a stone. Okay, a large stone and not the iceberg of a rock it turned out to be.

Same situation as before. It's like one of those puzzles where you have to do everything in the correct sequence.

I thought when I removed a few slabs of sandstone behind it that I had it, but no. This rock was not for moving...

I continued excavating all around it - yes, there was another one wedged against it, and a biggie. Half an hour working around it and out it came.

Should be all systems go now, but no, the first one still wouldn't budge.

I worked my way deeper with fork, spade and trowel. And deeper.

Its true nature was now becoming apparent - a monolith.

I kept digging down until I got to the bottom of it.

It was now moving a couple of millimetres when I got the fork under it but not enough to free it.There was nothing trapping it anymore - it was just too damned big.

This called for drastic measures - I went and got Paul.

I suggested going to see if Margaret had a crowbar but Paul decided he wanted a go with the fork. Ten minutes later and between us it was freed.

Now to get it out - I could just about hold it up with the spade for Paul to drag it out. Paul wheeled it around to the long bank this morning where it will be rehomed sometime in the future.