Who agrees with me? Ok, I know clean up is not everyone’s favourite part. But I feel such satisfaction in my soul with that final step of every project. Cleanup!
I mentioned in a former blog post (and I showed photos) the big pile of dirt that I was dying to clean up, once the raised beds were completed. It is finally gone. What a relief. And also, what a perfect place to put Pedro’s new bench that he built. And show off the flagstones. An alternate title to this post I considered is: Overlapping Projects. Because that’s what happened.
Overlapping Projects
The idea was to first take apart the rotting raised beds. I began that, but it drew my attention to the flagstones. Our beautiful flagstone path ended in circular concrete stepping stones at the raised bed site. They were not as pretty, and didn’t match. When I discovered a pile of unused flagstones on the property, I pulled up the circles and began finishing the path.
There was a place in the yard where the flagstone path was oddly wide and also buckled because of the growth of the tree at that spot. I decided to rearrange the stones to make them look better.
Our next plan was to buy wood for the raised beds. We first looked at all the discount options available. There is a place called Community Warehouse, that re-sells used (or purchased, but as yet unused) building materials. We did not find enough lumber there, but we spotted this GIANT piece of wood. Just one piece. It was such a huge beautiful piece of wood that we decided to buy it. It was $12.
The wood was in pretty good shape after we sanded off the outer layers of dirt and paint. We decided to make a bench out of it. Pedro sanded day after day. The hardest part was removing large patches of glue. Thankfully, the glue was on one side only, and Pedro decided that would be the underside. He bought hardware and stain and weather seal and an outer coating, and made a gorgeous bench.
Ok, back to the raised beds. In the last post, you saw that we had broken apart all three of the old beds, and put the rotten wood into the bins to be collected by the city. I reused the dirt from all three by storing it on tarpaulins, then, as each bed was rebuilt, I thought I would empty the pile. But I realized that I wanted to weather seal the wood first. So I stopped right in the middle of the dirt shoveling.
Note in the photo above, the raggedy fabric on top of my office. What is it? It’s shade. Pedro’s beautiful shop, behind my office, was built splendidly, with the assistance of a professional contractor who had fun making it perfect. It is blissfully cool in summer and blissfully warm in winter. My little office was built as quickly and inexpensively as we could, and it’s hot as hades in there on any reasonably warm summer day. If it’s 82 degrees outside, it’ll be 127 inside. It’s unbearable. We tried a portable air conditioner, that kept shutting itself down. We returned that and bought a higher quality air conditioner, and on the warmest days, it also shut itself down. It’s just too much to ask from today’s cooling technology.
The solution: use yesterday’s technology!
It worked perfectly!! I am so pleased! And since Pedro gave me a bunch of wood scraps to use, and leftover screws, there was no cost at all but the fabric itself, which was only $39. Compare that to our air conditioner that cost $300 and still couldn’t handle the heat. Anyway, with the shade, the AC now is fully functional, and yours truly gets to work in her office all day long if she likes.
I keep getting off topic! Let’s talk about raised beds again. We had a pipe for the sprinkler system that popped up in the general area of the beds. Pedro and I had never done anything with a sprinkler system before, but how hard could it be? We made a trip to Lowe’s and bought a bunch of stuff: some pipe and some pipe cement and some drip lines and some connectors. Then we plunged in.
THEN!!! I finally scooped up the last of the dirt and filled the beds.
I released Pedro back to his life. After giving up a couple of weekends to do the big parts of the project, he went back to work, and we occupied ourselves with other obligations, and family. On afternoons when I found the time, I sat on my butt with leftover weather sealer and painted the beds. I put a double coat on two of them, then ran out of sealer. Pedro had some left over from the bench, so I put that on the last bed.
But that sealer was stained instead of clear. So to match the beds, I sealed the others for a third time. Then I sealed again to make the colour even.
Pedro and I sat on the bench one evening, and I showed him my work. See, in the image above, how the tinted sealant stops about 1-2 inches above the gravel? Pedro didn’t like it. I said I planned to build the gravel higher on the outside, and dirt higher on the inside. Not good enough, he said. Stain some more. So I did, and I’m glad I did. I was getting tired of sealing, but it really needed to be done thoroughly. Now it has been.
I couldn’t install the drip system until the dirt level was higher. To my surprise, the dirt under the tarp was not enough. I cleaned out the chicken house with poopy hemp bedding and dumped it into the beds, but it was not enough. I emptied our compost bins completely into the beds and that was not enough. I bought dirt in 40 pound bags and that was enough.
The one bit I still have left is to put bricks at the base of the raised bed in the photo above. The dirt doesn’t look tidy, but worse than that, keeps getting dug up by moles (different than voles but much more maddening because of their earthworks and unsolicited landscaping efforts), spilling the dirt all over the gravel. I plan to line the bottom there with bricks, so the damned moles do less damage. I don’t fool myself that we will ever be free of those beasts.
While I was in Massachusetts, I got photos from Pedro. The last stage of the project: cleanup!!
The raised beds project required us to pull out all the square concrete bricks on the far side of the gravel bed. Once the beds were done, the bricks could be restored. While I was in Massachusetts, Pedro sent the photos above, to show me that he had put the path in order once more.
Conscious Engagement 
Well done on your backyard projects. Glad your office is finally sorted. Best bit was finding that little plane 😀
I just LOVE that little plane! I think it’s even cuter with all the dirt and age.
I do as well. It’s an as is keep, until you feel the need to give it a clean
That bench sure came out beautiful. And how nice that you already used it to sit on and marvel at the beds. Also best wishes keeping out the bowls and the moles… And I enjoyed this post
I am so happy you liked the post, Yvette. :o) And yes, we sit on the bench most days. It was a dream of ours: to put a permanent place to sit there. In the winter, it’s one of the few places in the back yard that gets afternoon sun and we take the time to sit in the warmth often. Thanks for the wishes on the varmints! You should see the destruction they have wrought in our lawn. It looks like a war zone. Gah!
It reminds me of an old comic that used to be included in the Sunday comics in the newspaper – cannot recall the name of the comic but recall
A homeowner frequently dealing with moles and when I was younger I never really got it
Congratulations on a project that looks stunning, Crystal. I love the bench Pedro made and your clever solution for shade for your office. The two of you were super busy this summer, it seems. And now you can relax and start planning for next year’s extended veg garden.
I love one of your previous posts on all the produce you get to eat fresh from your garden. And yes, it often isn’t the lack of recipes, it is the sheer amount of zucchinis that gets to one! 😅 I also love how the two of you divide cooking duties. Although I enjoy cooking, I find no joy in the daily chore of it. Not to mention all those dishes afterwards!! I’m glad you are discovering the joys of preserving food. There is something truly wonderful about eating something much later in the year that one has grown oneself.
What great comments on the garden stuff, Jolandi. I am glad someone can relate to my clarification about the trouble with zucchini. I made more lemon zucchini muffins for breakfast this morning, and zucchini-turkey meatballs are on the menu for supper tonight. Three more unused zukes wait on the countertop for future ideas. Ha! It never ends! As I have mentioned earlier though, this is our first year with a successful zucchini crop, so our tolerance is high. And YES!! We are so excited to really use those beds next year for their full sun and great soil and watering. Peppers for sure. It’s also the only place with bottom protection, so I would like to plant carrots and beets and radishes too- all the things that have been off limits before due to root-eaters.
I wish the shade on the office roof didn’t look so sloppy, but now that I know this works, I can mess with it and make it look more tidy. I’ll paint the wooden supports to match the building, and I’m sure I can think of ways to fold or move the fabric to make it look less like a street encampment. The bench is a dream. I absolutely love seeing what beautiful projects come from Pedro’s creativity. It has made the cost of the workshop so worth it in terms of home improvement and mental health boosts for my guy.
I have found that it is best to first test something out to know that it works, before spending extra time and money on it, Crystal, so your approach for shading your office roof is exactly what I would have done. And knowing you, it will look really neat and pretty once you are done.
I have my usual favourite ways to eat my zucchinis, but this year, I have also started peeling them into ribbons (throwing the inner core on the compost heap), and dressing them in a nice chilli vinaigrette. I never knew raw zucchinis could be this tasty, and as a result it has become a regular on my plate, especially as it is so quick and easy.
That zucchini ribbons idea sounds so good, Jolandi. I will try it for sure. The chickens help me with the cores, ha ha.
AND they give you something delicious in return. Thank goodness for chickens. 🥰
Such wonderful work from each you. Pedro’s bench is wonderful. Cleaning up gives a great sense of achievement. Those finds from the past in the soil are delightfully intriguing
Your garden soil discovery wins!! I’ll never forget that find of dental moulds for all my life. That is the craziest thing ever. ha ha ha. Every time I do work on my paths here, it makes me think of what Jackie does on your paths. They look lovely but require yearly upkeep. I am going to report to Pedro how much everyone likes his bench.
It’s all wonderful. Now take a break and enjoy walking on the path, watching things grow, and just relaxing!
Relax. I have heard that word before. Hm, I’ll have to look it up. ha ha. Maybe the big projects are done for this year, but no relaxation in sight. I have been neglecting the landscaping, and need to chop branches and trim hedges and pull weeds till the cows come home. I’ll just plug in my earbuds and listen to podcasts and books though, so it’s not all bad.
Pretty amazing work there Crystal. Kudos to you, and to Pedro for helping out. If we ever make it back to Portland, I’d like to see it in person.
I would not be surprised if your life travels take you at least through the PDX airport one of these days. We are just off I-5 and 217, so you and Peggy are welcome to stop by anytime, if we are here. We have lots of experience cooking now, so we would be happy to whip something up and feed you before you head to your next adventure.
Pedro and I were talking just yesterday about couples and projects. Some couples are aggravated when they work on things together. Pedro and I work so well together that we consider it almost a date when we can work side by side on home improvement. I just love that.
It would be a delight to see the two of you again. And to sample your cooking. Mmm, mmm good, I’ll bet.
Peggy and I are best at working on different projects together. Grin.
Looking good! That’s the cutest little airplane (I bet it’s an antique!) and that bench is gorgeous! Happy gardening and working in your cool office!
I will hang on to that little airplane. It might come to live with me in my office. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s as old as those beds that I tore apart. Enjoy the rest of your summer, Lenore. ❤
Oh, this is just awesome (even if it does embarrass me a tad about my own backyard). I’m inching closer to considering a garden next spring. That bench and those boxes are fabulous! True art!
Thank you! We are having fun making the place pretty as well as functional. Please don’t worry about a comparison to your backyard. I don’t show photos of the terrible places here. Mostly that there is a large city lot that is completely landscaped and I have zero experience or knowledge of how to care for landscaping plants and I am eternally woefully behind in upkeep and weeding and trimming. I am always embarrassed of my back yard, ha ha. SO! The moral of the story is: just enjoy what you have and don’t waste your time comparing. :o)
Incredible visioning and creating!! I love all of it. That was a shitload of work, so I’m glad it was fun! I hope it brings you joy for many years to come.
Very impressive work the both of you. Muchas felicidades!