Aerie Planting Bed Day 4

I spent much of the day hacking at the earth and sifting stones out of clay and shale that were as hard as concrete. There's not much to put into a photo when you're just moving dirt from point A to point B ad the distance from A to B is about 10 feet. Still, it was a pretty good workout. The weather was ever so slightly cooler (low 80s instead of high 80s) and there was a nice breeze blowing much of the day. I worked from around 8:30 until 2 PM with a short break to grab a bite to eat and feed the cats their lunch. Then ran down the hill for the mail and some groceries. Back at it at 5 PM when things cooled down a little and the shade began to encroach upon the work area.

The toughest part of the day was a full hour spent trying to grub out the root system of two ancient multiflora roses. I had lopped off the growing portions above ground when I laid out the bed and only ran into these stumps when I started moving the dirt from the center of the bed. They were about three inches in diameter at the ground and each had three or four roots that were about the same size. To make matters more difficult, one was growing through that buried wire fence I mentioned.

Other than those two snags, the work was much easier than the last few days. It will probably take me another day or day and a half to finish with the earth that is there. After that it will be a matter of finding enough additional soil to fill the planing bed. I've already scouted around the property and think I can grab some from the bank behind the house and from along side the trail heading into the woods. I'll also go get a couple of large bags (bales?) of peat moss at Agway to add some organic material to the top six inches. That and a good heavy mulching with straw and leaves (once they fall from the trees) will do the trick.

We're due to get some rain late tonight and through Saturday so I may have to switch to project B tomorrow. That means finishing the insulation of the attic floor. There are about 10 joists gaps that have no insulation in them. Most are directly above the laundry room and foyer so it's not a big problem. But to get to them I'll have to spend an hour moving some of the boxes of Rick's belongings and Christmas ornaments. At least tomorrows outside temperature is supposed to be in the low 70s so it won't be too warm in the attic. Keeping the cats out could be a challenge, however.