Day 5-What a difference water makes!

 Wow... I was just going to leave the garden to itself today but changed my mind and glad I did. Got a workout besides my usual stretching.

Before-

After

Standard round point shovel, buried it a little over halfway into the dirt pushing on it with my foot very easy.

Now then, it is still clay soil with chunks of rock and even a piece of asphalt I hit. In the next picture, the stake marks where there is a cement footing of some sort so I curled the edging around to mark that boundary and dug.

Initial marking

Actual area

Cat deterrents deployed

Smoothed over well after getting hard objects out of the way. Sticks, leaves, there was even a piece of pottery I forgot to take a picture of. Actual glazed piece of a molded corn or something. I also watered everything, wasn't going to water the new bed but then realized I needed to see how well I had leveled it. It drained pretty fast too!

 Not too shabby a job! Now... it's at least ten inches deep which is decent for just about everything except it needs amending of course. I would say it's at least 3-4 long and about 2 feet deep. Will do a measure tomorrow. Didn't encounter any roots that were noticeable but did dig up a former rootball that was potting soil so someone actually used that area at some time.I couldn't really move any more to the right, it was a tight fit next to the jade plant already. As it was I was afraid a bee might take umbrage at my butt and attack but nothing happened.

So needs a little more work obviously but for two days work that's pretty good!

In looking for a house recently I decided to change from Washington to No. California, Clear Lake area oddly enough and found a fantastic mobile home on owned land. The house is recent but the yard....oh my, the yard! Small grass area, some vines of some sort growing on two arbors, given the area I suspect grapes, then there's the six raised beds... SIX! A hooped garden bed and beyond that a Rubbermaid type greenhouse and on the other side of that... an almond orchard! Beautiful view of hills beyond that. I was sold, now we just need about $400k to move there.

Sage in the foreground, artichoke, rosemary on the fence....

Unfortunately that looks like bamboo on the left. For sure grapevines on the arbor on the left. The mature almond tree orchard are beyond the greenhouse, the garden beds would be to the right of the picture.

Sigh... a real garden. In apple, pear and wine country. The things I could do! HEAVY SIGH.

Oh, another kicker, it has full solar electric. Both sides of the garage roof. 

But the garden....