Building a Megalith

 

I had grand designs for today. I did an early morning run to the massive big-box hardware store, rented a truck, and purchased nearly $300 worth of supplies for building a raised bed and painting inside. 

I had this deluded idea that because we now own a skill-saw, it would cut down the time it takes to build a new raised bed to almost nothing. Two hours, I thought. It will be easy, I thought. I'll remember all the old tricks from last year, and then there will be time to paint inside, I thought.

It turns out that I thought wrong. Up and out the door around 8:00, I didn't complete construction until nearly 4:00. A full day's shift of carpentry. A full day's shift of carpentry in the mud. The 7" of rain we've had over the past week made things a little dampish.

As it is said, "Everything hurts and I'm dying." That said, it was nice to be outside all day. We're getting to the end of summer, and every nice day needs to be savored. 

And it seems I've constructed a monstrosity. It's not that much bigger - this one is 10' long by 4' wide (rather than the 8' x 4' standard from last year). However, the grade of the hill at this point is greater. Extending the length by 2' made it quite deep at the far end. Maybe it is the effect of it being slightly closer to the house, or higher than the other two beds on that side of the shed, but it looks like Darth Vader's Super Star Destroyer, the Executor vs. just a regular Imperial Star Destroyer. 

That will be as much hardscape as we construct this fall. There is room for two, possibly three, more of these beds in a line. But there's no rush. This year's production is a little overwhelming, and one more bed for next year will be plenty.

There's been some attrition among the sunflowers. We've lost three to vicious winds. Yet, we still have finches visiting, and bees, and we've added the occasional hummingbird. And now for a video of bees.