The last day of October was one of the few bright clear ones we’ve had. These late fall days with nothing but oak leaves left on the trees aren’t as flashy as when the maples are burning, but the dark red-brown against the green pines is still a fine show.
Lyle Handy showed up earlier this week to finish what he’d started in September. Four more loads of sure-pak (for a total of eight) pretty much did the drive. Another yard wouldn’t have been amiss, but a load would have been wasted. Unfortunately he had only big equipment so I had to spread a lot of the stuff in the turnaround with a rake and the tractor scoop.
That scoop was a great investment. It’s the 80/20 point on a loader. What it won’t do is get more than a foot off the ground, which of course is required for a lot of things. But for spreading mulch and dirt it’s already turned a lot of work into fun as I bop around singing Plastic Jesus and spend about half the time per cubic yard.
We also got a load of loam delivered. Lyle wasn’t clear where the stuff came from originally, but there’s a big pile up at Doc Cohen’s quarry, and unlike the stuff from Artisan Landscapers, this is good topsoil. We’ll get the lawn leveled and have some left for the beds in the new garden.
The total tab came to $2204 for 8 truck loads of sure-pak, 18 yards of topsoil and three hours of backhoe work, de-stumping the new vegetable garden.
