Engineering

We met with the engineer this afternoon about the new septic system. We have the plan in hand and can now contact the guys who will install it. Woo Hoo, it is finally underway! It can't happen soon enough for my liking. Not only is the old system slowly failing (I'm hoping we get it replaced prior to catastrophic failure) but I have plans for the yard that I can't start until we are finished with heavy earth moving equipment. I found out that we can plant anything but shrubs on top of the sand filter and when I told her I was thinking native wildflowers and herbs she said that was perfect because it wouldn't be something we would be driving the tractor over to mow. I also found out that the "wetland" won't necessarily be a wetland. I can plant anything I want there (again, except shrubs or things with invasive roots- or edibles!) It will essentially just be a very consistently moist area of the property. She suggested iris, which is great since I desperately need to find a home for the iris that are by the house where we want to relocate the deck. So, good news on that front.

I also got my little shrubs today. Another reason we need to get the septic done. I have 3 bush cherries and 2 manchurian apricots that will be planted near the old fence line to provide a screen between the highway view and the outdoor living area we are planning. I figured that if I wanted a screen of bushes, I may as well make them edible! J15 helped me plant them into big pots that we have- left overs from patio gardening in town. But, they won't be able to live in those pots forever.

J15 and I also had a meeting this evening at church since we are both on the social justice committee. We are planning a plant sale for Mother's day as a fundraiser for our local Crisis Center. Hurrah, an outlet for all my extra plants! Otherwise I'll be planting 50 tomato plants again this year since I can't stand to just get rid of them. I hope that heirloom tomatoes and peppers will sell well as well as a few eggplant (I don't need 10 plants). I may also donate some of my wildflowers and herb plants. I'm not sure how many anise hyssop plants I need but I think I've got about 7 or 8! And as many bee balm and echinacea. And that's not even starting on the flowers for J15's goth garden.

But, I didn't get any work done on the raised bed- but I think I'm about ready to try to set the blocks to see how much more I need to dig to get it level. It is a real pain trying to set it partially into a hillside and still keep it straight. Maybe tomorrow night. But I'm definitely progressing toward some of the goals for the year. Some have even been met!