This is the day that Tom began the work, March 31. Lucy had no idea how her yard was going to change!
The first job was to remove the old lamp post which was here when we bought the house in 1981. First he turned off the electricity, and then cut the wire where it went into the house. He took off the top part and then it was time for the tractor.
He pulled and pushed the post.
And while Lucy watched from inside,
The post was finally out of the ground and over the fence.
This is what it looked like.
Don't all farm girls dress like this?!
The next step in the making of the new garden was planting the seeds.
April 11
And a whole tray full of hollyhocks.
And a few weeks later on May 1
On April 16, Tom took down the fence that was in front, moved it to the side, and dug up the lawn with the tractor bucket. And then relaxed.
(taken through the screen so not clear)
By April 19, when Hazel Nina came for the day, Tom had used the tractor to put manure on the old lawn, and we experienced for the first time the joy we knew we would feel at being able to go into the house without being accompanied by the exuberant Miss Lucy. What a difference this little change has made in our stress levels! Now anyone can come, and we just let Lucy out the kitchen door, and people can come right in the front door.
This was the chief reason for the change, and the bonus reason has been a lovely garden right next to the patio.
Most of these daylilies were already there, growing on both sides of the fence. Now it is just an open space of daylilies. One evening a chicken crossed the road to check out the new garden.
The only new ones were the ones I bought in honor of Indy Thomas and actually planted on his brother's birthday, May 6
Indy Charmer and Indy Electrified
The Indy Charmer bloomed this year right around the day of Indy's first birthday!
An evening view of the garden on July 8
July 16
The hollyhocks in the corner (a whole post on them is coming up soon)
July 26
And here's a view on July 30 from the same perspective as the first picture in this (very long!) post.
Tom and I just couldn't be happier with this garden. I love the flowers and vegetables mixed together. I love the size and the location. We've had peas, chives, basil, lettuce, and parsley for weeks. The tomatoes I showed you the other day have turned color and they are delicious. The yellow beans, which Hazel planted all by herself, are flowering. One day, for some reason I can't remember, I walked outside with a potato in my hand. Hazel and her parents were in the garden, and Hazel asked if it was going to be planted, so I cut it up, and planted it and by gosh it has come up! I don't know if there is enough growing season left for us to get potatoes, but it was still so much fun that she had this idea and it worked.
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