We're on the home stretch

Well, we've been working pretty steadily on the garden and I'm happy to say I think we might finally be able to see the light at the end of this project. Last weekend I put up more of the fence boards and then during the week we fashioned a trellis for the second bed where I planted some viney things that could us some support. (ok, full disclosure here, I'm not exactly sure what they are. I did know when everything was nice and neat in its little starter tray, but after re-potting into solo cups, well, I sort of got lax. I figured I'd be able to look online for leaf shapes and figure it out. Turns out, they all look very much the same, so there's some fun veggie surprises in our future.)

Then today, we got working on one of the last remaining pieces, the gate. Well, ok, not the gate exactly, but the entrance where the gate will swing. See, we went through a lot of iterations of how to deal with the gate so that it wouldn't be a weak spot in our fence fortress. At first we were thinking a ramp, but that seemed really hard to construct (miter cuts anyone?) so then we thought, maybe a couple bricks, since we had some lying around. And then, we went to Menard's and went to town and bought a whole mess of pavers and even came up with a good pattern. Turns out, pavers are a lot of work!

First you have to dig a hole deep enough for 4"-6" of paver base, then 1" of leveling sand and then the paver depth (in our case 2"). So, we were back to digging in the dirt, doesn't Matt looked thrilled? (and dapper in those black socks and boots I might add)

Then, we had to tamp down the dirt. Now, we've looked at tampers the last three times we were at Menards and each time have managed to talk ourselves out of buying one. Even on the day we bought the pavers, for some reason, we thought, gee, even though we need to tamp down the dirt, and sand, and pavers, we don't really need a tool especially devised for that purpose... right? So, since we didn't have the tool we so desperately could have used, we made our own. If it looks like an upside down prop used to hold drywall to a ceiling, its because it is. Matt did a pretty awesome job using it and even made up a little dance and song to go along since the technique basically involved using his foot to help the tamping by sort of hopping up and down on it.

 But it worked, look how pretty and smooth!

Next step, paving sand, which also had to be tamped down so that it was about 3" below the ground level. The hardest part was getting it all nice and level in all directions.

Now, at this point, we took a break to go and get 1/8 of a cow. Yes, you read that right. Roy's brother owns a farm and every couple years Roy and Rayanne get part of a cow. The rest is up for grabs and since we were pretty much out of the last round, we jumped on the chance. We got 107 lbs of steak, roast and burger which is now happily residing in our freezer downstairs until we can eat it all up. In any case, since we were already out, we decided to go and get a couple more bags of sand and the right tool for the job, a tamper.

Then we carefully laid the pavers in a pattern that really doesn't show well in this picture below, but is easier to see in the one at the very end, I promise. After making sure everything was level (ish) we added the finishing touch, locking sand. Locking sand is a polymer concrete like mix that fuses when it gets wet. It helps keep the blocks from shifting and prevents anything from growing in the cracks.

Of course, since it fuses together when it gets wet, you really only want it in the cracks. The bag said to fill the holes, tamp to settle the sand, sweep off the excess and, if possible, use a leaf blower to clear the excess. Now, you know us, we do not have a leaf blower (or a snow blower, or a riding mower, etc) so we had to do some improvising. Turns out the air compressor my parents got Matt for his birthday came with an air gun attachment. So we put it to good use and in no time we were ready to wet everything down.

We had to mist the sand three times in the first hour and then it needed to rest for 24. While we were waiting for the hour to pass, Matt mowed the front lawn and I put up some more of the fence. And if you are saying to yourself, hey, it looks like the trench around the outside is more filled in than it was before, you are right. James kindly helped us out while we were working on the pavers by filling almost all of the remaining trench. We have great friends, seriously.

Just 4 boards and a gate away from victory! well, and caps for the posts, and maybe some flower beds around the outside, but who's counting? And, as promised, here's a better pick of the paver design. We're going to cover the residual locking sand around the outsides with dirt so you won't even notice.