kdeversblog

This past winter, eight inches of snow fell on the city and just when we got shoveled out, more came and covered us with a chilly white blanket once again. Then it all melted and we returned to our more normal northwest winter pattern of rain and wind.

Spring finally arrived with sunny days interspersed with gentle rain. It was time to order a truckload of lovely rich soil, six cubic yards to be exact. This would be enough to cover the foundation of my huglekultur and the adjacent flower bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I considered buying bags of soil but realized that would be ridiculous. The good folks at City Farm told me about their soil supplier and I placed my order with Recology Oregon Material Recovery in Portland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course it promptly rained for a week. I called the supplier and said we had best wait for a patch of at least three sunny days. After a couple more weeks we had our sunny window and the soil arrived.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, all of that lovely soil doesn’t just move itself into position. Lots and lots of shoveling was needed to move it onto the huglekultur and completely cover the foundation. The sunshine held and it took several days to get it in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gradually, the huglekultur was covered and then it was time to move the soil over to the adjacent flower bed on the other side of the grape arbor. My neighbor helped me with her wheelbarrow and that helped the job go faster. I raked the soil to make an even cover over the leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the winter, the leaves packed down and formed a good cover over the grass. I didn’t put down plastic or paper under the leaves because I wanted to be able to plant in the spring. Seven families brought leaves from their yards to mine so it was a wild collection of different types. From a foot deep, the leaf pack reduced to several inches. The ample rain had helped degrade and compress the leaves.

 

The soil was spread evenly over the flower bed and the huglekultur and the rains were coming again but the sun would return and soon it would be time to plant. I wanted to create a place where butterflies and hummingbirds felt welcome. There would be no chemicals in my garden. Veggies on the huglekultur and flowers in the adjacent beds, with white and red grapes climbing the arbor in between. Ahhhhh, spring.