Garden Helpers...

 

I was back in the garden yesterday. I had helpers, too. While Crystal chose to observe at a distance, Tag was on a long yard lead, and Claudette was right in the thick of it all. When she got bored, she simply parked in the shade under an old Radio Flyer™ wagon I have under the honeysuckle bush just past Tag in this picture. That black coat of hers has a tendency to solar load, so she prefers the shade.

 

 

 

Much of my time was spent deciding where I want the stock tank to be situated, and assembling the first of two raised beds. The second one should arrive today and it will sit toward the front of this layout (where Claudette is heading). As an aside, it's hard to believe that Handsome and I mowed the lawn only two days ago. It looks like it needs to be mowed again already!

 

I found the green galvanized raised bed on Amazon for only $61 and change, and it measures eight feet by four feet by 1 foot high. It's going to hold a lot of plants! Once I finished the assembly and tended to other parts of my garden, I spent the rest of the time drawing a layout for where the plants will be placed.

 

I thought I'd share something I found in one of the gardening channels on Instagram. See the green disc? It's actually the lid for a buried valve box usually used with in-ground irrigation systems. They're 9" tall and about 5" in diameter. 

 

They're called "NDS Round 6 in. Valve Box and Cover, 9 in. Height, Black Box, Green ICV Cover". You can click HERE (I'm not an affiliate) to purchase your own, if you're tending a garden, too. Of course, the better deal is to purchase them in pairs, which is what I did. HERE is the listing for the biodegradable bags, too.

 

 

The video I watched explained that this particular gardener had about forty of them in all the best of her vastly more involved garden. The lid just lifts off to reveal a hollow area with the bottom open to the soil. She uses them with biodegradable bags to compost kitchen scraps. You don't even have to turn the soil or do anything further to the contents. Mother Nature (and worms or larvae) do all the work. 

 

You can see I already have a small bag in there now. I purchased enough to put one in each of the small beds, and two in the stock tank and raised beds. I think they'll be extremely useful. 

I've got errands to run while I wait for the second raised bed to arrive, so I'm going to grab my morning cuppa and then be off about my business. The sun is shining and the forecast is for it to warm up. I'll share more tomorrow.