We've Made our Beds, Now What?

So today was the day we all hauled ass.  The Ashley's had a two week head start on us, the Lanier's and Miller's, so today was the day us slow pokes got caught up and made our garden beds.  It was a beautiful day this first day of spring, and since the threat of rain is at 70% for Sunday, we knew this was our last shot.  All three gardeners had the tender plant seeds started in pellets, a few had even sprouted.  We are also getting anxious since we need to direct sow seeds usually a minimum of 6 weeks before the first frost which means NOW.   So this morning at 10am Phil comes over and starts laying out his bed.  Then Doug and I joined in, soon followed by Judy Ashley and later in the day, her husband, Joe, and then Phil's wife, Terry. 

 

 This is how our beds are laid out.  I wanted smaller beds while Phil and Judy wanted larger beds for their plots.

It's a community effort, getting all of our beds made.  It started several weeks ago, when Judy and I laid out the initial plots then Judy borrowed her neighbors large tiller and fluffed up the soil.  Doug and Joe will cut and measure and Phil contributes to the construction of the beds.  Phil's wife, Terry, joined the "chain gang" this afternoon and helped to till our beds.  Unfortunately, we didn't have access to the large tiller and the Ashley's small tiller died halfway in to fluffing up the Lanier's bed.  I had two forks and a hoe so with old fashioned reserve, we worked up the soil.  Boy!  There sure is a lot of clay in this soil and our backs ache! 

 Phil working on my beds while Doug and Joe are getting more timber

It was an all day effort so I thought I'd clean out my refrigerator and freezer and invite my gardening friends and next door neighbors to a nosh and drink.  It was a community effort getting the food and drink on the table.  We even had help cleaning up afterward!  The food tasted great maybe better after a hard day of labor.  The kids were playing in the front and back yards, usually tacklling someone.  There were dogs running underfoot and in the case of Skipper, over our feet too! 

All I wanted to do was use up the space we had in the back.  But in the end, I'm getting the best of friends!