The Big Lopper

Isaac’s curtains are finished, but his room “big reveal” will have to wait until I can finish making pillows for his window seat. In the interim, I will share my recent pursuits in the yard.

When we initially looked at the house, there was (we assumed) an abandoned garden plot next to the shed. By the time of our inspection, the desolate plot of dead had exploded into an overrun patch of something. Bobby D (the somewhat difficult previous owner) relayed that the brambles were in fact a second-year raspberry patch that had not produced.

As it turns out, this makes perfect sense. Just as my mom thought (and Google corroborated) raspberries grow on second-year growth. So, while Bobby D’s unfortunate bulldoze of the patch last year only afforded us a whopping six raspberries this season, the current growth should provide us with an abundant harvest next season. However, the patch was in desperate need of some pruning to prevent disease and allow access to our much anticipated juicy balls o’ goodness.

Armed with a pair of pruning shears and some twist ties, off I went a loppin’. Unfortunately in a rookie photoblogger move I attacked the first row before I took a pre-lopped picture of the patch. But a comparison of the pruned vs. unpruned row gives you a good idea of just how overgrown these babies were.

Now the patch consists of two tidy rows ready for next summer.

  

The overabundance of trimmings convinced me that I needed to front-burner starting a compost pile. So, armed with a shovel and a two-year-old supervisor I dug a 3' x 3' hole behind the shed. 

I was so excited about getting a pile started that I *may* have even hauled banana peels back home from our recent camping trip. I feel like I’m earning back some of my “product of rural America” cred. I once even presented an illustrated talk on how to start a compost pile as a youngster in 4-H. However, I shamefully admit that I did have to consult Google to make sure I was doing it correctly. May my late, great County Extension Agent not smite me. I also love hearing Isaac talk about going out to the compost pile. I feel good knowing that I'm instilling the concepts of recycling into my children, even if at this point he's just interested in the opportunity to shovel something. 

The pile is still a work in progress, but we are on our way to rich organic matter to add to the raised beds we plan to build in the spring!