The Work Continues

Though summer has continued to be almost unbearably hot and sweaty, Steve has endured it to labor on the area around the side of the house. You can read about the first installment here. It's now ready for the water tank, thanks to some extra help from Steve's brother with the concreting.

You can see we rigged up some shade for the boys (and the concrete) to help it not dry out too quickly while it was setting.

Rachel gave it a thumbs up.

Most of the ground there was dirt and mud, with only a little of the grass remaining. We talked about leaving it, but in the end, we found we just wanted to finish it properly now, rather than let it go. So, more hard work for Steve, and more daughter watching for me.

Basically we just put in a raised garden bed along the fence, and cleared the rest of the area for a path which we are going to make out of cracker dust, pavers and river rocks. I say "we", but really, Steve did most of that. Although, we did use a date night to get the wood, so I like to think I helped a little.

The girls and I planted a range of veggies here. They were really excited about growing carrots, though I have really no actual hope for their survival at all. We also planted capsicum, cucumber, bok choy and lettuce. I also got a passion fruit, which I plan on growing up and then over the path and training it along the water tank on the other side. The idea is that it will give the water tank and pump some shade from the sun and hopefully everything will last just that little bit longer. The plus is that I'll also get passion fruits and a small shady patch to grow lettuce. Fingers crossed.

The coolest thing we planted was Steve's ID tag from DDD last year, which was made from recycled paper with seeds in it. I'm so keen to see what grows!

Steve finished the path just this week, wanting to get it done before the forecast rain made an appearance. I'm planning on putting some potted growth at the end of the water tank area there too.

All in all, I think it look fantastic. Steve has worked so hard and now we are just waiting for the water tank to finally be delivered next week. Here's hoping the rain will hold off until it's all connected up and ready to go. Or at least, give us a second showing so we can at least get some water in the tank.