Amy in the Garden

We are mostly moved. We still have items in a storage pod in Portland that need to be added to the cardboard pyramid in the basement, but other than that, all of our items are safely within the house.

It wasn’t easy. The move was epic on both ends, but made bearable by cheerful movers, understanding friends, cooperative dogs, and a forgiving spouse. We are here.

Naturally, my eyes and attention are entranced with our new yard and gardens. I’ve moved from a 1.3-acre plot, mostly unusable steep hillside, to a flat 2 acres. The land clearly has at least 3 almost-underground streams crossing the width of the property, but I’m looking at those streams as assets to irrigation rather than as barriers to planting. The house looks out onto a lawn, a row of large granite blocks, a thick patch of goldenrod and sumac, and a lovely tumbling stone wall. I have plans for the area between the two borders of rock depending on what is below those weeds and weed trees. Is it dry enough for flowers and vegetables? Or is it so wet that I will have to build raised beds before planting anything? Is it all rock ledge, and so only suitable for ground coverings and artful seating arrangements? (Will I return from The Common Ground Festival next weekend and decide: Hang the garden! I’m running goats and chickens on this ground!)

We have a father and son team coming over today to start cutting and hauling the brush for us. Here is what faces them:

The Two Walls and the Mystery Area between them:

This shady corner faces our neighbor to the southwest:

This is the full length of the mystery area, facing our neighbor to the northeast. His property is several acres of beautiful meadow:

Husband and I have walked/struggled through these weeds several times since our move. We found garbage tossed about, and left – TV’s and such – and decided to clear out as much as we could find before our brush cutters arrived today. We found evidence that this property was indeed once a horse farm. Here are a few of our discoveries today:

We found this huge rectangular piece of metal partially buried. We have no idea what it is:

We found 3 metal spikes, aligned, and one is still attached to a fence post. The spikes are immovable, and Husband thinks the farmer might have drilled into the rock ledge to secure the spikes and posts as fencing for the horses:

We found a lot of stuff that can only be called garbage: rolls of old wire, boards studded with nails, random bits of metal, plastic sheeting, a huge sodden rug bound with bungee cords (possible script for CSI racing through my head at that one), and the seat to a tractor:

Next to the tractor seat we found an intact scotch glass (possible script for a Twilight Zone episode is writing itself in my head):

We found many leather straps, with buckles and tack for horses. I love these.

We also found several items that might serve as sculptural elements in the garden some day. I have them on the granite blocks next to the deck, drying in the sun. I will see if I still like them after I brush the mud and moss off of them.

But without question, my favorite “found” item today was the steering column and wheel from that long-ago tractor:
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If we ever do build a beautiful garden, with scented flowers and shaded chairs and tables, this steering wheel will grace that garden. Count on it – I have plans for this recovered treasure.

Next up: The “After” pictures to the “Before"'s I shared with you today.

WORDS FROM OTHERS
“To play safe, I prefer to accept only one type of power: the power of art over trash, the triumph of magic over the brute.”

— Vladimir Nabokov