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Perils of Gardening Withdrawal
Jan. 11th, 2010 06:10 pmSo on Saturday, the cabin fever finally made me desperate enough to actually go outside. I wanted to measure the garden since there was now a new shed (which was given to us... long story) sitting where I had measured for part of the garden last fall. It was only 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-6.7 Celsius) out there but the sun helped (it was actually 50 degrees Fahrenheit - 10 Celsius - in the greenhouse) and slogging around in several inches of snow soon had me shedding my coat and running around in a sweater, insulated bibs, hat, scarf, and gloves.
The area I ended up marking out is 53 feet x 71 feet for a total of 3,763 sq. ft. (17.67 meters x 23.67 meters, 418.25 sq. meters). Because I really didn't want to have to do it again in a few months, especially in the mud pit that is spring in a former swamp ground, I went ahead and measured out an optional extension that I could decide if I wanted to plant or not when I was laying things out on paper. If I do decide to plant it, D gets to deal with tilling it up and getting it ready. :P
Mostly at this point I'm thinking I'm going to need another extension on the hose.
By the time I was done - the better part of two hours later - I was pretty much exhausted. Slogging through the snow, crouching down, getting back up, losing the hammer under the snow and in the weeds... It would have all gone much faster with a transit, a steel tape, and an assistant. I could've been done in 20 minutes, tops! Instead I was making do with a 25 foot measuring tape, a slightly stretchy 70 foot cord, a few pieces of copper wire, a hammer, random twigs, and some kind of foot long screws that I keep absconding with for stake duty. The whole thing is probably a rhombus instead of a square but the sides are even!
Today my back and thighs have been informing me that I'm not actually in gardening shape right now. My face, on the other hand, has been pointing out that the sun in winter is a weak and pale thing, but it does reflect and is still fully capable of causing sun burn. Whoops.
( Three pictures )
The area I ended up marking out is 53 feet x 71 feet for a total of 3,763 sq. ft. (17.67 meters x 23.67 meters, 418.25 sq. meters). Because I really didn't want to have to do it again in a few months, especially in the mud pit that is spring in a former swamp ground, I went ahead and measured out an optional extension that I could decide if I wanted to plant or not when I was laying things out on paper. If I do decide to plant it, D gets to deal with tilling it up and getting it ready. :P
Mostly at this point I'm thinking I'm going to need another extension on the hose.
By the time I was done - the better part of two hours later - I was pretty much exhausted. Slogging through the snow, crouching down, getting back up, losing the hammer under the snow and in the weeds... It would have all gone much faster with a transit, a steel tape, and an assistant. I could've been done in 20 minutes, tops! Instead I was making do with a 25 foot measuring tape, a slightly stretchy 70 foot cord, a few pieces of copper wire, a hammer, random twigs, and some kind of foot long screws that I keep absconding with for stake duty. The whole thing is probably a rhombus instead of a square but the sides are even!
Today my back and thighs have been informing me that I'm not actually in gardening shape right now. My face, on the other hand, has been pointing out that the sun in winter is a weak and pale thing, but it does reflect and is still fully capable of causing sun burn. Whoops.
( Three pictures )
