Resistance is futile!

We did it! We bested those ugly ol' shrubs that were plaguing the front of the house. They are officially done in. Well, kind of. They are now cluttering up the front of the garage, waiting to be cut up, dried out, and burned in a fiery pit. Or, if they get too annoying to be too much of an eyesore, maybe they'll end up at the local compost site. If I only had a chipper/shredder/mulcher...

Speaking of fun, fancy toys, guess what quasi-impulsive purchase we made yesterday? Let me give you a hint, the weather was gorgeous, it was warm, sunny, and all around beautiful out. Give up? A snowblower! A John Deere snowblower! Yeah, no wimpy machine for us. This baby is a commercial grade beast that cuts a 36" path. What? Our driveway is kinda long. Of course it warranted dropping a grand on. Hey, if it were new, it would've cost us three times that much. Might as well get something high end that (hopefully) is going to last until we have kids and they are big enough to be our shovelling slaves forever. I know my dad is going to give me grief about it, but in my defense, it is a John Deere. I know he'll dig that.

Did I mention that my initial plan was to spend no more than $100 on a snowblower?

Yeah, sometimes I don't stick to my plans.

But back to the topic at hand: shrubs and how to destroy them. Yes, we are becoming experts at that. Just ask us when to throw hedge clippers at the problem and when to bring out the big saws. We've got that all worked out. Laura's a quick learner (and thankfully, a strong sawer).

So the front is all ready for the raised beds. The backyard mostly is too. I put down cardboard boxes today to kill the grass so I can till it under. Wait, do I need a special toy for that? Is this where one would typically use a rotatiller? Is a rotatiller necessary? Putting the nagging questions aside, my hope is to use the soon-to-be-dead grass to help nourish the soil that my foodie plants will grow big & strong in. But, despite the piles of boxes set aside after our move, I ran out. I was dumbfounded. I thought I'd have enough and still have a pile left over, but I'm in need of another 40-60 boxes. I think I'll be able to scrounge up another 20 at best though, so I'll need to figure out how to improvise on that.

 I also finished tying the wire for the compost bin. That was a long, monotonous task. I think next time I'll pay the extra $15 to get the taller wire, instead of being thrifty and tying up two shorter pieces. Oh, who am I kidding, no I won't. Anyways, the compost bin is almost ready to use. I just have to figure out how to get the metal pieces I'm going to use as support "posts" into the ground. The ground is a solid mass and doesn't seem to want things stuck into it. It's not being cooperative. Wonder if it'd work if I brought the drill out and drilled holes in the ground? I think I might try that tomorrow, I'm at a loss for other ideas.

Our backyard is a bit of a mess from the landscaping-to-garden project we're working on. I am beyond excited to start growing tasty treats, but looking at how much is left to do exhausts me.