"Inch by Inch, Row by Row..."

"...gonna make this garden grow. / All it takes is a rake and a hoe / and a piece of fertile ground."

I do love that song, in all its versions. And I believe it too--every year, come March or April, when the rain promises to come but it hasn't quite yet, I break out the rototiller, and tackle our little garden spot. This year was no different--it's spring break here, and last Saturday turned out to be a great day to see how well our soil as settled over the year we left it fallow.

From what I can tell, looks like it's fertile and ready. Which means that the only different difference from last year is that I finally decided to do something about all those rocks we'd collected over the years for a decorative rock garden which clearly wasn't ever going to happen. Borrowing a line from Robert Frost, I built myself a wall.

Since our backyard plot opens right up to an empty, grassy field (used as a parking lot for a neighborhood church), we've long thought we need to extend the fence or build something to mark the boundary, and set our garden off from the weeds. I'm not sure if this mighty 10-inch barrier will do much to keep the rabbits out, but I'm unreasonably proud of it all the same.

And now, on with the spinach, lettuce, and potatoes! (The tomatoes will come later.)