This weekend the Palmer House team braved the hot and humid weather to complete the concrete pour for the second backyard planter. Like the first one, we are building a short curb to lay the bricks on top of. Ryan and his dad had spent a lot of time getting the form work built so the concrete will be nice and level.
We started prepping for the pour around 9am and after an hour we were already sweating buckets in the sun. It must have been around a 100-degree heat index. It was SO humid! Ryan and Ben finished prepping the form work and surface while Christina and Katherine constructed another one of their snazzy wheelbarrow ramps so we could access the far side of the planter.
By the time the concrete truck came around 1pm, we were ready to spring into action. (Literally, we sprang because they charge by the minute.) It was like a relay race! Here are some action shots:
It was so hot that the concrete started drying out while we were still working with it which made it a bit difficult to smooth out. But all in all it went pretty well, and we are happy to be done with it. This should be the last big task that involves getting outside help – the rest will all be done by ourselves at our own pace. Yay!
In addition to the pour, we also put up
one more fence panel. Our goal is to get one panel up roughly every
weekend. This one helps to cover up more of the unsightly view of the
empty lot next door.
At this point we've stained and installed all of the wood we have, so next weekend we are going to have to get some more. This week Ben will also be working on building the gate. There's so much more to do, but we are definitely seeing the vision come together a little bit every week. We can't wait until we can finally post that we are done with everything! Some day...
After all of the much appreciated hard work that Ryan’s parents put in during their visit to Chicago, the house and yard are making big progress! The last weekend of their stay, Ryan and his dad were able to pretty much finish the first backyard planter. As you can see, we still need to add top soil so we can put all these plants into the ground. But doesn’t it look nicer already with a little green in there?
Ryan and his dad were also able to get the form work built for the concrete curb on the second planter. In order to do so, we had to take down a stretch of the old wooden fence. Now you can see our new fence from the backyard. Since the new one is set up on the concrete pad, we were also able to gain about a foot of space in the backyard which helps make it feel bigger too. Nice.
With a lot more staining labor by Christina and Katherine, we were also able to put up one more fence panel on the side of the house. This was very exciting because it hides most of the view of the ugly lot next door to us. It really helps make the yard feel more private and pleasant.
Finally, an exciting event – Ben’s cherry tree is producing
fruit for the first year!
We enjoyed our first delicious, yellow sweet cherries this week. They were soooo good! We are looking forward to enjoying all the other edibles we are growing throughout the season (tomatoes, beans, peppers, apples, herbs, etc.). Yay for green gardens, even in the city!
