Wheelbarrow

Went online and looked for a wheelbarrow. I wanted an all metal one, and they were pretty expensive. The cheapest one I could find was 25000 yen so I decided to go for that. Just before placing the order however, I did something very unusual. I called the local home center shop and asked if they sold any wheelbarrows. Normally I just assume, correctly, that home center goods are more expensive than those online. So their answer was very surprising indeed. They sold 2 different sizes and both costed just over 3000 yen. Hmm...

So, I bargained me the flatter, wider size and now I can move stuff around much quicker, and with less pain to my back.

Here we are next to the pile of bamboo

First load of wood

And after 3-4 wheelbarrow trips between the pile of wood on the west side of the plot and the ditch on the northeast corner, I think the progress is looking good. 

Let's call it a day

Going into lazy mode

Measured and marked the level of my paths using a rubber hose and some water. Turned out I was starting to dig too deep again, and my path was leaning down the further I went. Good thing I measured just 1/3rd of the length into my digging, or else I would have dug all that dirt for no reason.

I also filled in more wood and logs into the hole, up to my path level which I have now marked. Next will be to fill up with clay/soil, and distribute some oat/wheat seeds.

However, I am not sure if it is the cold or just me... I have gone into lazy mode. I feel less motivated and only spend like 1 hour before giving up for the day and going home.

Maybe buying a wheelbarrow will help.

Not bad for a total newbie huh?

From the other side

Excavating on

Two more sessions, and still on schedule. By the way I think I won't need to buy a laser level, since I can just check the slope of rows using a hose and water.

After second day

Each digging session is 1-2 hours of intense work and then I have to give up for the day because my arms have gone all numb. During one such session I will have dug the distance between two pins that I have marked the row with, that is almost 1.5 meters.

After 3rd day

So I guess I will have finished digging in 15 more sessions/days. 

By the way, when I dig I put the topmost soil to the right, and the clay/bottom stuff to the left. Later when I backfill on top of the logs, I will only use the left stuff.

I meant it all along

Yep, I didn't dig too deep. There was a plan aaall along. Well at least I can always pretend it was the case.

See, I went in to back fill the hole to be a bit shallower, and I was thinking that it was a bit sad because afterwards I will have to keep cutting the wild, deep-rooted weeds in the rows between the trees all the time. Plus where am I now gonna find all the dirt to mound up my tree rows?

Then the big pile of logs and old bamboo pieces nearby caught my eyes. Aha!

How about I fill the hole with old trees and stuff, and put a few centimeters of dirt on top where I can sow some weed of my own choosing? For example oat, wheat or something like that.

Said and done. Ehmm.... I mean said and started. I hauled over a couple of logs and threw in the hole, and it looks like it will work out fine.

Burying the evidence

After hauling a couple of logs and lots of dirt and bamboos and stuff back and forth all this time, I am starting to feel that I need to get me a wheelbarrow. Maybe a little late but there is still a lot of hauling to be done. Also, I need to get a laser level to make sure my rows are not extremely unequal...

Add a bit of bamboo

Believe it or not, that small amount of bamboo took me 3 trips to the pile of logs on the other side. So yes, definitely need a wheelbarrow.

So now the plan is to keep digging all the way to the end, and put in logs and stuff but not cover with dirt yet until I can make sure it is level and I have something to sow. Otherwise just more weed will come out.

Digging on...

I figured if I dig a couple of meters every day when it is nice and sunny, I may have my 2 first rows ready just after the last frost, so that I can plant saplings. Unless of course I break my toe again.

Too deep?

Spent a couple of hours digging out beginning of a swale... then it hit me, maybe I am approaching this wrong. It seems to get too deep a distance between the bottom of the swale and tops of the rows if I dig out and use the dirt to backfill the rows. It is almost 1.2 meters...

Started digging

A bit over a meter of swale done (well kind of)

Too deep, right?

So, I suppose I just dig a little bit to shape the swale, like 20 cm or so, and then backfill the rows like 30 cm. And if the dirt from swale digging is not enough, I will just get it from somewhere else. That way the top and bottoms will be half a meter apart.

I am not sure. I will try it out and see what it looks like...