Note: the most recent updates are at the bottom of this page.
The Greenhouse - September 2019 through Summer 2020
By June, the raised beds were full of strawberries and celery. Small carrots and onions grew in the ground alongside lots of potatoes. Cucumber vines and eggplants grew and began to flower and set fruit. And giant tomato plants and squash plants grew incredibly big throughout the summer. They reached the 8-foot ceiling and headed out the open windows, reaching the ground and continuing to grow and produce fruit until the first cold weather necessitated the closing of the greenhouse windows, ending their long growth and incredible production of fruit.
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April 2020 First plantings in the new Purple Garden in the backyard
May 2020 Golden Gardens Park in northwest Eugene
September through December 2020
Since September I have been busy with planning and preparation for a swim spa to be installed in my backyard. Before the project could begin, I had to remove three small trees from my backyard and transplant several bushes and perennial plants, including an entire bed of raspberries. The first four photos show the first phase of work by the contractors - excavation and leveling the ground for a big concrete slab at the very back of my backyard. When dirt was moved from the spot where the concrete slab was to be poured, this created a huge earth berm along the back of the yard. I named it Mount Doris. Heavy rains for several days turned the dirt into heavy, sticky mud which I began moving, one little red wagon load at a time, to the planting beds throughout the yard. That project is going to take a few months to complete. Delivery of the swim spa was scheduled, to be followed by the construction of a cover over the new concrete slab and spa. Then more careful measurements revealed that this area was way too close to overhead power lines above the back of the lot, so instead of going for my first swim on Thanksgiving Day 2020, we began the second phase of the project.
Since the swim spa would have to be installed much closer to the house than previously planned, construction began on another concrete pad to replace the wooden deck. In one day the old deck was demolished and the ground was leveled and covered with compacted gravel. The next day, concrete was poured. Since rain also began pouring down that afternoon, the contractors hastily constructed a makeshift structure covered with vinyl sheeting to allow the new concrete to cure. The vinyl filled with massive amounts of rainwater overnight, and the wind blew it loose one section at a time. But the very wet concrete is continuing to harden into a strong foundation for the future swim spa and patio.
In spite of deep water-filled ruts and trampled plants in the planting beds all over the backyard, plants continue to grow and bloom during the mild Pacific Northwest autumn. Delivery of the swim spa - by crane over the house to be gently placed on its new concrete pad - is scheduled for December 30. Then the contractor can begin phase 3, building a roof over the new swim spa.
January 2021 - The Swim Spa
The huge concrete pad cured, and the swim spa was delivered on December 30, with a crane lifting it over the roof of the house and setting it down just outside the back sliding glass door. Cedar Works Spa company loaned me some portable metal steps to allow access to the pool before the deck and steps were built. At 5 feet tall, it looked like a manufactured home for Hobbits. I filled it with water from the garden hose.