Does This Make Us Grownups?
Oregon is a rough place to live if you don’t like wet and dreary winters––which I think could account for just about everyone. The high point of the miserably unpredictable weather however, is the soft malleable land which creates one hell of a mess, but saves you from one expensive doctor visit to see why your back looks like the end of a drunken game of Jenga. Like most people, I too enjoy a little bit of the indoor lifestyle which a Northwest winter delivers, though it’s never long before I start itching, and driving myself nuts to get outside. This year, Eugene has felt wetter than ever before, and the rainy season has been dragging on for longer than I care to explain. That being said, I’m aware that only my mother and a handful of her friends whom reside in Oregon are the only ones reading this, so I’ll spare the known detail of another Northwest sob story. Trying to motivate myself for the planting season was hardly a battle. Trying to motivate myself to get ready for it in 50 degree rainy weather was the issue at hand.
Fed up with trying to beat the wet and cold, I decided to embark on a long anticipated revamping of my Eugene home’s
backyard. Though last year was an incredible growing season, and we had more produce than we knew what to do with, the garden area still looked like–well the inside of our house after a long weekend. Shit, it looked like the inside of our house everyday, and for those of you who have not had the opportunity to enjoy our plush decorations throughout our decrepit 50s ranch style college house, count yourselves lucky. As the rain continued to pour, I found breaks within the days to get out and start mapping out some landscape ideas for the garden. A path would be cool I thought, and since we technically live in a swamp and nearly a foot below the water table, how about some sort of feature that could help disperse the water, and help it slowly soak into the land instead of creating a marsh. What started out as a task intended to knock down tall grass and control the jungle that had grown throughout the late fall and winter quickly turned into the arduous task of pulling, what seemed to be, infinite amounts of blackberry root-balls from the clay we call soil.
After fighting through the rain and cold for a couple days, the yard started to take some shape. No longer did we have the ever invasive blackberries overtaking our garden boxes, and with the rain drenching the clay, I was able to easily remove the top layers of grass from garden area. I was making headway, but again the forecast called for heavy rains. I covered the area, and played the waiting game. Though it was a long one, I continued to find small breaks in the days to follow to get just a little more accomplished. For no other reason than personal satisfaction, I lined out the area in which I felt the projected path would work the best with the space. Spending a little time each day to compact, as well as aerate the land, the project started to make sense. Though the work was hard, I’m sure someone out there who was born before the 1970s will find comfort in the fact that work ethic isn’t entirely lost amongst my generation–though I urge you not to get too comfortable with the idea.
As our plant starts grow a little more each day, the garden continues to expand with renovations and small projects, hoping that Sunset Magazine will be begging for a spread within the next few weeks. Spending well under $50 and several hours soaking in the great Northwest’s elements, our surrounding neighbors and friends have found joy in watching the project develop. As we continue to get ready for another great season, I urge you to stay tuned for the final product my roommate Martin and I have planned. For those fellow growers, as well as blossoming landscapers on a budget, you’ll see it doesn’t take much, and our expansions which we’ll be sharing with you in the weeks to come are some to look forward to.
