We have been in Our Concrete Home for almost seven years and
we are still working on our vision. Jean-Jacques Rousseau sums up how I have
felt: “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”
We have waited years to figure out and finish our final
retaining wall and stairs between our house and garage. It is one of the
largest projects Brent has tackled at the house. But the result is OH SO
SWEET!!! I can’t wait to see the walls and stairs rust up, soil perfectly
amended, and beds filled with beautiful plants. It will be gorgeous!
The following pictures span approximately three months:
This gives you a fairly good idea of what was originally there. Before starting the stairs and retaining wall, we had to put up more boards on the house. We still had exposed foam from the ICF blocks. We need to paint the boards, a project for spring or sooner. Brent built another raised bed along the side of the house. I have been composting directly into that soil and the worms have come to fix my dirt! I am excited to fill that bed with something beautiful. And P.S., look at those lovely solar panels on the garage roof. We absolutely LOVE our solar power!
Brent placing the steel for the stairs. He dug multiple holes for posts that were anchored with pounds of cement. These stairs are solid and won't go anywhere for the lifetime of this house! Check out all the rocks in my dirt in the raised bed. That give you a good idea of what I have to work with to make soil.
Nice view of the raised bed (and of the awaiting painting job on the house)...
The stairs are all welded in place. Brent and his brother Bob are welding in the raised beds. It was an incredible help to have Bob here to help Brent. Steel is heavy and awkward to handle and it took many hands.
We had one very large panel of steel to drop in place. It involved our Mazda Cx-9, Brent and Bob at the base and me with a rope attached to the steel and then tied to my waist to get this beast positioned for welding. So, no action shots of that. Brent braced the large pieces of steel with multiple cross beams. The one important piece that I did not get a picture of was the deadman brace that Brent made to secure the entire project. It was another seven foot beam fastened to the steel that is now buried in the ground perpendicular to the wall.
Brent and Bob placing and welding the raised beds.
While I was gone on a church youth camp, Brent rented a skid-steer (his favorite) and backfilled everything. I came home and it was done!!! Amazing surprise!
Brent designed and welded the fence on the top. It matches the ones on the outside and inside of our home. We chose a very colorful stone to fill in the stairs. In a year or so the beautiful rust will cover the walls and stairs and everything will match. It looks very spotted right now but that's temporary.
The view looking down. In sight is Brent’s next project:
Finishing that pizza oven! I LOVE my new stairs and beautiful steel wall! Brent
is the original “Man of Steel”!
Above the wall and beds we placed a stone path and beds for planting.
I love turning the dirt into soil! In the foreground is a HUGE bag of FREE coffee grounds from Starbucks (thank you!!! You are making my yard beautiful). I don't overwhelm the soil with the grounds but I do use them often.
Our dirt is filled with rocks so I spend a lot of time sifting and sifting and sifting and harvesting rocks. So dumb. I compost DIRECTLY into the soil and the worms love it! Nothing makes me happier than coming across a bunch of worms who are making my soil amazing! This is also a great shot of the fence that Brent build on top of the retaining wall.
We took a well needed, well deserved vacation at the end of the summer. This is one of my favorite shots. Brent is proud of his biking calves :) I told you, man of steel!
I was inspired by the many gardens we saw while in London and Florence. I'm ready and excited to dig into my own gardens!
I am so very happy this project is DONE!!! It has been hanging over our heads for years. Thank you Brent!
