Backyard Bliss

To add insult to injury, we decided the inside of our house hasn't been punishment enough so we let the outside take a turn. To begin with, our neighbors informed us that prior to our purchase our backyard was a graveyard for old vehicles...cars, vans, boats, etc. This would explain the springs, parts, and random oil cans we found. It also must have been party central because we have more broken beer bottles and bottle tops back there than a you'd find at a redneck firing range! It was as if the backyard had been booby-trapped! Because of the total neglect, a small forest had sprung up as well and had to be whacked back. We took down 6-7 major trees--we meaning Dan and I to begin with and a professional Tree company once we wised up! The below pics are of the yard after Dan and I had cut down four big trees and after the tree company had taken down 2 of the 4 they were working on. (Note: We have yet to tackle the garage...that is a renovation that will have to wait!)




After we took down the trees we still had to "clear" the land. We fearlessly waded in and began weeding, digging, and raking. The "forest" we took down seemed to have a firmer grip on the ground than we anticipated and I am still having nightmares about all the roots we dug up! We have to a lot of work to put in the lawn, so in the meantime we decided to plant a garden in the freshly tilled dirt patch we had. Dan and I both love gardens and we planted with a vengeance--peas, carrots, green beans, green peppers, corn, cucumbers, potatoes, and several kinds of tomatoes. We also did a little bit of planning and planted two varieties of raspberries and 4 trees--peach, apricot, honeycrisp apple, and a golden delicious apple. We won't have anything from them til next year...



Dan in his attempt to conquer the tangle and maze of roots and vines that had run rampant for the twenty years prior to our occupancy! As you can see in from the pile in the next picture...although the trees were down the roots will take us years to excavate completely.





The grand finale! The kids are posing in front of the "Feldman Family Farm" as our backyard neighbor, Dave, calls it. You also get a great view of our neighbor's garden. She is first generation immigrant from Italy and has mob connections (seriously!)....but her Spaghetti and Meatballs are fabulous!