Henny Penny Farmette

I haven’t had to call on my first-aid skills in a while, but today I lost control of a tree trunk round (that must have weighed close to a hundred pounds). It broke the skin in several places, bruised the flesh, and caused swelling within minutes.

Silly me–if I’d worn boots instead of loafers, my leg would have been protected against cuts and bruises

Luckily, I didn’t break my ankle. This is my comeuppance, I suppose, for going against my architect husband’s admonition not to mess with those rounds regardless of how badly I wanted to keep work moving forward on the farmette landscaping at the front of our house.

Two- to three-feet wide, these babies are no longer needed in the landscape and can trigger termite infestation when they lie against the soil

The way I see it, it’s only by us tackling something every day that we will ever be able to complete the restoration that this old place needs. I believe it’s been without tender loving care for at least a generation.

Last week, my husband brought in a bobcat and within a few hours had hauled away stone, dirt, and dead stumps. We can now lay paving stones to create a sitting area for outdoor entertaining. The floor he laid at my daughter’s house is pretty and functional. She tells me they love the area and so do their children and friends.

This patio floor that my husband recently laid required several stone shapes and two colors–gray and terra cotta

Out front, we’ve transferred the irises to a raised bed, but the tree that was severely diseased, as well as rocks and wooden stumps, are gone now.

Flat and ready for sand and a stone floor, this area won’t have to be watered

My husband tells me we’re going to get some help with the landscaping work at the front of our property this week. So, in case he warms to the idea of letting me participate, too, I’ll get out my boots, bandana, and straw hat.

You can take the girl off the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the girl. What can I say . . . I just love digging in the dirt even when it involves the personal risk of bumps and scrapes–isn’t that expected when doing renovation?

*Update on the foot–checked by a doctor and no break. I’ll be drop kicking turnips in no time!

My daughter knew my husband Carlos had an opening in his schedule and wanted him to create a carefree stone floor for her backyard. She wasn’t interested in grass or plants, given the California drought, and her husband came up with a design. Easy.

Sand is placed over gravel and raked before the stone is set in place, hammered down, and leveled

But as it turns out, the design was fairly complicated. It consisted of a cross with a circular medallion. The stones were four different sizes and two different colors. Maybe not so easy.

Green string, tightly strung provides a guide for correctly positioning the stones in the circle and in straight lines

Carlos, nevertheless, rose to the occasion and with a buddy got to work. My daughter swore that all the sand and rock Carlos would need were already there from the previous patio, but that turned out not to be the case.

The floor pattern emerges more clearly when you spray it with water

So imagine Carlos’s surprise when he realized he would have to pull out the dirt, level the ground, and do all that prep work before he could start laying stone.

Everyone put their stress aside, ordered sand and gravel, assemble the tools like the rake, mallet, and wheelbarrow, and enlisted one of our neighbors for additional help.

It took more than week. But the work is almost finished. My daughter loves the patio and she’s already planning a late summer party to show it off.

Carlos is thinking maybe we could use a floor like that on our farmette. With all the work we do, it’s nice to have a flat floor with a bench and table to sit a spell and catch your breath.

Pieces of natural stone awaiting recycling into a new landscape

My ears perk up when I hear someone talking about renovating his or her landscape since such a project often involves removing not only plants but potentially brick, flagstone, and other types of outdoor flooring and landscaping materials.

After learning about a demolition going on down the road recently, we inquired whether or not we could haul away the unwanted stone. The property’s owners had already begun the tear-out as a first step in revamping the home’s entire landscape. Out came decades-old rose bushes and two types of stone, some of it slate.

Flagstone, redstone pavers, and boulders can be reused to create raised beds for flowers, herbs, or vegetables. A caveat about using natural stone or boulders: keep them low as soil can sift out between the cracks unless you use mortar. Better still, use landscape fabric as a barrier against the soil sifting.

In our arrangement, the homeowner will not need to pay someone to haul away unwanted materials. We will not have to pay for the stone. We can stack it on our property and when we are ready, use it to construct an outdoor kitchen floor or sitting area. Most importantly, we are recycling, keeping the unwanted landscape materials out of landfill.