My new 780 lb bed

After the tomato sale, Ken and I headed to the rock store. Ken wanted gravel to level out the driveway. I wanted basalt boulders to line a new garden bed I was creating. Ken helped me pick out the basalt boulders that would line the bed before heading to the gravel section.

I needed 78 linear feet of the rock. We moved the big guys out of the way to get the smaller guys (lengths between 10-18"). Ken weighed them and loaded them into the car while I climbed the rock pile in search for good ones. It took us about 30 minutes to find the 780 lbs of basalt boulders we needed make up the length. When we were finished, Ken went to pay for them ($0.05/lb) while I headed home to unload them.

The next day, I was nervously ready to start creating the bed. I used a hose to mark the edges of the bed and dug the borders. I installed the bender board to prevent grass/weeds creeping through the rocks and then carefully arranged each stone so that if fit with its neighbors. I started around 10 and finished work at 6 pm. By the end of the day, I had double dug the entire bed, laid all 780 lbs of the rock border, spread gravel around the perimeter, weeded a neighboring bed and watered the grass that I trampled in my rock-laying frenzy.

By 6:30, I could barely move. Ken came home around 8, massaged my sore muscles and put me to bed. I'm still sore this morning but so proud of what I accomplished. I'll plant the bed this week or weekend since it's ready to go. I figure the rock border was my last big project before I can't bend over for a while. I'm really, really proud of it.