New Garden

There was a tree in my backyard on Saturday morning. It was a silver maple tree that had been brought thousands of miles from its natural habitat to be cultivated and planted in developing neighborhoods. The reason being because it grows fast and helps sell houses on tree-less lots. So far removed from where it belongs, on a riverbank in Vermont, this tree got sick in our hostile Texas environment. Random dead limbs would fall in the yard after a rain storm, and dry rotten roots could be pulled up with ease. This tree had to come down.

Question: How many guys does it take to chop a tree down?

Answer: Five, including this sweaty guy.

With the much appreciated help of five friends, the tree fell with much sweat and cursing. We drank beer and celebrated around the stump that we had created. The stump was ground into nothing the next day with the help of a Mexican entrepreneur, and plans for a garden in this newly created sunny spot began to form...

The Stump Grinder

This is the first of the new raised beds that I will be building, much better looking than the cement blocks!

Welcome to my new garden!