Monday, May 16, 2011

Finishing the North Pit

With the trench behind the raised bed pretty well done, I need to extend the cement wall along the entire length of the fence. While the bulk of the digging in the pit is done, the edges need to be finished off. We have left about a foot of untouched dirt next to the fences, for stability while we were working.

For the cement wall, this means taking the edge of the excavated pit right up to the fence.



Continuing around the edges reveals more big rocks and also some irrigation pipes.



We need to decide if we take out the newly exposed rock, or just cement it in place and leave it there. Take it out. We took out all the rock along the edge of the pit next to the fence, and then, using our masonite pieces, made forms and poured a concrete wall down to bedrock.



It took 22 60 pound bags of Quikrete concrete mix for this wall (Home Depot, $51.92). Once the concrete was poured, we then mixed a bag of mortar mix and put the white limestone blocks on top.



We will wait a couple of days to let everything set, and then remove the bags of compost and forms, and then start shovelling dirt over into this corner. We will need to re-do the irrigation system where it comes under fence by the gate, and then back under the fence over in the corner.