Garden Friday

 This week's Garden Friday brings some difficult news.
This garden, that I've spent so much time, effort and love on,
will have to be dismantled.
We found out this week that we were misinformed when we bought the house
about the location of the drain field for our septic system.
It seems that the garden has been planted over the field,
and therefore must be relocated.
Although I use containers, straw bales and raised beds for my growing,
no one I contacted could give me a definitive answer about this dilemma.
Aside from the strong concerns about contamination,
building a garden the way I have could cause future problems for the system.
My garden consists of layers of cardboard, feed sacks, soil, straw and mulch.
The accumulation of these materials can make it difficult for the system
to work properly.
We still have more information to gather,
but the decision was made to relocate the garden.

I'm choosing to look on the bright side.
I can reuse most of my materials for the raised beds,
the containers can be reused and the straw bales need replacing anyway.
I will also be working with a friend on the design of the garden,
incorporating the things I've been wanting to implement.
The hope is to make more of a permaculture system 
while making it chicken-friendly.

We've been chicken keepers for almost a week now,
and I have to say, I'm really enjoying it.
Knowing that I want to continue this aspect of our homesteading lifestyle,
I will be keeping the chooks in mind while the new garden goes in.

My fall garden will be smaller than I had planned,
but if I can at least get the garlic up and running,
I'll call it a success.
The seeds I received a few weeks ago will just have to keep,
and I'll try not to look at them with sadness
because some won't be used this year.
And just think of how much fun planting in spring will be
with a new garden built the way I want it.

I'm not sure I'll have anything to post on Garden Fridays for a while,
I may even take a blogging break for a bit
to process all of this and come up with a plan.
It's been a blow, for sure,
but I'm hoping to make lemonade out of lemons.

Thanks for stopping by today!