Some of us (Lisa, Oakes, Alan, Elisabeth, Melanie, Erika and Mike) met today for about 3 hours to plot out the garden and to discuss the strategy for next week’s Big Dig.
We figured out where the garden should be based upon distance from the playground and from the street. We pounded stakes flush with the ground into the 4 corners of the plot, and then marked the garden with spray chalk that Mike had bought. Pounding in the first stake, we woke up a nice fat worm – a good sign! It seem much smaller than I had remembered it being from the fall! We also marked where the gate would go.
There was some discussion about modifying the garden layout, and some discussion about maybe making the paths narrower and having a central gathering spot to conduct tours. Mike gave a demonstration of how a pickax can be used to skim sod off the surface. There was quite a bit of discussion about what we could do with the sod. Gordon Jamieson (an abutter) dropped by and talked about how we could fill some of the holes near the fence with the sod- this would also help with drainage issues he and his neighbors have been having.
We then started talking about our equipment rental decisions. Initially, it seemed like most of us were in favor of not renting the auger to help keep in range of our budget. To help with this decision, we dug a hole where one of the post holes would be. We did not have the proper equipment, but we managed to dig down 14 inches without hitting ledge. We were stymied by a couple 
of good sized rocks, but our experiment was pretty encouraging. The soil seemed really nice and workable. We filled in the hole so no one would trip on it.