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By the time mom and Gary pulled in, all I had to do was vacuum the house. That done, we headed to the backyard to create our game plan. My mom is an avid gardener and landscaper and Gary caught the bug when he moved out to the family's ranch. I was grateful for their help and expertise.
Once we had our game plan, Gary unloaded his Rototiller from the truck and began breaking the soil in the backyard. He worked on it for two hours while mom, Dante and I removed various rocks and took care of other prep tasks.
We then piled into the truck and headed to Home Depot. We left Gary in the plumbing department to find the items we would need for the sprinkler system and Mom, Dante and I headed to the garden department.
I have to pause and explain to you just how excited I was to start purchasing plants and trees for the backyard. You see, we have lived in the house for 14 years. The first five years, we were renters. The next few years we saved as much money as possible so that we could remodel the house. When we finally did remodel, we found out that the remodel of our studio (a converted garage) in the back was going to have to be a demolition project and rebuild. They couldn't save the existing building. That project was $30,000 beyond our budget so we put it on hold. For almost three years I hated walking into the backyard as we couldn't do anything with it until the studio was rebuilt. I refused to go to nurseries or the garden department at Home Depot because it depressed me.
A year ago we were able to rebuild the studio. It took additional time for me to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with the backyard based on the new studio. Then, it took an additional four months for us to coordinate our schedule with our friends and family who volunteered to help us out. So, stepping out into Home Depot's garden center was a monumental moment for me.
We found about 10 perennial plants for the backyard. I was beyond ecstatic to find a pomegranate tree. When I was a kid, there was a pomegranate tree at Camp Haze. Grandma Haze used to make pomegranate jam. The tree died in a severe frost about 20 years ago. I have wanted one of my own ever since. The irony is that I have never seen a pomegranate tree for sale in the Bay Area. I consider it a serendipitous moment.
I also purchased a nectarine tree. Another great find as the first bite of a nectarine always signals the beginning of summer for me.
After making our purchases, we tried to go to a few more nurseries to find the rest of my trees, but they were closed by that time. So, we headed home and relaxed in anticipation of the next day when all of our volunteers and a pallet of sod were scheduled to arrive.
* This picture is of Dante and some of the supplies we scored at Home Depot.
