Site Preparation

I think the job can be completed without removing any material from the site, which is now completely exposed. Excavation is hard work, but transporting soil any distance is exhausting. Now that the mulch has been relocated to the perimeter of the site, excavation can begin. The soil is sand/silt with minor clay, and a significant amount of rock in the form of pebbles and cobbles.

I am removing most of the rock fragments by raking the excavated soil with a garden rake (back and forth until it is clean enough), then collecting the unwanted material.

Plastic buckets don’t hold up well transporting rock, so I’m using a steel bucket. The pile of rock is from the perimeter ditch only; there is going to be a lot more. It is going to be used to armor the inflow, which will be where the bucket is; the rest will either be transported to a location for long-term storage, or used as mulch around the perimeter–depending on how much there is.

In a perfect world I would use a wheelbarrow to move material around, but we inherited a good dumping wagon from the previous owners, which is too bulky to use on this small site. The amount of material to be transported is relatively small, however, so a bucket works well.

I’m not on the clock, so time isn’t an issue. Nevertheless, the work goes faster than you might think. I completed the work shown here, since my last post, in less than three hours. I’m 69 and not a weight lifter, although I do exercise regularly.