Great Annual Poop-Moving Extravaganza

...is how Jennifer refers to the day when we shovel 12 months of accumulated bedding and manure from the sheep barn. I estimate that we moved 11-12 cubic yards of material and that it may have weighed upwards of 8,000 pounds. We still have the rams' pen to do but that's a much smaller area. This year we are sheet composting the bedding in areas that we want to convert from sod to food production. This photo will give you an idea where we've moved the poop this year.

At the far end of the garden you can see where we've extended the length of the garden area. This 10-foot extension over a 50-foot width will increase our growing area by 500 square feet - 1000 total since we're expanding both ends this way. In addition we're adding a new 3-foot wide bed about 90 feet long alongside the existing garden area. About 1/3 of this will be planted in asparagus and a bit of rhubarb with the rest going into strawberries for a 3-year rotation.

I like the 50-foot width since we have several soaker hoses that are 50' long. It makes watering convenient. The new total growing area will be 50' x 100' plus the additional bed (3' x 90'). This photo was taken from my sons' bedroom window. I hope to get up on the roof of the greenhouse soon so I can get a photo of the entire garden. I'll post it when I do.