For some months this year I had been unable to do any outdoor work due to severe abdominal pain. Medical specialists could not figure out what was wrong, but thankfully an alternative therapist figured out possible problems and offered solutions. IT WORKED (so far!!!) and I'm back on track!

This week, it was FINALLY getting the stone circle garden in order. I've been planning this since before the tornado, when I was trying to fix the drainage problems here and get rid of the horrible "tree of heaven". We're getting there now!!

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To the left of the photo are some fruit trees (still small) and the sidewalk. A new fence will be going in very soon there. The space between the mini rock walls and those shrubs will have red camellias. My neighbors planted an oak tree right there near their shrubs. Bad for them in a few years...great for me!!! There will be room in front of the camellias for some sort of food plants and/or herbs. To the back right, where the dirt pile is I want one of the fig trees. It will be beautiful there and will shade a bed of perennial onions, nicely. Behind the fig will eventually be a line of american plumbs (That's my choice for the living fence of doom....) I'm not sure what I will put along the side of the fig tree...it will probably be fruits of some sort. Blueberries perhaps (because I do have those now).

The very center circle I have NO IDEA what I will put in there! Originally I thought strawberries but no I do not think that will work (to hard to pick them). Perhaps a rose on a pole...I now want something CRAZY tall and fun. I really want a big pole and a metal basket on top to hold my bowling ball. I saw someone make an arbor like that on the junk forum once and I fell in love because it was kind of nutty.

There are 4 low beds for vegetables, perhaps perennial vegetables like asparagus in one...it is divided into 4 because I have permiculture folks helping me out and frankly I need to read up more about those 4 quadrants. This year they will probably have some southern peas or something that will fix the nitrogen and do other great things (yarrow).

Between every piece of giant cement will be thymes. The rose arches from the other side of the garden will eventually come over and more will be added so you'll be able to walk under a series of at least 8 arches, I think, along this walk. I purchased a beautiful arch from a friend who no longer needed it...I'm planning on installing that soon.

And...I finally think I may REALLY have someone who will "do" my back yard. A neighbor!! He owns a cement pouring business and has been dealing with new drainage rules (good ones) in a neighboring county and has access to more of that great free "stone" I love!!

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Here's a photo today of the garden, taken from the stone circle. My new goal is to replace all of those wooden beds with interesting shaped concrete stacked stone raised beds for the veggies...maybe in the fall?! Please excuse the bags of amendments and mulch. I had to move them into the area because I have a HUGE truck load of compost coming on Friday for the new garden (and some new ones around the purple house too!!!)