The most frugal thing you can do is shovel work if you have the time. Dig out all of the beds to about two shovel depths, and loosen/turn over the bottom layer of the trench (if you go this deep you won't have to water very much if at all). Add lots of organic junk (leaves and small stickes etc.) from the yard. Put on some granulated lawn and garden fertilizer (very inexpensive in a big bag this time of year), and put the dirt back in, mixing it up a bit. Save some topsoil for a top layer (so you don't have leaves and sticks pokeing up). This will keep the clay from compacting, and it will compost itself over the next couple of years. The fertilizer helps the break down process, and give your plants enough boost to offset the nutrient robbing nature of the raw organic material/junk. If you have compost and/or fine organic material like grass clippings, mix it in with the top layer. I like to "quick" compost wood chips by adding high nitrogen lawn fertilizer (first number on the bag e.g. "28:4:5") this will get the pile heated up and get you good compost in one season rather than taking a couple of years. You could also add wood chips directly to the soil along with fertilizer, but this could cause growth restrictions the first year. How you want to do it depends on if you are growing perennials and want to get them planted right away the first year even if the soil isn't quite ready for optimal growth (add chips top soil), or if you want to wait a year for best first year results (wait for them to compost). Dealing with Clay....If you do as I suggested above, you will end up with clods of clay. Plant roots will infiltrate these somewhat and help break them down, but a good thing you can do is to let them sit on top to dry out and then shatter them with a whack of the back of the shovel. I like wood chips in clay (used either way described above). The chunkiness gives long lasting 'fluff' and humus to the soil. Things like grass clippings/fine compost seem to have shorter term benefits to clay. Clay soil is terrible around houses because the construction process strips off the topsoil and the machinery and foot traffic of the workers compacts the subsoil into hardpan that roots can't penetrate. People often only loosen this up to one shovel depth before planting, and then have to water alot (or let their plants suffer) because the plants quickly suck out all of the moisture from that relatively thin layer. They also may not add enough organic material (which is what holds onto/recycles nutrients long term). I like to use a short "D" handle shovel for this type of work, but that's just me.

now we are going down memory lane, on youtube!! LOL so we are the cool parents!!! we listen to heavy metal, LOL and rock, LOL tabor said, ahhh man your the bomb!!! of course now its twisted sister and ratt. i like them and quiet riot. then hubs goes do you remember dio?? i was like ohhh ya. dang that was years ago. we were pretty softer compared to you though!! LOL then i found out he liked metallica, i was like awesome!! dude way cool!! we did have something in common!! unlike everything else we have in common, right?? LOL tabor totally loves alice cooper!! LOL he's totally a freak!! LOL ok, tomarow i should be getting my seeds in the mail. i am so excited. i think i might grow them on my porch, LOL then it'll be pretty much protected AND it'll be full sun!! LOL and sfg!!! my hubs will think i'm nuts, but ummmm... what's new???? LOL i'm like always nuts anyhow!!! LOL then when my gh is done, i'll grow a bunch of stuff in there, and it's gonna definately be protected!! LOL LOL talla call's the males from the 80's she's, ROFL!!! its so funny!! so hubs had to tell her that they were he's!! LOL Hee Hee she thinks only girls have long hair!!! LOL **just chuckling** i am definately tired!! geeze!! to much capicino!! i knew they were bad for me!! hubs just got me started back on them again, Bad medo!! Bad Medo!!! No More!!! LOL granny!! them are some great pics!! i can't but can believe that you painted them pics!! i can because you have a tremendous eye for the garden and make it look just great so it doesn't surprise me that you can paint that great!! ~Medo

Thank you, everyone, for your comments! I'm going to try and keep this short as I'm beat...we've been to our homesite (125 miles away from our current home) on Friday, Monday and Tuesday...and yet, I seem to have the energy to sort through my staggering amount of photos and post on my blog because I want to keep it updated - I just added new photos taken today of the foundation layout! Ah, well, the truth is...I'm so excited that our project is finally in motion that I like to keep looking at the darn photos once I'm at home...kinda to remind me that it's real and I'm not having some great dream that we broke ground or something! ;) Tomorrow I'm going to try and add some helpful tips on my blog about streamlining the bidding process. Layout was done today, piers will be drilled tomorrow and DH is making the trip there without me (and I'm hoping that he takes many, many good photos!) Here is a link that might be useful: Villa della Vigna (The Vineyard Villa Blog)

I have failed at pictures thus far.. I work a full time job, and also run my own business so this post hasn't gotten much attention lately! We did have a cool spell for about a week and I noticed that the leaves started looking healthy again, despite my having forgotten to hand water. It looks like this is basically transplant shock that is only appearing when the higher temps come around which makes sense seeing it is a more stressful environment. I think all in all, I should just leave the thing alone and let the roots re-establish themselves. I was surprised since it really isn't that hot, but it looks like 80's and the plant is happy, 90's and the plant gets cranky. All that being said, the wood isn't dying back, and the leaves have stopped dropping so I think it will manage to survive. I will top dress next year to try and give the soil a bit more nutrient density and otherwise just see how things go! Didn't want to leave this post hanging. Thanks again for all the comments.