So, I told the Husband I wanted more planter boxes for my birthday…but I wanted them NOW, not in November.   Even with the “now” caveat he thinks I’m taking the cheap way out for my present, but you know, there’s only so many THINGS you need…and I’d just rather grow stuff!

Friday evening, spurred on by as rude a design client as I think I’ve ever had, I started de-weeding the areas for the new beds.  (The “before” is here…just scroll on down a bit.)  Saturday afternoon (after a deuced exciting soccer game, which we lost a heartbreaking 1-0) I continued with the bed prep whilst the Husband built the actual boxes.  

Today was the back-breaking day, with the dirt and mulch hauling.  Here’s the new culinary herb planter box 10′x2′:
 

And the new medicinal herb box, also 10′x2′:
 

Yes, I was too bloody tired at this point to walk over there for a closer shot.

Here’s the new terraced area linking the herb boxes and the new 8′x4′ box bordering the outside patio:
 

The stone border will eventually surround the enclosure but that’s how many rocks we had sitting in the driveway today.  

A better view of the North box, and the kick-ass stone support Husband put in to prevent erosion until the “grass” makes it back up the hill:
 

This is the West box, also 8′x4′:
 

Yes, I did put my aloe plant in the ground there.  Yes, it’ll be fine.

This is a little table we scored at Target last night for less than 15 bucks:
 

It will, of course, primarily serve as a platform to hold my seed packets, garden journal and camera.  Oh, and maybe drinks, once the weather returns to human-normal.

The new pitcher plants arrived yesterday, and were all potted up during the festivities this afternoon:
 

The Tarnok there on the left is the one we’ve had the longest (about 6 months I think) and it is getting to be a good size, but do notice how much larger the rubra is right out of the shipping container….at half the price of the Tarnok!  We purchased all these new carnivores from Hirts, through Amazon.com.  Highly, highly recommend them, both in price and in plant quality.

Another benefit to the reorganization going on out back is finally getting the Meyer lemon tree in the ground:
 

The only downside is you now take your own life into your hands going out that back door.  Stray not from the path, traveller, or you’ll be pierced by (in the words of our children) eat-your-soul-out thorns.

To top off an excellent, albeit tiring and stinkifying, day, the first fig from our dwarf tree was deemed ripe enough to sample:
 

It probably wasn’t completely ripe yet but it was delicious nonetheless, mild and sweet.  Must dig up fig recipes, stat!

Oh, and a round of applause, please, for the Awesome Husband.