This has been a very hard week. I can’t remember when was the last time I was so tired at the end of the week. I’m used to hard work, but the amount of the work this week managed to break me, and I can barely walk. We finally got our soil delivery, and this week was all about soil moving.

We ordered a big dump truck of soil, approximately around 6-6.5 cubic meters of soil. Since the past week was rainy the soil was wet, so we got a bit less than we would two weeks ago but, still it’s enough. We ordered field soil. In Croatia, it’s hard to get big amounts of compost soil. It’s usually packed in small bags, and if ordered with a truck it is very expensive. So all we could do is to order from one of the two local companies that sell building materials. One sells excavated soil, and the other sells field soil. We opted for field soil since the soil here is mostly clay, and we wanted something a bit better. This was actually a good choice since I’m pretty happy with the soil type that came, as are most of the neighbors that have commented on it while passing by.  

The soil came on Monday, and for the next 4 days, we’ve been filling the garden, beds, and pots. Every evening, when my hubby was home, we’ve been wheeling the soil to the new garden and the onion/lettuce bed. Since the whole yard is on the slope this was a very hard job.

When my hubby was at work, during the morning, I continued filling the buckets, pots, and bags to save the soil for later usage. I can’t push a full wheelbarrow down the slope, so I couldn’t do the wheeling by myself. I was the shovel loader the whole time, and my back is now complaining about it. 

The main problem we had was that the dump truck couldn’t enter the yard, so it emptied the part of the soil on the street, and we had to move it fast. It’s not so much that anybody would complain, but the street is very narrow, and there are very few places where two cars can pass by each other. Our fence is one of those places, so having the soil on the street creates a traffic problem. Also, Saturday is a rain day, so we had to finish by Saturday, and moving so much soil in just 4 evenings is tough. 

On Wednesday I decided to fill as many pots, buckets, and containers as I could, just to store the soil and make the pile smaller. I’ve filled every bucket we had at home. I’ve also added some soil to our flower bed. It now looks a bit empty with the new soil on top, but once my bulbs start growing out it should fill up nicely.

On Thursday we decided to work until nightfall, which was hard since both hubby and I get up at 4:15am, but we managed it somehow, and 90% of the soil was moved to its place. The new small garden is full now. We need to build a fence around it, but hubby needs to secure the upper terrace wall first, and then I’ll start planting and sowing in the garden. There’s no point in planting if the soil will be stepped on while he repairs the wall and if Srećko can dig around all the time. 

The yard is still a real mess since there is still lots of construction waste around from the demolition of the previous sheds. We will use this waste to build steps and the second terrace, but we couldn’t do it until the soil gets here. It would be extremely hard to wheel the soil down the new steps, so we decided to do the soil first, then we’ll fix the second terrace wall, build new garden steps, and order a dump truck of fine gravel to finish. Also, I still need to paint and fix my compost barrel, which will then be placed in the backyard, but that’s something I will do last. 

Once all of the work in the side yard is finished, we’ll fix the front yard, make some new gravel paths, place some fresh soil, which I’ve placed in the bags, and sow some grass. But this will be the last thing on the list, probably around September, since there is no point in doing it until all the big work is finished. The front yard right now has hardly any grass at all.

Still, it’s nice to see we’re making some progress in the yard. Hopefully, by the end of this year, we’ll have a nice new yard and garden.