but trying to get over 300 lavender plants into the ground is not. Ron, Jo and I were out at THF about 730 Saturday morning. We needed to get all the equipment set up and ready before Jesse, Don and John arrived. Ron and I had spent an hour the night before, laying out a guide line and then putting down the first length of landscape cloth. Now all we had to do is put a chalk mark per Ron’s chart. One plant every three feet down the length and three rows across for a total of 57 plants. Jo and I took care of that part while Ron got his handy dandy torch up and running. His plan was to burn a hole in the cloth. When we planted our elderberry bushes and pawpaws we had cut the cloth but it ending up fraying more than we liked. The holes ended up bigger too, which let in more weeds. He was confident it would work. After all he watched a YouTube video of a guy doing exactly the same thing.
Unfortunately his plan did not quite work out. The torch was not doing what he needed it too. A new plan was obviously needed. Jesse arrived just then and the two of them started brainstorming. What they needed was a metal can that could be heated up and used to burn the hole. The only cans we had on site were the old rusted ones left behind by the previous owner.
They dug through the equipment we had on site and then Jesse thought of the poles from our crunched tent. They are metal, round and we certainly aren’t using them for anything else right now.
When Jesse ended up with was the support end of a pole. It had a three inch piece of pipe attached to a triangle shaped piece. He is an original outside of the box thinker. There are times when the boys come with an idea that just blows me away. Other times they simply scare me.
He was able to hold onto it with a pair of vise grips while Ron hit it with the torch. It got hot enough to burn through 4 or 5 holes after each heating. That gave him the chance to make a quicker job of it. After all we had 57 marks on each sheet that needed holes cut.
Don hauled the propane tank down the line with Ron manned to torch and Jesse did his best to dodge the heat. From the smell of singed hair, it was clear he did not always succeed. In short order they had the holes burned out but now the hard work started. John used the heavy duty drill Ron bought to drill out the holes. Not as easy as it sounds. Do you remember all my talk about the rocks we have? There are still there. Our lovely wheat filled field was just an optical illusion. Once we cut it down, they all came back into view. John had to maneuver the drill through the dirt and around the rocks. Holding on to the drill was a major job too. It had some serious kick.
Then Jo and I got started with the actual planting. We started with the bare root plants as we had 150 of them. We stuck one plant in each hole, then poured in some sand and backfilled with dirt. Made sure it was firmly planted and then moved on to the next one. Repeat. Many times over. Thank goodness I remembered to bring the kneepads this time. It was a long day moving from one hole to the next.
While John, Jo and I worked drilling and filling the holes, Don, Jesse and Ron laid out the rest of the sheets. We had decided to lay all 8 of them out, even though we didn’t have lavender to plant in all of them. That job sounded easy enough, but not with Ron involved. They all had to be two feet apart and even at top and bottom. This meant measuring tape, marking string, stakes, staples and lots of tugging were part of the job. And it was surprising hot. Not only was the sun out, but the black sheets reflected the heat back at us as we worked. And I had forgotten my hat. What we really needed was a magic umbrella to follow each of us around. It was only in the mid 60’s but it felt much hotter. Especially after we had worked through the morning.
Ron headed to the grill and got the burgers started. We stopped for lunch and cooled off in the shade. The boys tried to figure out just how many more holes needed to be prepared. We were going to plant what we had and then wait until next year to order more and fill in what remained.
Break over and we got back to work. I got the Transit keys from Ron and went looking for a hat. The back of my neck was feeling roasted. And I found my hat. My lovely floppy hat that does such a great job of protecting my face and neck. Suddenly I felt much better, having gotten a second wind. Next time I will remember to bring the sunscreen.
Ron got the water tank up and running as we needed to water in our new babies. We are still doing the fill the water pitchers and walk up and down the row bit. Someday we will come up with a plan to make this easier. Soaker hoses maybe? We shall see.
By 3 pm I was done and I told Ron we needed to think about packing it in for the day. We still had 96 more plants to get planted but we were all beat.
They don’t look like much right now, but they all smell good. Even the bare roots ones. And I have high hopes for next year. We picked up all the equipment and all of us headed home. Tick check and then showers all around and we were done for the day.
This morning, Ron, Jo and I went to The Corner Diner for breakfast and then headed out to THF to finish up. It was immediately the math skills were seriously lacking yesterday. Because just after 9 am we finished planting the last lavender plug and had 15 empty holes left in the sheet we were working on. And an entire sheet with holes burned in to it but nothing to plant. The last sheet hadn’t been touched yet. That is when Ron got his great idea. He was going to call Jeff in Rochester and see if he could get us more plants. Just when I thought we were done with this project. Another 130 more plants to get into the field. Oh my aching knees.