I started the digging yesterday on the top third of 130a. The soil is fairly light and with very little compaction at this end, which made the task a little easier but I wasn't prepared for the quantity of couch root.
I expect to pull tons of the muck out of the lower end but didn't expect to find as much at the top end. I was wrong - nothing new there. The best way to describe what I found was swap couch root for steel rebar just before the concrete is poured. It was thick.
My heart broke a little yesterday when the size of the task ahead finally dawned.
Still we've broken ground which means that come next Spring we will be planting something. What that something is going to be is anyone's guess but there will be something. Yay!
I didn't notice yesterday but as I dug across the plot the area dug was spreading width ways so I probably dug about a third more than I'd planned to and would explain why I wasn't quite able to make it right across the plot before I wussed out. *(note to self remember to have lunch before going to the plot and take a flask)
Due to our current accommodation not having a bath I took a long hot shower before I went to bed and didn't feel too bad. I'd popped a hot water bottle behind my back as soon as I got home which seems to have helped avoid all the usual potential back problems of which I've suffered from since a rather nasty motorcycle accident 20 odd years ago. Oh the immortally of youth.
I wasn't ready for waking up this morning. From the waist down I had aches that made my cycling days pale into insignificance and they've got worse as the day's progressed. I only did a little digging but hell I'm unfit and wholly unprepared.
Finally I must thank Sue who kindly lent me a fork as mine is in storage somewhere in North Yorkshire with the rest of my life and I need to buy a line and knock up a couple of pegs so I can dig in a straight line.
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