I always hated math. Machines, however...

Well, y'all are excel-lent (groan) resources for spreadsheet angst. The fact is, though, that I have no interest in being a guru. I do know the basics already. What's important, I think, is less the spreadsheet and more the bigger picture of feeling overwhelmed when I'm not sure what to do next.

That said, I've made some inroads into Project Garden.

The help I was hoping to have yesterday afternoon fell through because the sweet, sweet camping siren lured my power-tool experienced friend away to the mountains. My lovely Emily and her husband, though, showed their extreme belief in me by loaning me a circular saw and a drill. They told me about their friend who somehow managed to put a running saw down onto his leg, miraculously avoiding bones and arteries, but obviously messing up his leg. I'm usually anti scare tactic, but hey, it worked this time. I didn't hurt myself.

This morning I cut my 2"x12"x10' boards and my 4"x4" posts into manageable bits as planned for my raised garden beds. As I finished up, I realized I had bought exactly 1/2 of the amount of lumber I need to complete the project as I envisioned it (Two beds, 2 feet deep. Ten feet long, and four feet wide.). I can either make one bed two feet deep or two beds that are one foot deep.

Sigh.

I don't know if I said this before, but all the lumber I bought turned out to be almost $100. Which seems just wrong, doesn't it? I'm sure as hell not planning on shelling out any more money. My budget is $200 for creating this garden. If I buy more lumber, enough to make the 2 beds, then I won't have any money for soil, compost, tools, etc. Ideally of course, I'd have liked to scavenge the wood; however, I don't have a truck. Nor do I think I want one. I'd be hauling everyone's crap around and moving way more people than I'd want to.

Next step will be to decide about depth versus square footage (I'm leaning towards the two, shallower beds), go to the hardware store, get a bit and some screws and put the cut up bits all together. Whee!

Does anyone else really, really like power tools? I'm counting sewing machines in this. It's so satisfying to me to just go ZOOM and have something done. It gives me a feeling of satisfaction beyond what I get from cooking a good meal, even!