I like Rocks now!

I have been kinda bumed out about the soil and how many rocks were in it, everywhere I tried digging by hand, I got nowhere.

Standing in the woods, in the rain

Maybe a quarter of the larger rocks we pulled out

I started looking around to rent a garden plow and, it seems, no one rents actual plows (that aren't meant to go behind a tractor) so I was feeling down thinking about how hard it was going to be to turn the soil. Then it rained its butt off yesterday.

I know that turning soil while wet isnt the best thing to do, but I dont feel we had a choice, And thank the Lord I did.... I got a rear tiller from a rental store (cost $80 for two whole days) The amount of rocks both big and small was crazy! I have a nice little rock collection on the side of the garden now! It was insane, I killed the machine a few times as it would dig up rocks the size of my arm, but luckily it would start back up afterword.

I became one with the machine after the third row of tilling. The first row seemed to be the hardest! I started out, and within a foot I hit one of the larger rocks we pulled out today, and I was like... "bummmmer man, this is how it is going to be for the rest of the day."  And it was... but somehow, it got easier, and was actually quite liberating and I had this weird since of accomplishment! My hands were numb, my calves were cramping and I felt ALIVE!

I will not sugar coat it, the soil is not the best i have seen, it is still a little gravelly. I have now tilled the whole garden five or six times and plan on doing it about three more times tomorrow. Every time I put the tiller through it, I pull out some crazy looking rocks of different shapes and sizes. Will the garden be successful? I have no idea, but my spirits are much higher now than before on seeing some garden progress!

OK, so here is some before pics of the yard. I hope to make this a panarama one day soon. We will se these pics again when the "farm" is at its near finished stage!

Big, empty yard (left)

Big, empty yard (middle)

Big, empty yard (right)