Hi Kay, Thanks for your reply! Great to meet you. At the moment we are trying to identify what plants we have in the field and what other stock we need to try and get in. We are relying on very old lists and one old member of staff who doesn't speak much english but hopefully has a good memory of what were planted where! We have lists where some irises are identified just by coulour and some by name but no idea of the colour!! To add to the fun we live in a different country so will not get to see the flowers bloom until we move down in a couple of years time!! At least we are giving this a go and are looking forward to the challenge! Cheers Muffie

Thanks so much Jen - yes, it is most definitely A Big Job, especially for a newbie. I certainly have no history of having a green thumb, so I don't even know if things will actually grow for me, but I'm hoping that a lot of research, and a little luck may help me out some :) I will confess I had two college lads start the clearing in that back fence area - it really was 6ft high, we have no power tools (everything we've done has been with scissor-type hedge clippers and elbow grease!) and it was 90 degrees so I figured it was worth it! Once they managed to get it so it was simply "very very bad" it wasn't quite as daunting. And I made more progress today - my husband cleared and bagged everything I've torn down and that back patch is actually almost-entirely clear! Whoosh. I was encouraged enough that I threw down some Leafgro into the spot next to the gate in the pic above and transplanted some rather sad looking lilies which are over-shaded along the side of the house; we'll see if they make it! I'm going to sneak out later and get some Stella d'oros I saw at Lowes too - yeah, I prefer to buy from a nursery, but they were cheap and actually looked quite nice. It'll start filling the space, at least and it gave me a reason to mulch down the weeds in that little bit (plus I used some of the pile of stones I picked out of the "soil" - I use the term loosely - to make a little edge. I just needed to do ONE THING which had some kind of visual reward!). I'm still debating what to do to the right of the Rose of Sharon - I'm tempted to raise the bed on the left hand side and blend it in somehow, but what on earth do I know about building a wall?!?!? lol Anyway, I'm DEFINITELY interested in the swap - where is it? How does it work? (I'll search the archive as well since I'm sure this question has come up before, but any and all info welcomed :) Btw, I've been asking on the rose forum, but any other Bawlmor'uns have any opinions on disease-resistant roses for these here parts? I really love the old varieties and, as mentioned, am keen to cover those fences. I've been steered totwards New Dawn, Cecile Brunner cl and Brite Eyes (by the same guy who created the Knockouts), but other suggestions are definitely welcomed. As for any other perennials I can put in there (in particular things that would love to Cover The Fence). Also, I've heard that lavender is a bit tricky in this climate - is it possible to grow it as a perennial without lots of winter maintenance/protection etc? Thanks again so much - every time I've visited the Gardenweb forums I've been awed by the knowledge and kindness of the folks who post here, and this time is no exception! PS Oh, and if I'm sounding like I'm "trying to go fast" I'm not, really - I'm expecting this to take a while - I but I know already that my job will be keeping me busy AND taking me out of town in the spring, so I'm trying to get as much done in the autumn planting season when I have a little more time available. :)

Hi, Newbie, Well, I went a different way. I left all the weeds and onions in place, put the beds in place (the wooden parts), then laid thick cardboard everywhere except in the boxes. We had several ground up trees left by the power company clearing lines. That fresh hot mulch went onto the cardboard. So, that left the weeds, thousands. DH used a garden fork to gently break the soil down to about 5 inches, inside each bed, and I hand-dug all the weeds out, saving the soil. The weed bits went to the chickens. That left fresh weed free soil. After raking that flat, we wet it down completely, put thick layers of newspaper on that, wet that down, and put our version of Mel's mix on top. Then, I should have made the grids, but I skipped that part... and some of my squares did not come out square, but next time I will know better. You just can't eyeball those square feet. After finishing the first two beds, I put down the seed mats I had made over the winter. That was seven days ago. We had lettuce today!! We have radishes!! I also planted seeds directly in the mix for Whopper, Juliet and Beefsteak tomatoes, and sprouts are up! Bell peppers are up!! Squash and zukes are up! A seedless watermelon has two leaves up!! Those viny things will spill over the sides into the wide walkways. I have three beds finished, 3x6 each, and 2 more 3x6 to go. Also, there may be a long bed for purple hull peas. In addition, we plan to lean bamboo poles against the side of the chicken pen and plant several kinds of pole beans. That will shade the chooks and allow easy picking. Where we tried to garden last year, the newspaper was still in place, so, into that went 8 blackberries and raspberries, and maybe more will come. Anyway... the extra work getting the prep done will keep the pasture weeds and onions out of the bed area. The hot mulch and cardboard will keep the walkways nice. This is the best garden we have ever had in more than 30 years of gardening together.

Yes, it is called rebatching, and I will avoid it if at all possible. It's time consuming and tedious. To let you know, I make cp soap by the 10 pound recipes. I presently have 2 buckets of soap scraps, I would guess about a 2 or 3 cubic foot container. Instead of rebatching it I will add it to a new recipe of soap. Unlike what you have, this is still virgin soap scraps, not previously used. I will make soap and give these away or use them ourselves. What I would do if I had these previous used scraps, I would just add it to a new bar as they are being used; they do stick fairly readily, and they rarely come off. If you are going to still rebatch, I would grate them, then lightly mist them (not dripping) the night before, then add them to a crockpot on low or medium heat. You will need to set aside about 4 hours or so, depending on how much soap you need to do. The trick is to add just enough water (by the tablespoon) to keep the soap pliable and not dry, while you are trying to mash it, until it is thoroughly melted. Be careful, this soap is very hot while in the crock! Any scent of the scraps will disappear in the final product, so if you want it scented, then let the soap cool down a bit and mix in scent just before pour/mashing it into any molds. hth