The Envinity crew has been hard at work on several timber frames (Shaver's Creek and the Central PA Builders' Show) so they had a lot of wood chips at their shop. Instead of using the standard 20 gallon plastic bags for the chips, I borrowed Jerry's large (40" x 40" x 48") plastic and nylon bag which was used to deliver 1200 pounds of wood pellets to his house for his wood pellet stove. The guys at the shop filled the large bag with chips on a pallet so they could use the forklift to move it from the shop to my pickup bed. The bag and pallet just fit between the rear wheel wells in the pickup bed.With the pallet and bag moved all the way forward I could use bungee cords to hold it to the front of the truck and to keep the top of the bag closed. I drove the side roads on the ride back to the Barony, keeping to a slower speed so I didn't end up showering chips all over the highways.
We are getting some fruit bushes for the backyard garden that like moist, acidic soil conditions so the wood chip mulch should work with them nicely. The bushes include Honeyberry, gooseberry, and currant. These fruit bushes will go in the garden where we have been growing veggies. Since this area is just in back of the house, most of the year the veggie garden looks pretty ragged. The bushes will look nicer throughout the year. I'll be moving the veggies out to the meadow around our asparagus bed where I have installed 3 raised beds for garlic, potatoes, and onions. I will be putting in a couple more of the raised beds as the weather warms up.
