Early Summer Yard/Garden Demolition!

[TempestRising]

Soooooo.... I am replanting my backyard. The chick weed and clover is just ridiculous the previous homeowner apparently wasn't very outdoorsy! :\ With that... my daughter and I (she's 4 so yeah...I) have started an outdoor oasis for our RFs. 1st we will be pulling up the weeds tilling the soil adding gypsum because I have clay for soil then covering with a mix of cow manure and top soil then putting down a bernuda seed blend as well as a tortoise grazing blend I ordered from Nature's Finest Seed (naturesfinestseed.com) We have an old bookcase we are going to fortify and create our outdoor enclosure for the RFs as little ones and yearlings of course we expect to grow it out overtime. The rest of the area will be set up where we can hang out and watch the outside watch us!

*sidenote* We have been getting lots of rain in Austin so my backyard was a mess for a few days after pulling the weeds I started to get good grass to come in HOWEVER we will still be replacing this yard! I was so pissed ANTS moved in after the rain so I am looking for a non toxic way to get rid of them ASAP so we can get to work! We are going to put the Tortoise grazing blend in the area where the enclosure will go and mix it in coming up the yard toward the house. I'm taking inspiration from a lot of other owners here in the forum! Hope you guys enjoy and I'll keep you posted with updates on our outdoor enclosure here in this thread!

 

[Yvonne G]

I bought one of those garden weasels too. It's a LOT of work, but it does till the soil pretty good. I'll be watching for the pictures of the finished project.

 

[TempestRising]

I bought one of those garden weasels too. It's a LOT of work, but it does till the soil pretty good. I'll be watching for the pictures of the finished project.

It is definitely a good morning upper body workout!

 

[allegraf]

Is she checking the ambient temperature like a good little herpetologist? Looks like a ton of work but off to a good start.

 

[Anyfoot]

Looking forward to seeing the development of this project.
Will you be growing clover back in, all my reds love the clover.

 

[TempestRising]

Is she checking the ambient temperature like a good little herpetologist? Looks like a ton of work but off to a good start.

Lol! Yesss We fuss over that temp gun I had to get a 2nd one! She does check the temps and humidity. Its so funny when she says "Mom the humidity is a check! Perfect" She has taken to the RFs and their care better than my 10 year old! He's more of a gamer! And I am looking forward to seeing what I can do. This will be my fist major yard project!

 

[TempestRising]

Looking forward to seeing the development of this project.
Will you be growing clover back in, all my reds love the clover.

Yep. Ill be replacing the clover inside of the outdoor enclosure and along the outside as well.

 

[TempestRising]

Until the yard is finished Sunni and Sheldyn get to hang out in the wicking bed and catch some sun. Today is really nice out! We are going to dry out clean and refresh the indoor enclosure... A larger one is in the works!

 

[TempestRising]

Yard update.... Happy 4th of July! We got Strawberries in the garden! Literally planted these 5 or 6 weeks ago they were bare root strawberries. I planted 16 in a plastic bottle hanging garden.

 

[TammyJ]

All the best with your project!
My redfoots really love the clover.

 

[TempestRising]

Pic Heavy Post! Happy New Year from the Family and I! We made it!... Lol well we added a Tort to our family thanks again @theguy67 and the yard transformation was crazy! Lol into winter we ended up with a Pumpkin patch and composting bin! Completely cleared out the yard and put down mulch to kill out the weeds (surprised it worked lol) and now we are just waiting until spring to get back at it. Having the torts completely made us start growing our own veggies and fruits including microgreens & strawberries which my torts love! They enjoy the wheatgrass fodder as well. Surprising we've got berries in the winter! Porch food! Lol Just dropped in for the update!

 

[CarolM]

Awesome. Looking forward to seeing the end results. I like your idea with the strawberries. I must do that too as my boys love strawberries.