Concrete Cutting #2 & 3

Since our first intention was to cut the concrete and get rid of it, we cut it in 1-2' square pieces. Then permaculture entered our plans and everything changed. We rented the concrete saw for another day and got most of the cutting done before the saw broke and we had to take it back. Turned out that Home Depot forgot to put on the bolts to hold on the safety guard, they were surprised that it ran for 4 hours. They quickly told me that the rental would be no cost since it was their fault. I am sure I heard the neighbours sigh when they knew we would have to rent the saw for a 3rd time 2 weeks later!

Next came the fun part--moving the concrete, digging the beds, and swales! Here is the vision we had laid out in boards and fencing:

While Tim was prying up the concrete, I dug swales in the garden. Following a similar rainbow pattern to last year, we added made sure to add in keyholes so that there would be no need to walk on the soil and cause compaction.

Here you can see the two beds closest to the garden are laid out and Tim is working on the 3rd bed.

After digging the swales, keyholes, and approximately leveling them, I began laying in the weeping tile covered with fabric into the swales. By the time I finished all of the swales, Tim was just about finished moving the concrete from one of the beds.

While we were prying and digging, our plants were yelling out words of encouragement so that they could get in the ground before summer started.

Now what to fill our swales with? We planned to use wood mulch for adding carbon to the soil and we figured that it was easier to dig out than rock if we changed our mind on using swales. As usual, our plans changed due to our concrete situation!