The new garden at Cumberlinda

It's important to know what is in your dirt. Here, I wrestled with roots from the maples we just had removed and I am finding rocks and chunks of pavement from an old patio or path about eight inches below the lawn. There are submerged buckets of cement that had been used to support the metal pipes of a trellis/pergola the remains of which are stored in the rafters of the garage. I'm breaking my back doing this digging but I like it. Looking at the rest of the lot, I'm thinking of paying someone with a nice big machine to clear out the rest, but I can't bear the thought of becoming Ian McClellan in Gods and Monsters. Meanwhile, so as not to lose the season, plants (including the fig tree!) wait in pots on the deck, like patient immigrants on the planks off the boat at Ellis Island.