Friday, August 3, 2012

Mortgage Lifter Tomato and a bit of stonework

I always wanted a property with a real New England dry stone wall, and I love the old wall that was carefully rebuilt to make a space for my driveway. But it's  always been a tight space, especially on the right. Twice delivery trucks have hit the wall, and I've paid craftsmen to rebuild the same section.
But I was proud of my ability to avoid the wall.
Until last Friday, when I scattered stones for several feet turning my Tacoma too sharply as I backed up the drive from the garage. When I saw that the only damage to the truck was  some scratches on the wheel well and a bent mudflap, I felt very lucky.
I piled the stones into the now crushed bed of stella d'oro daylilies and went to work. By the time I came home that night, I had a plan. I would rebuild the wall myself, but finally move it further back. And I would make a path through the shade garden with the extra rocks.
And so I did!
Here's the wall before:

And here it is after:


 These pictures show each end of the new path:


And today I ate the first ripe full sized tomato from the garden, a funny looking and delicious Mortgage Lifter.  A wonderful sweet rich heirloom, perfect cut up into chunks with a sherry vinaigrette featuring my own finely diced garlic.