2/25/2021

My tractor money and a reality check!

 



  •  I bought my tractor in the mid-80s. I paid $5,000 for it secondhand and it was practically new with a front end loader and a rototiller in the back.  I loved that tractor and spent many an hour behind the wheel..   It was such a great deal. I used it for 30 years and sold it for $4,000. I didn't want this money to just disappear into the general fund and  I wanted to use it for something special so I put it in an envelope  in my sock drawer waiting for just the right thing to come along.
  •   My garden is that last thing I think about when I go to sleep and the first thing I think about in the morning so that is where my tractor money will go. I've so many things that I hastily put in "temporary" beds  when we moved and they need a permanent spot.  And making permanent spots means digging out sod... I spent so much of last summer digging and dealing with sod.  I thought I 'd hire  that done along with some other major things I wanted done so I had less heavy work and could focus on planting,  I started in January to get some estimates.  and I could quickly see it would take all my tractor money and then much more to do everything on my wish list   and now that I see how expensive it is I'm going to have to start trimming my wish list.  But the biggest shock is everyone is booked into late summer already. So I'm looking at things I can do without, do myself, and things that can wait.  I am also going to have to designate a holding area for sod and deal with it later this summer.

  • Originally  I thought I'd like a new sprinkler system   But it is not critical and I can live with what I've and just adjust my plantings. And my precious tractor money will go mainly for supplies like lumber and pavers and a new little rototiller.  The main things I was going to hire help with was expanding the terrace area near the raised beds (which is now mud.)  If I can handle that then next is a paved area under my sweet pea gazebo. We had snow this morning but it quickly melted and my first daffodils are poking out of the ground..  The garden is the one place that I'm not constantly impeded by my failing vision.  

2 comments:

Lady Locust said...

Your garden is looking beautiful (last I saw). I can only imagine it will continue to grow even more so 🌱. As far as being booked until end of summer, we are in a specialty construction business and are also looking at the end of summer. It is so lucrative not to work right now that it is extremely difficult to find anyone willing 😕. On a lighter note- I have some bags of soil in my trunk to unload and am looking forward to planting also 🌷

Magpie's Mumblings said...

I wonder if, during these times of covid, the gardening 'people' have increased their prices because they know they have people at their mercy. Perhaps you could keep your eye on the local paper and there might be people currently out of work that would be happy to come and give you a hand with the heavy lifting and moving.

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