Wow that's big! Did you dig that by hand and how do you keep the varmints out?

I had it worked up with a rototiller the first time, and then sprayed to kill the weeds. Of course, there were plenty of weeds left by the time I got back out to actually plant. So, me and my spade and claw worked up all of the ground again the pulled all of the weeds out. I'm going out everyday and I spend a couple of minutes pulling any stray weeds that have popped up, but it's very managable now.

new pictures - from a few minutes ago.






Ya know, I'm not sure how all of my plants aren't getting eaten by something. We ALWAYS have rabbits, possum, armadillo, raccoons, etc. out here...but for some reason, I guess they're not interested - which is fine by me!

I once talked to an expert grounds keeper at a private golf course and he said that once you roto-tilled, the ground will always stay soft. About 10 years ago we rented one for our vegetable garden and used it to till up a flower bed in our front yard. Two weeks ago I planted some red salvia for my hummingbirds and you could really feel the difference in the ground from where we had used the roto-tiller and where we hadn't disturbed.

I hope that's true. It'll make working it up next year much easier!