This is supposed to be my day off exercise, but it was nice and cool and overcast this morning so I rode over to the house and started digging. I lasted about two hours -- until the sun broke through -- and got about half way through the job:


To the right of the hoe you can barely make out a shelf. This is for plants that like to get their feet wet but don't like to be too deep. Papyrus and taro are a couple of examples.


I'm leaving the sides quite sloped right now to protect against erosion should it rain heavily before we get the liner in. The sides will still be sloped, but less than they are now.

I think it was Thetyim who asked where the soil from the hole would go. Part of the answer is here:


They still haven't finished filling this side yard. It's about 40cm below grade level. So, it's a perfect place to dump the soil I don't need. When I run across some decent topsoil I'm putting it in a separate pile for use in adjusting the contour of the garden.

I should be able to finish digging in a day or so, depending on the weather.