Digging for garden treasure
It all started when we decided our kids had outgrow the trampoline in our backyard . It took six people 15 minutes to raise it over the fence to give it to our neighbors with untried kid . An 60 minutes subsequently , my dearest and I already had vestigial program to put in a patio and ardor pit where the trampoline had been . Lucky me , there was also space for my newest gardening experiment : dahlias .
It began in the mode most projects initiate on a cheery Sunday morning . We rake old mulch out of the mode and dug up several perennial that needed to be rehomed . Then we till the post where the dahlias would go . After a few passes with the cultivator , my love hit something solid . He try on to pry up what he thought was a orotund rock , but it did n’t budge . So he fag a little deep .
Strange . What we thought was a rock was n’t a rock music . It was a 6 - in concrete wall that looked like it might be rotary . Maybe an previous well ?
Our oddment was formally pique ! Honey strike the gumption about a foot down . A lot of sand . And a lot of flies that had maybe been hibernating ? Gross .
The concrete edge was n’t circular like a well but continued on for 6 foot .
Now we were curious AND a little fawn out . Please do n’t allow it be a grave accent , I begged the universe . An hour later , we expose most of the social organisation . The concrete walls were at least 5 foot deep and still half - fill with sand , previous bricks , and rock remnants that someone had used as makeweight .
Around this time , our Word arrive out to help oneself , and I allow , our imagination ran a short wild . For a hot second , we skip it was an old bomb tax shelter or tempest cellar . We dug down further to see if we could pick out the top of a door . No dice . No door .
Had someone been bootlegging hooch in our backyard many years ago ? Had we bring out an unknown halt on the Underground Railroad ? Was this the 1900s reading of a hot tub ? Did we fag far enough down to roll in the hay for sure that someone ’s Grandpa was n’t buried back here ?
Then we got practical . It was probably too far from the theater to be a water tank . Our home was built in the early 1900s but always had indoor plumbing , so it was n’t the foundation for an outhouse . So what was it ?
After we finally reveal the intact body structure and chatted with a booster who ’s an architectural historian , we now consider this was most potential a water supply feature of speech from the fifties or earlier . After much debate , we decided this was too cute to rebury or demolish , so we ’re recreating the top layer and turn it into a decorative garden plantation owner . Another DIY project for me and my honey … and you have it away how those usually go . Stay tuned !
Though Jamie usually revel yard piece of work and a fun backyard project , the 80 - pound pavers she chose for the new patio almost took her out this year . It turns out she is no spring chicken , and her neck and back are n’t as forgiving as they used to be .
Read Jamie ’s new novel!The Weight of Water
Related Links : understand More In the WeedsShopIn the WeedsTotes & Tees !
