Our goal in landscaping the new barn centers around making the ground productive rather than consumptive- rather than cover the ground with turf that requires mowing, watering, and weed-killers, we'd prefer to utilize the space for growing things worthwhile. We'll plant gardens and drought-resistant plants, install pervious pathways, and collect rainwater for our irrigation needs. This week's project was gardening, or at least preparing for gardening. I built four raised bed gardens for the south side of the barn and also the stand to hold 10 rain barrels. Eventually, the rain gutters will discharge into the rain barrels and the water will be gravity fed to each of the raised beds for plant watering. But first we need rain gutters, downspouts, piping, several more rain barrels and of course dirt(!) to make all this work as planned....