Finally the dust is beginning to settle from our move earlier this June. What I am now affectionately calling the beach shack is starting to look like home. It is hard to grasp that every inch of this house needs some sort of work.  Every appliance, most electrical, most floors, and most windows. The hot water heater is leaking and the heating system non-existent. When I feel overwhelmed I put on my boots and go into the ‘garden’. Well there isn’t a garden per se, just a massive expanse of lawn and weeds. It for some reason doesn’t feel as intimidating as the house. I know that it is just a matter of sweat, time and patience. All within my grasp.

When I look out my window now I see green, I hear birdsong and water running. The 3 1/2 acres of green I now own just needs tending. I need to clear a path to the beach,  clear away the pond weed and horsetail so I can see the water and beat back the blackberry bushes that have overtaken what plants are still struggling to survive there. The making of a garden is a much less urgent task than the replacement of faulty wiring but for me it will keep me focused on the reason I am here… the beach.

I have helped clients on the waterfront with beach gardens for many years. It’s always one of my favorite places to garden. There is an inherent challenge with the salt air and the wind exposure. Soil can be blown or washed away. Delicate foliage can be burned by the extreme sun or wind. Things have to be a little tougher on the beach. Now I have a bit of beach of my own. It will be fun to experiment with growing things outside what I already know. To try new things, learn about frost pockets and evaporation first hand. I hope you enjoy these first photos of the new house. It is and will always be more about the land and less about the house (though I will get that unwieldy beast under control as well). Obviously there is much to be done here.  Join me on my adventure into transforming this garden… again.

Here is the house and surrounding “gardens”… And here’s the blank canvas in a shade of green.  I get a little giddy just thinking about the possibilities…

As if the canvas of green grass wasn’t enough here is my beach.  Did you catch it?  MY beach!

So, there you have it, my beach shack.  I’ve already started making little modifications here and there and I will keep posting updates as we go along.

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