my garden and yard

Where do you start?? Holy smokes, yard work is so fun but so hard at the same time!

Here's my to-do list:
1. Areate
2. Fertilize
3. Patch grass (figure out what grass I have first of course)
4. Garden: dig out all the topsoil and replace with new healthy soil (and thus fertilizer/sand/etc)....and of course plant garden!
5. Flower beds: dig out and transplant patio plants & trim back bushes/plants in side beds
6. Cut down or dig out big annoying evergreen tree - would like to replace with a big leafy tree :)
7. Figure out how to pull out big stumps.
8. Build treeless fort for boys: thus find a posthole digger as i've talked with a variety of builders and they say I have to build 4 feet down for a strong foundation (ugh)...I could expand this point but i'll leave it at that
9. Debating building "proper" steps down the side of my house this year

Most everything on this list will happen this year (maybe not #3, #6 & #9) - hoping.

My garden: I attended a Relief Society class on gardening. Last year I just planted my garden to see how it would turn out - didn't look at the soil too closely, etc, just planted. It was a very poor crop. After this class I learned alot of things. One thing that I learned was that you need something like 6-12" (depending on the plants) of good soil for the roots to grow into. I decided to dig down in my raised beds (that were here before we moved in), and I only got about 3-4" down before hitting clay in certain areas! So I've spent a few hours digging out these boxes...i'm almost done but I ran out of space to pile up the dirt. I need a truck to haul some away then I can finish.

Side note: i'm glad I started this now so that I will be done in time to plant end of May.

Anyways, some of the beds hit clay shallower while some hit deeper. Now I'm going to have to go and buy probably the equivalant to 20-30 bags of topsoil & fert/sand/etc....I'm going to go to the landscape places and see if they sell it in "bulk". I hate the idea of -buying- dirt. Doesn't that just sound so dumb?? Oh well...I'll have a killer garden by the time i'm done and I shouldn't have to do this every year!

I'm going to plant peas, beans, carrots, potatos, 2 tomato plants, maybe some onions and then gonna pot some strawberries for fun. Hoping to also add 1-3 perennials to my flower beds - the dream I have for my beds are far too much (financially) for one year, so the grass and garden are getting my attention in that regard.

If you had told my preteen/teen self that i'd one day like gardening - I'd have told you you were crazy :)