You may have to get your hands dirty...very dirty (Butterfly GardenPart 2)

The Story:  After removing all that gravel, you discover that underneath, from years of heavy gravel and rainwater unabsorbed by plants, there is a hard clay-dust-rock-like substance that is in no way arable land.  Much like a martian landscape, your garden area is barren and incapable of supporting life.  So, off to the local hardware store you go, after measuring the garden and calculating how many square feet of soil you're going to need to buy.  You schedule a delivery of what should be more than enough soil, and when it gets there (three days after the scheduled delivery date), it sits on the sidewalk next to the garden while it rains for a week.  Meanwhile, your actual planting date is looming ever closer, because before you actually dug out the garden space, you've been hosting programs where the children helped prepare the plants (more on that in another post).  And now they're sprouting.

Finally, you get a nice enough day to get out there with a shovel and a garden rake, you put the dirt down, and discover you're still, somehow, a little bit short.  Back to the hardware store for another delivery.  This eventually comes and you cover up the rest of the barren garden bed, just in time for the first sprout planting program with the kids.

The Lesson & Resources:  Be prepared to get your hands seriously dirty and muddy, and bring clothing and shoes you don't care about to change into before you start dumping dirt.  You may wind up doing most of this part yourself due to scheduling, weather, etc.  Allow more time and more resources than you think you actually need, and then allow for more.  You'll always be over-budget and barely on time.  You will, however, eventually end up with a plantable garden, and kids who are excited to do the planting.

Stay tuned for more misadventures in planning a library butterfly garden.