Tilling, Graphing, Over-thinking

Good news!  We got the garden tilled!  At left, you can see why tilling is important.  That is the "before" photo.  You can see the weeds that had already moved in and made themselves right at home.  But not to worry, more weeds will come to replace those that we destroyed.  The soil in the garden gets compacted over the winter as well, and needs to be loosened to allow seedlings to put down roots easily.
 To complete the task, we rented a mid-tine tiller.  Last year we got the GIANT rear-tine tiller, and Tom said it cut through the ground like butter.  Mid-tine tillers are able to cut sod, but are not powerful monsters like the rear-tines.  That meant Tom had to work extra hard to get the tiller to the correct depth.  Next year he votes for a rear-tine. Even though it is a bit over powered, it is super fast, and would dramatically cut down on the time spent tilling.  I am sure Tom's back would appreciate it too!

Here you can see the finished look of the tilled soil!  It looks 'fluffy' and ready to be planted.  You can also see a bit of my madness from the twine graph I made.  Last year I did some extreme estimating to decide how much space I had and where I could plant everything.  The main issue is that the garden plot is irregular making it extremely difficult to map out.  We rent the duplex we live in, so I had no choice on plot dimensions.  When we got here, there was a fenced in garden plot full of tall weeds.  We got rid of the weeds, tilled the garden with the mega tiller, and planted.  This year I wanted to map out my plantings a bit more, since I am planting more things and putting things in at different times.  I would hate to plant stuff, only to have to destroy it because I need the space for something else!

Behold my translated map!  Completely to scale!  The hand drawing makes it easier to see how oddly shaped the garden is.  You'll notice that I separated it into two sections.  They are actually connected, but for the purposes of my map, it was easier to separate them.  Part of the garden is not on the map.  That is the area where I already have strawberries from last year, and then a "compost" section where we store grass clippings for mulch.  It is not an official compost, since it is not covered and we do attend to it, but it does have decomposing plant life in it from last year.
Throughout my task of making a grid over the garden and then drawing my to-scale model (I made a rough draft too!), Tom was giving me the 'You know you are completely insane, right?' look.  I responded with a simple, 'Yeah, I know'  :-).  Obsessed and perfectionist are terms that would work as well, though I really just like having a structured plan and a visual to go with it.  I actually find mapping out my plantings as fun as the actual garden work!  And speaking of ACTUAL work, I had better go do some.  Will update with what I have planted asap!