Pro tip: check your backyard before you dig a garden bed

Last Saturday I was digging up a patch for some tomatoes in my yard in Portland. My shovel hit something hard about 8 inches down, and I figured it was just a rock. Turned out to be a whole rusted-out cast iron pot from what looked like the 1920s buried under the dirt. I spent the rest of the afternoon carefully excavating around it instead of planting. Has anyone else accidentally found old stuff while doing yard work?

3 comments

3 Comments

alicer5316h ago

My sister found an old glass milk bottle in her yard in Vermont a few years back, still had the dairy name embossed on it. She got so into it she started digging up the whole garden patch and found a whole set of those old blue Ball jars buried in a line like someone was storing them for later. Ended up selling them to a collector for enough to buy a whole greenhouse kit. Now every time she digs a hole she's hoping for treasure instead of just dirt.

wells.christopher1d ago

Ever notice how the stuff we plan to do always gets derailed by what's already there waiting for us? Your garden project turning into an archaeology dig is a perfect example of that. Funny how that old pot mattered more in that moment than your tomato plants ever could.

harperp2410h ago

Planning something is just setting yourself up for disappointment when real life gets in the way.