I had a vague idea what Labor Day was, so I looked it up. Loosely translated it means barbecues and yard work for America. I personally have been laboring all week to excavate along my fence to create a new flower bed.

Truly, after I put a rock garden in last spring, I wasn’t sure I’d ever want to work that hard again. However, for this new bed, I only needed to pull sod. I thought it would be an easy task because there was little grass left in the area. But don’t judge a patch of sod by its cover. It was still labor intensive.

I started out on Monday thinking I’d just “whip” through it. After two hours I had maybe a fourth of it finished. I didn’t get back to it until Thursday and I had to race the rain. I filled two yard waste bins and started throwing the rest on a tarp so I could keep it dry until the bins were dumped and I could fill them again. Five hours later, the rain hit (it was a half hour early according to the Weather channel). I still had a 3-by-6 foot strip of sod left.

When I woke Friday morning the weather was nice. But knowing it was going to turn to rain again soon, I got myself out there before I even ate breakfast. “I can finish this in a half hour,” I thought. Forty five minutes later it started raining and I’d only finished the tip of the remaining area.

I really wanted to get it all dug out so my husband and I could get soil for the area on Saturday, but I reluctantly gave in to the rain and went grocery shopping. By the time I got home it was sunny and beautiful. Having long given up on the reliability of the Weather Channel, I decided to get back out there immediately. I engaged my youngest, who doesn’t like nature much less gardening, to man the shovel. I promised she wouldn’t get dirty or have to touch dirt or bugs or anything. I just needed her to pry up the sod I’d already cut so I could stay on the ground and grab each clump and shake out clinging dirt. I knew with that one task being taken care of I really could whip out the rest. I was right, and I delivered on my promise of my daughter not getting any nature on her.

The next morning my husband and I bought dirt at the local dirt seller. My intention was to make a sort of berm to add architectural interest, make it easier to plant above our very rocky soil, and keep it away from any septic drain field. Then I had to go and think about the design.

I was tired of the planter boxes that were on my back patio, so I convinced my husband we should move them across the yard and put them in the new bed before we spread soil. It was no easy task, because they were full of dirt (he estimated 500 pounds each). It wasn’t one of those furniture rearrangements where I could change my mind once they were moved without putting my marriage in jeopardy. Good thing it looked nice. Then we spread three yards of soil and that part of the task was complete.

Sunday I was wiped out and could only manage to throw a few plants in the ground that I had propagated from cuttings earlier in the summer.

Labor Day, indeed. More like Labor Week.

Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. You can read more of her writing and her blog on her websitelivingwithgleigh.com, on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh.”or follow her on Twitter @livewithgleigh. Her column is available every week atmaplevalleyreporter.com under the Lifestyles section.