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The Search is Over

August 26th, 2015

For the past year, I’ve been searching for bricks for a walkway in the potager. I wanted old bricks, not the shiny new pavers from the home improvement store. I wanted bricks with a history, ones that had been a chimney, a house, or something else. A few weeks ago, I found an ad on Craigslist for bricks, old ones, lots of them. Just what I was looking for!
vintage bricks 1
We picked up one load in our little car 2 weeks ago, and quickly realized we needed bigger guns. Enter Brian’s work truck.
vintage bricks 4
On Saturday, we made our way back down to Biddeford to get the remaining bricks from the bottom of the Cleaves Castle in Biddeford. This basement was a mansion at one time, then eventually became a city building with a jail in the bottom. These bricks may have been the walls between the cells.
vintage bricks 2
vintage bricks 3
Regardless of what these bricks have seen in their lifetime, they will now be perfectly at home in my garden. This fall I hope to start the preparation for the walkways. That will be a lot of work, but well worth the effort.

What’s your favorite pathway material in the garden?

5 Comments to “The Search is Over”
  1. Mrs. H on August 26, 2015 at 8:59 am

    I want to use brick to edge our flower beds and make a path in our back yard. You have inspired me to search for old bricks. Just like houses, old bricks have more character than new ones do.

    Reply to Mrs. H's comment

  2. bonnie knox on August 26, 2015 at 9:00 am

    I don’t have any paved pathways in my garden, but I do like stone as well as brick.
    I love old bricks that have been weathered and have history and “character.”

    Reply to bonnie knox's comment

  3. Kyle on August 26, 2015 at 10:12 am

    I just spent yesterday moving what I calculated to be 1960 lbs of pavers into my greenhouse to make it a more useable space. Blackberries and thistles had been growing up through the ground the last couple of years making it a hot, dusty, unpleasant mess. I inherited it, placed in a bizarre location largely in the shade, so it is more of a shed, but now it is a pleasant shed.

    This was a test-run to build a patio out of bricks or pavers, hopefully salvaged. Though, I have a big Dodge truck and was starting to worrying about whether my tire rating was high enough to move that much weight at once. Salvaging would have to go in a couple of loads….

    Reply to Kyle's comment

  4. Erika on August 27, 2015 at 7:54 am

    Those are beautiful bricks and should make a lovely pathway. Nice score!

    Reply to Erika's comment

  5. Chris on August 27, 2015 at 12:54 pm

    Love old brick pathways…I do have a couple. Tip…when weeds start growing between them, I just pour vinegar on them! :)

    Reply to Chris's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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