Starting the garden path

My Saturday project was to start the garden path.    Maybe it's because I'm a little type A or maybe it's because I'm an engineer, I don't know, but I like to have some organization in my garden.  That includes trying to keep the garden beds and mulched paths separate.  In the garden plot, we had somewhat raised garden boxes to perform that service.

For this garden, I decided that I'd buy some scrap plywood from the salvage yard and rip it to size to use for borders. 

 
I also bought some 1xWhatever boards and rip that to size to use for home made stakes. 

Once all that was done, I dug some trenches along the grassed areas where I'd roto-tilled.

After installing the path borders, I laid down scrap cardboard that we'd collected for the last few months.  That wasn't all that hard considering the shipping crates and all the Amazon boxes we accumulate here.  Prior to putting that down, though, I try to remove all the plastic from the boxes from the tape and labels.

Once that was done, I started mulching.  Thankfully, I'd thought ahead and bought bulk mulch.  Since I have a truck, I got a single load which is about 1 cubic yard.

Below, you can see how far I got with the single cubic yard of mulch.  Unfortunately, I was one wheelbarrow short of a full application for that path section.  The borders will be much less noticeable after I add compost to the garden.

Considering how much I got done, I figure I'm going to need another 3-4 cubic yards to finish the garden paths.  I also need to get more scrap plywood and staking material for the borders.

I have a lot more to do, but it's a start.