stinky i do remember a couple of stories like that, slightly different though. one of those were a lesson in rehab no less. how many pebbles can you get out of the jar in one try? so you would reach in and grab a handfull, then you couldnt get your hand out because you had a fistfull of pebbles.(you might get a couple out if you were carefull and grabbed them with your fingertips) the other was a couple of crows on a picnic table with pitchers of water on them, since the water was too low for them to stick their heads in and get a drink one of the crows decided to wait till it rained then he could surely get a drink, the other started picking up small pebbles and dropping them in his pitcher. eventually he had put in enough pebbles to raise the water level to the top of his pitcher and he could drink from it.
that garden will still be a humongus amount of work, but i am glad you found somebody to help you.