I didn't know. I just didn't know.
I've been planning on turning part of my parents yard into a garden for about a year now. Last week Mom called my cousins to see if they would rototill the garden for me. Um, it turns out we should've put weedkiller on the grass last August to aid this process along. They said that they Could but it would make for a clumpy garden. A few days later my Mom spoke to a family friend who also has a garden and a rototiller. He said, "Well, sure, I can do that for Diane, but she'll need to turn over that yard with a shovel first."
I was not dismayed.
Friday night I bought a sprinkler. Saturday morning we hooked up that sprinkler and soaked the ground in order to make this process easier. (I tried to shovel the dry ground and it just doesn't work). Also, I have no sneakers so I was wearing sandals. I worked for about 2 hours Saturday and turned over 6x14 feet of yard. Sunday afternoon I came back (shhhhh) and tried again but it was too hot.
Around 6 p.m. Sunday afternoon I called Mom, "Hey - can I come over and spend the night? I'd like to try the garden again and I know if I stay the night that I'll get an early start." I worked that night until 8:30 and expanded the garden to 9x24 feet. This did not feel like work. I was having Fun.
Monday morning at 9 a.m. I was outside once again. This time I was barefoot. This time I had to turn over all those dirt clods in order to dry them out. I need to rescue all that dirt and toss all that grass. Flipping the sod took me 6 full hours and I was dancing and singing the whole time. I cannot tell you how great it felt. The work was hard, yes, and some of the clods weighed at least 10 lbs but I had dreams of melons and peppers in my head.
I was going to go back later this week and shake out all the dirt but we have rain in the forecast. I hope the rain shakes out the dirt. If not, I have more work ahead of me before I plant one single seed. My plan is to start planting this weekend.
Then a fence, and maybe some sort of mulching, oh and fertilizer and watering and oh I cannot wait. Please come over and watch my garden grow!
7 comments:
WoW! I know just how hard that must have been. I have to say that I am VERY impressed.
How long did it take?
Hol-y!
That's going to be a sweet garden. I can't believe you did that all in one day.
Flowers? Greens? A mix of both?
Thanks!
No, it took 3 days but the same clothes each day. :)
All veggies, baby! No flowers!
Wow. That looks like a lot of work. May I suggest a very stiff soled shoe in the future...something like a steel toe work boot. Amazing what a difference it makes on the back of a shovel.
Maybe you could be a garden consultant. I have about 3 acres and I know I could grow enough food for everyone with a mile if only I knew what to do.
Thatis one big $%! garden!! WOW! Can't wait to see how it is all going when we come in July :o)
Good advice from Chad, your podiatrist brother would agree w/ a decent pair of shoes. For heavens sakes, you could get a crappy pair of tennies from Meijer for 10$!! Treat yourself and your feet...before Matt has to...
Oh my gosh, I am so amazed by that garden I was nearly speechless. You rock!!!
Can't wait for progress reports.
L.
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