gardening 25 Apr 2006 06:59 pm
A Garden Journal Entry…
“And I think to myself….what a wonderful world…..”
Today I didn’t get out in the garden until most of the day was done. After hanging my beautiful black and white photos my parents brought up from storage, after working with W and his letters, after multiple loads of laundry, after driving for over an hour trying to find Boy who went missing last night, after violin lesson. So, after the day. I almost could’ve skipped it; 5 o’clock is dinner prep time! But this house that is like an aviary struck me with it’s situation, clothed in green and flowers, and as I drove into the drive I knew I had to get my “dirties” on and get out in the garden.
- the never-ending clothesline project continues: getting the poles secure in this clay is wretched business and is proving to be incredibly difficult. This time I tried concrete after procrastinating on doing anything with those bags of grey rubble in my kitchen for well over a week. I dug the holes and poured in the gravel. I did give the directions a perfunctory read through but I felt very (overly) confident that I could match the water/concrete ratio by feel. So W turned on the hose and I splashed some in and….
- concrete is hard to mix. I stirred and stirred but still most of the water stayed in a runny, soupy mess on top. I got crabby fast. No way do I want the embarassment of goofing this one up with arrogance (should’ve read those directions better and hello?! Measured?!). But, onward I went. I held the metal pole up with one hand and poured in the mud with the other, dumping the unmixed powder over the top. I kinda mixed it in the hole. Then I scooped the dirt I’d dug out from the hole over the top of that and tamped it. Probably incredibly unothodox. Probably stands a good chance of fouling up. We’ll see.
- The rest of my time was spent weeding. There is some kind of funky ground cover all over the yard and it was in that garden plot before we attempted this transformation. Lo and behold, it’s showing itself all over the place. As I have no hoe or weeder, it was on my hands and knees and pulled out with gloved hands.
- the corn is up!! There are only a few gaps to fill in! I’m so excited to see my rows of corn…I talk to my plants as I go and I heard myself urge one plant on..”you can do it boy…”. Is corn male?
- true beauty: one curled corn seedling, about 5 inches high, cradling a single drop of water.
- as I came in for Taco Salad and the first guacamole of the year a storm came up. Beautiful wind, sunrise coming, and thunder. A rainbow was in the sky ahead. The birds barely ceased singing long enough for the rain to fall.
“…the bright blessed days, the dark sacred nights, and I say to myself, what a wonderful world…”
