This has been a rough week at work. Oh, not the work itself, that's the same old same old. Same old complaints. Same old problems that they refuse to solve. Same old blaming the brazers instead of solving those problems...same old everything.
No, the problem has been that I just didn't want to be there. I knew we had this cool down coming this weekend, and I was itching to get out and work in the garden and start getting my beds prepped for next spring. And once the seemingly interminable work week was done, that's exactly what I did.
Well, this morning I did. Yesterday I went to the store and they finally had some rotisserie chickens out, so I got one with the intention of making soup one day this week. I'm planning on making sweet potato soup and some red beans and rice also, and once I'm done, I'll have plenty of stuff in the freezer. I'm wanting to eat healthier, but man, those Michelina's Microwavable Macaroni are so easy to toss into the microwave. I was hoping that tossing a container of homemade soup into the microwave would be just as easy, but so far it isn't working. Sigh...
Speaking of, I had to order some more food containers seeing as how I've made so much soup lately, I've used up all the ones I have. And soup has to be in a round container because soup is round.
IYKYK
The ones I ordered were supposed to arrive last Sunday, but they sat at the place Amazon sends local deliveries for 5 days without anyone picking them up. Stuff I'd ordered after I ordered those had already arrived, but my containers were supposedly still at the warehouse. Or whatever it is. Someone said it's behind the Chamber Of Commerce, so apparently it's just a storage building. I'm actually thinking about signing up to be a delivery driver myself after I retire. It'll give me something to do, a little extra pocket money, and I'll be able to go get my own packages.
Anyway, I ordered the same containers from a different seller, and as I type this, they're currently out for delivery so we shall see.
But I digress...
Back to this morning. The first thing that happened was that I woke up at 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep for anything. I guess that's better than waking up at 2:30, but still. I enjoyed a nice, leisurely cup of coffee, turned on the drip system -- remembering to set my timer this time-- and watched some TV until the sun came up enough for me to see.
And the first thing I saw had me seeing red.
Yes, that...some cat who shall remain nameless decided to use my clover bed as a litter pan. All my poor little seedlings were totally dug up. I could have cried. But I didn't. No sense crying over spilled, um, clover. Instead I smoothed the soil back out, scattered some more clover seeds, then covered the bed with the plastic chicken wire I bought for just such an occasion.
Once that was done, and the cat's existence sufficiently threatened, I turned my attention to leveling and lining up these beds.
I think they are about as good as they are going to get.
I can live with this, at least until they've rotted beyond usability and I replace them with metal beds. I tried something different this time, and I hope I didn't mess up. When I dug the clay out of the bottom of the bed, I piled it between the bed and the fence. I'm hoping that help keep the soil from leaking out of the bottom of the beds. Eh, if it doesn't work, I'll remove it when I replace these beds.
Next step was to add the soil, but before I did that, I chopped up my dead rosemary
and put it into the bottom for some organic matter to offset the little bit of red clay I couldn't get out. Hopefully the worms will find it and mix all that clay into the native soil so it isn't that big of a deal. Then I added the soil.
And of course, having learned my lesson, I added the plastic protection layer.
I'm debating on whether to plant some crimson clover in this one, too, or just leave it. Or I may scatter some Bachelor's Button seeds that I'd saved a couple of years ago. I don't know if they're still viable, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. Since these are going to be pollinator beds anyway, those will be a good choice, since they volunteer readily.
Unfortunately, I only had enough soil for those two beds, so I didn't even bother to start digging the clay out of the other two. I want to go to the Farmer's Market tomorrow for probably the last time this season, so maybe after that I can run by Walmart and pick up some more soil. Or maybe I can go after my dentist appointment Tuesday. I don't know...Heck, maybe I'll just pay the delivery fee and have them bring it to the house.
After a bite of lunch and a bit of rest, I started filling the other metal raised bed. I started with a few log from the firewood pile in the very bottom, using sort of an abbreviated version of hügelkultur.
I was going to put a few more logs in the bottom, but I couldn't quite bring myself to put my firewood into the garden bed. What I did instead was when the power company trimmed the branches back from the power lines last week, I snuck out and picked up the trimmings.
I started cutting those up and putting them on top of the logs until I got tired and decided to call it a day.
I'll fill this bed the same way I filled the last one -- with stuff like this, and when it breaks down, I'll add compost on top of that, then finish filling it with garden soil. Maybe by spring, it'll be ready to plant, too. At least I hope so.
Now for a bit of good news -- while I was writing this post, my containers have been delivered! Let the soup making begin. Oh, and I bought this little thing on clearance last year because it was cute and on sale, but I don't know what to do with it.
I know the big ones are used for cooking, similar to a Dutch oven, but this one is so small. I was thinking about using it as a serving dish at Thanksgiving.
Except I don't even know what we're doing for Thanksgiving. I don't know what the kids' work schedules are, or if they'll be able to come or what, and knowing them, they won't tell me until the last minute.
I don't like finding things out at the last minute. I usually start planning Thanksgiving in July or August. Normally, I just do what I want, and if they show up, they show up. If not, I have a good meal and watch the Parade and football with the cat.
And the bad news, it's been a week and I haven't heard back from the tree guy. I'm beginning to suspect I've been ghosted again. I'm going to give him a few more days, but if he doesn't show this next week, I'll have to try to call someone else.
This is why I don't cross things off the list until after the job has been completed.
No comments:
Post a Comment