Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Working in the Mud and the Yuck



It was 50 degrees and sunny in Salt Lake City today, absolutely gorgeous, and I just had the best time working in the yard for the first time since fall. It might surprise some people that I enjoyed myself so much. Did I mention we have a dog who is rarely walked and our yard is only about 500 square feet? And did I mention that I haven't worked in the yard since fall? Ok, maybe I've painted too accurate of a picture now. On top of cleaning up over 50 dog messes, I also shoveled compost, that came in all degrees of decomposition, into the gardens. Then I began turning the beds, mixing in our compost along with a few shovels full of organic turkey manure. I bet some of you think the previously stated enthusiasm was sarcasm. Sincerely it was not. Oh my goodness! This is the exact conversation I had with one of my middle school students today.

Why was I so enthusiastic? I don't know if it was the sun, the smell of spring, the worms, or the anticipation I felt inside knowing that soon little seedlings would be sprouting out of the ground. Whatever it was, I genuinely felt like I was in my element.

Unfortunately, after about an hour of work, my baby girl woke up, and I was pulled away from my playground of decomposing food and dirt. I ran to calm her cries, and while normally I don't keep her waiting, today I felt it was best to tidy up just a bit before I plucked her from the crib. I figured she would not appreciate the mud and the yuck all over my hands and clothes as much as I did.


Moments later, Monet and I were playing on the floor, and soon the room smelt a bit like what I was dealing with in the garden. Sure enough, Monet gave me another mess that needed cleaning. Unlike our dogs 50 individual piles, Monet's mess was of a much grander and more unified scale. Good thing Daddy was home, this was definitely a two person job. You see Monet only poops once a week while Snickers goes once or twice a day. You can choose for yourself which is worse. I'm still undecided

Through all the mud and the yuck, I still had a smile glued to my face. That's what playing in the sun, the dirt, and with my baby girl does to me.

(Follow the link to see more of our baby Monet)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

SOOO I really want to make some garden boxes for outside. I should probably get started soon hu? Are there any books or websites that you would recommend to help me in this new adventure?
-Kristi

Angela Flicker: The Art of Making a House a Home in Utah said...

I would reccomend only going about 4 ft. wide with any of your beds. This way you can grab everything without too much of a problem. We built ours 4ft.x4ft. and about 16 inches tall. The size is great, but if I had to do it again I might splurge on the cost of wood and make it a foot or a foot and a half taller so that it doesn't require as much bending. I also found a couple of sites that have some good info.

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

http://cmg.colostate.edu/gardennotes/713.pdf

Maybe in the future we will try to do a blog segment about raised bed gardening.

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