05/27/2009 – First day of Gardening
After a few months of failed vegetable gardening, I am now gathered with information and knowledge from my classes and readings. I am above all empowered with… patience.
Forty-two days past the compost piling. It’s not ready yet as hummus or even as a fertilizer. Last night’s rain turned the pile even more wet. I need to have it revolved somehow. I have none to help me with this job.
I raised the beds today in a small section closest to my house. I chose this site with basis on what I wanted to sow. It is wiser to have easy access to herbs and leafy vegetables.
MC’s father-in-law, a man in his early sixties whose alcohol, rope cigar, and harsh life had taken a toll on him. Smelling like urine, he taught me the best way to lay the beds and the height of it. Most books instruct to raise beds above 25cm, but he said the wind would dry it away quickly, so it rather be only 10 cm. It is a relief, as raising beds is not so easy or a light job. It requires a fair amount of muscle work. But the weather helped. It was cloudy and the soil wet enough. The soil had black spots from chicken manure. At the end of afternoon, I had sowed cilantro, parsley, collard greens, arugula, purple wild chicory, and three flowers to repel insects such as calendula, marigold, and nasturtium.
On a different plot, I sowed anis and two varieties of hot peppers. I plan to process peppers as sauce and dry flakes.
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