Dirt Therapy. . .

I sit here at my computer this morning feeling sweaty and super-duper awesome, which is nice for a change.  My week has been rough.  Not awful, just not satisfying.  My class feels chaotic and out of control, I'm not feeling like I'm getting things done at home much, I've had a terrible gout attack this week, and I just feel a little out of it.  Not Amie at all.

So last night when I got home (Super-K is spending the weekend with a friend so I can be as self-centered as I want for a couple of days) I went out into the "garden" (it's really just a tiny part of my yard, so I was considering not calling it a garden anymore, but I changed my mind--more on that later) and started weeding, which led to watering and when I went over to turn on the water, I noticed some old concrete garden borders --not sure if that's what they are called-- behind some bushes that I've never paid any attention to.  I started pulling them out, and I remembered that I stored some more of the same kind behind the compost bin when I built that and I pulled them out too.  A disgusting job, since bugs were all over the bottom of them and they were partially buried in the dirt.  I hosed them off and they look just fine, even though one was broken, I gorilla-glued it back together.  I was feeling very resourceful at that point, so I laid them out at the end of my front walkway where there is an awkward square turn, and dug out a little area, partially buried them, and added compost and planting medium into the little bed.  Mind you, it's only about 24" x 12" in a half-moon shape, but it looks so cute.  

I've been reading a lot of homesteading and permaculture blogs (RESEARCH, PEOPLE!) and one that I read--sorry, I don't remember which one--said that if you wait for the perfect situation, you will never do anything--"start where you are".  

So I started thinking, I am lucky enough to live in a house that my parents own, so I can pretty much plant what I want, dig where I want, and I'm pretty secure in staying here awhile, if not forever, so why not just go ahead and do what I can now.  Meaning, I've been waiting until I can afford to build "several" (no specific number here) raised beds to start my little experiment, while working with the two beds and several pots I have going now, but why not plant some stuff in the ground now.  By the way, the raised beds aren't expensive, it's the planting mix that I make that is, but it will last a lifetime, all I have to do is add compost when I pull something out and replant, according to Mel Bartholomew (sp?) of Square Foot Gardening fame.  

Again with the theme of the year, "Never Underestimate the Power of Humans to Complicate Simple Things".  Plants have been growing in the ground for millions of years (no specific number on that either).  So I've been planning on building a raised bed just for herbs, but this little spot--the half moon--is so cute, all I could think of was a bunch of herbs growing there and seeing them and smelling them every time I come home and walk up to the door.  What is wrong with me?  Why do I get so hung up on how I want things to be "ideally" that I can't see what's right in front of my face?  So I have been rooting some adorable herbs in water on my kitchen window, and I'm planting them there.  There were also some little tiny basil plants that came from my old plant when it went to seed earlier than I anticipated, so I transplanted those in there.  

"Start where you are."  Valuable advice. 

So I came in last night, feeling a lot better about life in general, and this morning I decided to go out and work a little more.  Two hours later my compost bin is full of stuff that has been just hanging out waiting for me to put it in there, the coffee grounds that I get from Starbucks is spread into the garden and the compost bin, the invasive vine that my neighbors love so much and grows into my side yard like a tidal wave is cut back to their fence, I raked a crap-ton of leaves from under the oak tree and mulched the tomatoes, beans and cucumbers, and dug into my compost bin to see how my compost is doing.  This always makes me feel better.  Weird, I know.  I have also been "planning" (which I think we all know means looking at pretty pictures on the internet) to lay down layers of newspaper next to my raised beds and mulching over them for pretty paths (I guess technically that would be A PATH since my beds sit next to each other and are next to the front steps).  I picked a space where I want my potting bench to be--next to the compost bin--and dug out all the stuff that was there, and it's kind of where I've been throwing large sticks that I don't want to put into the compost bin, so it was kind of a mess.  I pulled out the sticks and stuff, cut the plants and vines back, layered on a bunch (at least 10 sheets deep) of newspaper, and covered all of it with free mulch, which is the leaves from the oak tree out front.  Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.  I wet everything down and walked around on it a little to compress it and I think it will stay put.  The area is not big--maybe 6' x 6', but it looks pretty good, and I have a place to put my potting table when I get it built. 

Which brings me to why I am sitting at my computer blogging while I'm still sweaty and dirty.  This all felt so good to me, getting out there and DOING SOMETHING, even though it didn't really change what is going on in my life right now, I feel better.  So in the spirit of starting where I am, I decided that my little garden is a garden, and I'm calling it that.  Now I have an herb garden too.  And a compost pile,  and a place for a potting bench.  I'm official.  I've planted stuff from seeds. which is my personal definition of official.  I'm sweaty, and happy and dirty.  (Although I will take a shower as soon as I finish writing this)

In doing my "research" last night, I found out that I can get free compost at the landfill, which isn't very far from where I live.  I'm going to empty out a couple of big bins that I have, and head over there with a shovel.  I wish I had a truck.  I also found out that some people around the corner raise rabbits for meat and give away free rabbit manure, so I'm going to try to connect with them too.  Good for the garden. 

I'm embracing my inner hippie.  Peace, love, and compost.