a little stinky..

(note: since i was the worker today, i let the kids take the pictures)

so when we last spoke we were preparing to solarize the garden space…  so we bought some black plastic sheeting, only to learn that it is the clear plastic that we needed.

it was clear that we needed to do some research…   i took a trip to my most favorite nursery Baker Nursery (i have been going there since i could walk) and learned that what we needed was manure and soil sulfur to amend the soil (manure to add organic matter to our dirt and soil sulfur to get rid of excess salt.).  manure you say, and a lot of it!  so we did some research on where to get the poo.  there are all sorts of options, but the local choices were where we turned.  craig’s list has all sorts of people either giving away manure or selling it super cheap but in the end (because we don’t have a big truck or a trailer) we didn’t go bulk, but instead we started at the beginning back at Baker and loaded 30 cubic feet of steer manure (in bags of course) and a 50# bag of soil dispersant (which has the soil sulfur) into the back of the station wagon.

once home the kids (maryanne and a neighbor boy) helped me unload and set out the bags…

today’s mission… spread the poo and the sulfur, till it into the ground and cover with CLEAR plastic.  the manure and the sulfur have to be in the ground for a minimum of 6 weeks (some resources say 8 weeks) before we can plant, that means we are down to the wire for the fall planting.

so all 30 bags opened and soil sulfur spread… we will till in the evening (or so i thought)…  well, the tiller was out of gas, and i had to make dinner so this work would have to wait until the morn’..

the next morning we’re up.. the summer storms are coming (yeah!), it’s humid (yuck!)… 45 min later the poo and the sulpher are mixed in and the ground is soft and fluffy.. time to wet and cover.

while we spray the water the kids ask me why we are doing all this to the ground,  i smile.  that question along with the many questions to come is why i wanted to start this garden, to get the knowledge back and share it,  i tell them we are trying to kill all the grass and get all the good stuff back in the soil..  “when we puttin’ the plastic on?” they want to know…

together we spread out the plastic, the kids take turns with the camera, and in no time the garden is covered.

now we wait..and the ground bakes!  …in the mean time we’ll work on a final layout for the garden and decide on the veggies we’d like to have… i’m glad the hard work is over for a bit… now bring on the rains!

just add dirt..

i knew my kids liked to get dirty.. but i didn’t realize how much they LOVE the dirt.  as we loosed the soil from other parts of our property and brought it to the new garden plot, i was amazed at the fun they were having… digging, jumping from mound to mound… even just lying down to gaze at the sky.

maryanne even got up today and wanted to continue with the earth moving…  one shovel full at a time, savoring the coolness of the freshly turned soil.  with these two at my side..this is going to be fun!