Compost and Peat Moss

Some of us were able to meet again on Saturday morning at 10am to start step#2 in our gardening process.

Lynn & Phillip
Paula, Samantha, & Hailey
Melissa
and Moi

And please take my "step #'s" with very loose interpretation as there are many other little steps in between my own personal visits where Paula may go down to the garden to water, Iona tends her own little "garden box" on the side, and Lisa, Tony, and some of the others head down on their own because they were unable to attend as a group.

First things first and Samantha and I measured out each garden plot for the individual families with 7 in total each measuring 22 ft long by 7 ft wide with a 1 ft trench in between. And then we all began digging the separating trenches. (I'm not sure if trenches is the correct word to use here but you get the idea).

After separating the individual beds we then worked at adding a bag each of compost material and peat moss for added nutritional value to our somewhat pathetic soil. And after some elbow grease and lots of shoveling and raking, that was all mixed in and our gardens looked SO much better already.

Next, the ladies decided how they wanted to separate their plots - most of us choosing 5 smaller beds within that plot, some choosing to do one large bed of potatoes, some choosing to do 2 long beds, etc. I'm not sure there are any rules here and we are all doing whatever we feel best for the needs of our families.

Unfortunately I had to leave at this point for a prior engagement so I have to give a big shout-out to Paula's daughter, Samantha, for taking over in my section and dividing my plot for me. That was super awesome of you, Samantha, I really appreciate it!

There's already at least one section that has been designated for the "community" and Paula took the time to get the pumpkins seedlings started there. They already look lovely! And I think (correct me if I'm wrong, ladies and gents) that there is still a big potato garden for the group in the works on that space where there is currently a huge pile of dirt to be spread out :) Potatoes -yum!

I'm told everyone worked away in the sun and the flies until close to 1:30 Saturday afternoon...wow! This really is a lot of work and takes a great deal of time and devotion. I'm very thankful to have Paula's guidance and dedication and am very excited to be a part of this effort. We know the hard work will pay off in the end when we see our beautiful veggies.

And that, my friends, brings me to our next meeting, when we actually get to plant our little seeds! Hip Hip Hooray!

And a quote suitable to the amount of time gardening requires...
"In order to live off a garden, you practically have to live in it.- Frank McKinney Hubbard



NOTE: I have to apologize for the lack of photos - I have lots and have been trying but blogger will not allow me to post them for some reason. Will try and fix this as soon as I can.