Eh, What's up Doc?

I have carrots now! Yesterday we got some more potting soil. After I got the box all filled up, Mike helped me nail down these strings to section off the box. I got the idea from a fellow carpooler that said he had planted all his carrots at once one year, and ended up with so many carrots his family couldn't eat them all before some went bad. So we started with this first square. Next week I will plant some more in the next square and so on. I made about 12 little finger holes and we dropped in about 2 little carrot seeds in each hole. They are teeny little seeds! After we filled in the holes and watered them, I put some grass clippings on top to keep it from crusting over before they sprout. The package says they will sprout in about 12-18 days, so I'm looking at August 5th at the earliest.

I also have some pictures of my chicken and hens. I planted most out in the front yard by the stepping stones. I especially like this one with red tips. I also planted some in the square next to my tomato because the soil is too rocky and too much like clay for the carrots. In fact the surface crusts up into big chucks just like a story my mom told me about potato fields in Idaho and picking up the dirt clods and breaking them apart. If I can build up a bunch of chicken and hens here, then I can transplant them to other places in the front garden. I really like chicken and hens. My mom says they do well in Hurricane, which means they must be pretty drought tolerant.

My CCC has got me thinking about composting. So I've been looking on KSL for some free pallets or something... I'm still trying to work out it my mind some sort of homemade composting bin. But for now I've just asked Mike to pile up the grassclippings in the empty space in the garden. Heap composting I hear takes a lot longer because it's hard to turn, but I think it's better than nothing. It was $10 to fill the sqaure for the carrots with potting soil. So I think I'll make my own so I don't have to keep spending money each year to renew the soil.

That will probably do it for this summer: Tomato, Chicken and Hens, Raspberries, and Carrots. Now I get to sit back and watch them grow. I didn't think that I would enjoy going out everyday after work for a few minutes to check on everything and fix, weed, or water things as needed. BUT I DO! It doesn't take me very long, and I'm done by the time Mike gets home. Also I find it soothing. Why? Well, it sort of clears my head. I know some people that go for a run to clear their head but that doesn't work for me. I can't stop thinking about problems when I run. But with this gardening, I have to concentrate on something else. This gives my mind a break from thinking about work and school, and is very refreshing to me. Ha ha ha, even yesterday when I was trying to explain this to Mike he gave me a funny look and said, "Yeah, I never really pictured you as a gardener." That made me laugh.