HERD ABOUT IT? 

by ana grarian

Sixty-five degrees and sunny with a stiff breeze. This should get things dried out. I hope so. My cute little painted pails hanging on the picket fence have been swimming with water for a week. Though I tip them to let the water out, along comes another shower to dampen them down again.They are cute, but a bit of a pain to maintain. They dry out quickly in the sun and get to wet in the rain. I shall have to drill drainage holes. The Stevia plant seems to deal with wet feet better. The Nasturtiums are turning yellow. Even poor Phil the Philodendron is not completely happy, though his leaves are full and lifted up to the sky.

My broccoli is finally peeking through. I planted that in my new planter box, and we have had nothing but rain since it was filled. Yesterday must have brought enough warmth to let them finally stretch through. This morning I put in onions, Snapdragons, Sun Flowers and more Brussels Sprouts. Those boxes should be quite a mishmash, since each also has flower bulbs that need to be dug up in the fall. Dahlias, Gladioli and some other things I don’t remember.

My son-in-law’s garden boxes are looking wonderful. He bought top soil for them, and maybe manure also. They get sun all day long. His neighbor uses Miracle Gro, and it looks like it does a great job, but I’d rather not. There is concern of the Miracle Gro/ Monsanto connection. Plus – if I have good compost and organic sheep manure – why go commercial? I’m still working on getting urine into the compost tub to add nitrogen and speed decomposition.

I should be cleaning house before going to work today. EH – the work we want to do vs the work we need to do and the work we should do. It just seems that we traded dirt for the devil. And of course in some trades it is still pretty dirty. In others you feel dirty, even if you look like you just stepped out of a glossy magazine.

Not that I am saying that all jobs are bad. Of course not. A career can be a wonderfully fulfilling opportunity. If it is not your interest, or if the powers that be have skewed the job in negative ways to maximize profit, even a dream career can become a nightmare. Not that everyone would thrive growing veggies and flowers either.

The dog is requesting another trip around the block. Actually she is thinking it is time to go to work where she will get treats and her tummy rubbed, but that is not for today. She will have to put up with just me. Or maybe she is confused because she cleaned out the cat’s bowl at 4 am and wonders why there isn’t more there now. Another opportunity to peek at the neighbor’s gardens and then I must clean this room before setting down to write again. Oh – and put away all those clothes that have been hanging all over the house to dry.