Last Year: Chemotherapy; This Year: A Garden!

The idea started last June when Debbie and Chris came over to help us move in to the new house. When my little new-house tour led to the backyard, I commented that I did not know what that little 9-by-11 boxed-in area, covered with wood chips and a pile of dirt, was for.

They suggested tomatoes!

They said it with such hope and enthusiasm and conviction. They had a vision of a garden!

I, on the other hand, could not even imagine if I would be here this summer.... almost a whole year away.

But the seed of the idea had been planted, and it grew.

My dad grew up on a farm, and kept a garden in our backyard when we were growing up. I did not really help, but I do remember fresh warm tomatoes. I began to see it. Then I began to taste it.

So when our local English Gardens advertised a one-evening class, "How to Grow Your Own Food", I showed up, notebook in hand. Our teacher's name was Jennifer, and she really seemed excited to encourage a new gardener. I took lots of notes and agreed it is a good idea to start simply. I came away knowing that my first step was to have my soil tested. As with anything, a garden needs a good foundation.

Of course, my dreams mean work for John! So he cleared off the top stuff and dug out some soil samples and we dropped off the soil back at English Gardens. And we met George. George talked with us for a while, and I took more notes.

We returned last Friday for our results and to see George, our new "old friend", who spent even more time talking with us. He said our soil's pH is 8.0 (alkaline), which is in a viable range, but that it needs organic matter plus calcium. So we bought a bag of cow manure and a bag of Organica #3.

I had also been thinking about and researching composters, so also asked George about that. I wanted something off the ground that would not invite critters. One in particular that had caught my attention (from another store's ad) was a round ball that could roll around either on the ground, or on its stand, which made it look like a big spider. Since that one would take longer to get and much longer to assemble, we came home with a barrel-shaped tumbler-style composter that day. Between rain and John's full schedule, we finally set it up today! (In the meantime, we gathered and cut up our yard waste and kitchen plant matter.) I am pretty excited about our new composter!

It was simple to assemble too!
(One step at a time, with maybe just a bit of back-tracking.)