A Post For Thanks

Today I reflect upon the work put forth  and the luck I have received in my endeavors. First I need to thank Melissa Mondegreen of Rockamour Herbs (facebook) for the many organic strawberry plants she gifted to us! I also need to thank my sister Kim over at Life With a Possum for giving me a shameless plug on her page. Both of these women are doing great things for themselves, their families, and the environment around us. I highly recommend anyone with an interest in gardening, sustainability, or snark to read Life with a Possum.

Right then, on to business!

Last night was spent transplanting the final strawberries into their new home followed by a thorough dowsing to quench their dried little roots.

This particular specimen caught my eye simply by its shape. The picture doesn't do it justice for when I held it in my hand its roots were alive and anxiously awaiting soil to protect and harbor it.

This morning I got right down to work as soon as I was able.

First up was churning the compost bins. Here I have two separate bins I viked from a local municipal piping supplier. No chemicals here! So I don't have to worry about anything leaching into our fresh humus. Every morning I turn, lift, separate, stab, dredge, and otherwise discombobulate the mixture so each bin gets proper aeration before throwing piles from one into the other and vice versa. The theory behind this is that all the activity, all the aeration will lead to the most materiel being exposed to as many microbial helpers as possible.

 Speaking of microbial helpers! Above is my super ingenious compost tea catchment system! Really it's just a  trough ending in a hole lined with a tarp I butchered a deer over, but hey it works! Every time I churn the compost viscous brown liquid pours out of the bottom. Once it's full enough, I'll start scooping it out and throwing it back into the pile. Kind of like pouring coffee back into the pot to fortify the brew.
 Here is the center of the pile in all its decomposing glory! there's already scratches of humus building up so hopefully soon we'll be able to apply this to the beds and continue on.

 And now Ladies and Germs, It is the moment you've all been waiting for! It's time to play what random shit can we find in the garden today!!! *the crowd goes wild, inciting a riot in which several windows are smashed, some vehicles set ablaze, and no one was seriously injured, save for one errant hedgehog who just wasn't fast enough.*

First up we have a bottle cap! Now if this were, say, a Nuka Cola cap I'd be ecstatic! But alas, it's only crap non-alcoholic beer.

Secondly we have this uber creepy baby doll resting next to the tool shed. I'm sure its been there for ages judging by its appearance but this is the first I've noticed it and it made me to a double take.

Lastly and most heinous of all:

FRACKING SHINGLES! Shingles! You know, the covering which adorns the tops of our homes! 

What's that? You ask *Why* there are shingles in my garden? Well dear friend, let me tell you why!

We are renting this home, and our landlord bought this place from a man who lived here for many many years. He, apparently, was a homesteader as well and had a large garden, chickens, ducks, goats, and even a pig in addition to all of his plants. Long story short, the space which is now my garden was once a  fully insulated and wired chicken coop. The previous owner made it implode and buried everything under a thin layer of dirt. His reasoning (according to the neighbors) was that he didn't feel anyone would want to buy the house with a structure such as that on the property, not knowing that we would be moving in. No worries though! That's just another project on the table for later this season.

Enough griping and distractions! Here is what the freshly planted section of the bed looks like:

Here we have the strawberries as the most visible and what you cannot see (yet) are two types of bush beans, spinach, and brussels sprouts all planted and eagerly awaiting their time to germinate and join the rest of us in this amazing world we live in.

Here is the first home I've put together for the Huldufolk at the base of the tree nearest to our porch. Strawberries, flowers, and herbs are planted all around so there will always be lush, green abundance surrounding them. Which, ultimately, is what I am working towards; being surrounded by abundance.