I was working in my neighbors garden this morning. Awake before my girls and out the door, before they even stirred in their beds. It's a short walk from my home and the sun was not long up, so the air was still quite fresh. I had set an alarm to wake me, but I woke before it went off. Which I know, was a better start to my day. I don't usually need to use an alarm, but because I have been feeling so exhausted of late, I wanted to set one just in case.
I never know what job awaits me, last week I was sanding some outdoor furniture and then staining it. Then I done some watering. Today I was working the soil. Getting it ready to be replanted.
I'm not really into digging, but I used a fork to help loosen some of the native plants that needed clearing. ( I don't like using the word weed, but that is what most people would call them). As well as some flowers that were starting to die back. The lady I work for, wanted the bulbs to be dug up, so that they could be replanted else where. So I cut off the tops, so they could be be chopped small and added to the compost, which would then be added back to the very soil it was grown from.
The soil was already rich. There were numerous big happy worms in the soil, which is always a good sign. Also the colour, a beautiful rich brown. One of the most important things we can do, is feed the soil. Enrich it. This is the type of work that I enjoy, that I find very rewarding. If you want a good garden, to grow food, you need to have good soil and that means feeding it, helping it to maintain the much needed nutrients that are held within.
After the plants had been cleared away, I went with a wheelbarrow to the lower terrace, where the different compost piles live. There are three different ones, one for leaves, one from the more woody parts of the plants and then one for the roots. I was there for the leaf matter that had broken down, into wonderful rich hummus. Which I had to dig out from the bottom, then the top layer of compost, which was still not completely broken down, would be used a mulch, helping to keep the soil protected, against the coming cold weather and the stark change in temperature that comes with it.
All images used in this post are mine.
A beautiful life you lead Aishlinn. Thanks for the encouragement and inspiration!
Thank you @jin-out for your words and the wonderful music xx
I miss the smell of the soil while planting, thanks for the tips on how to have a good soil.
Thanks for dropping by xx
Which compost is best for what type of plants?
Hey, sorry I still have to reply to you on your post.
It depends really, nitrogen is always good, so lots of green mulch, but when your veg are fruiting they like potash, which wood ash is full of.
The leaf mulch I used above, provides perfect mulch to protect the soil as well.
Hope you are well xx
I'm pleased to be back and see you're still active and surviving. I'm as good as can be old friend, life is not all bad.
I love working with soil! I envy your old, rich soils, as this part of the Island is so new that most of the soil that we have is quite thin, with lots of lava rocks everywhere. We're quite literally building our future soil now. Thank you for sharing your lovely day, @trucklife-family! 😁 🙏 💚 ✨ 🤙
Wow, yes it's great you are building the soil. Where I am, it is very close to a river, so it didn't always have the best soil, but the lady I help, has been growing food for many years and feeding the soil as she does it. She has a wealth of knowledge xxxx
It is indeed, though with so much rain, it's not necessarily easy, as it carries the nutrients down into the lava, out of reach of plants, that's why mulching heavily here is very helpful. It's great that you have the opportunity to learn from her. 😁 🙏 💚 ✨ 🤙
By looking at it, it gives the confidence that anything you grow in this soil, would grow well.
It really would, it's been well looked after for many years. xx
It is an excellent and gratifying job you have done, working the land is very nice and seeing that it is responding well is even more gratifying 😊
Thank you @elbuhito xx
!PIZZA
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@danzocal(5/10) tipped @trucklife-family
View or trade
LOHtokens.@ladiesofhive, you successfully shared 0.0100 LOH with @trucklife-family and you earned 0.0100 LOH as tips. (10/20 calls)
Use !LADY command to share LOH! More details available in this post.
Thank you for the support xxx
How awesome to see a post from you - and hand in the soil, no less!
We support gardening, homesteading, cannabis growers, permaculture and other garden related content. Delegations to the curation account, @gardenhive, are welcome! Keep an eye out for our weekly writing prompts and our monthly #gardenjournal challenge on the 1st of each month.