I'm getting back more into gardening these days. I had forgotten how good of a treatment it is. There was the phase of needing to work, feel useful and just do things to distract myself from being powerless. Now, I'm finally in that phase where I can relax again. Letting it flow. And gardening is quite perfect for that.
So, the other day my friend the gardener came in with 4 big bags full of organic material for my compost. I took advantage of the situation and asked him what needed to be done in my garden. He looked around, and mainly it's trees being trimmed. Especially the big old avocado tree - too many branches, not enough light for what's below, nor enough nutrients. He says that most likely after some trimming the next harvest would be better, with less insects, as the tree would have more resistance.
Also, the soil. He recommended breaking it up regularly, so the water could be absorbed better. Since we're going towards summer time, which means drought, that's a good idea. So I started on that.
Originally, I didn't even want to do anything in the garden. But after a rough weekend, I was emotional on Monday. And breaking stuff helps. In this picture, you can still see how the soil looks after a few weeks. Dry and hard. So I got to work. Only that side, I told myself.
But then I felt better. It looked a lot better. So, since I was at it, I incorporated some half-composted matter into the soil, got the dry leaves out, and the half rotten avocados.
And planted one of the rosemary twigs that had rooted. And a local lemon grass variety called "Hierba Luisa". Done that, I decided to see if I could feel even better.
So I got into the other side, which is the east side. The soil here is quite different from the west side. (Sounds like rivaling parts of a town, like West Side Story). Although the east side gets a lot of west side sun, it's not as dry. I guess the dirt is better. But it had moss growing all over it. I thought about just leaving it there, as it does retain the moisture, but opted against it. I needed to keep breaking stuff.
I also put the pots in line. I'll have to go through them one of these days and see what parts I can put into earth. And I need to take some of my dirt from home to the bakery garden, at least until the compost is ready to go.
It is filling up nicely. I think a few more bags of residues and I can top it off with dirt and throw some worms in there, which I'll have to migrate from my home garden. I'll probably migrate some dirt with them, so the right bacteria and stuff are there and can munch down on stuff quickly.
I got a good deal with my gardener friend. 45$ for the whole trimming. And it's quite a few trees. And I get to keep the waste. Leaves and twigs to the compost, branches left on a pile to dry and then use in our wood fired oven. Great deal. It's good to have friends.
That was my psychology session for this week. Friday is coming up. My birthday. 37 years old. First one in a while without my child. I might need a lot more gardening.
Thank you for reading!
