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.
