Which means I'm spending every minute I can making up for time lost to summer's heat and humidity. If I'd made a to do list at the beginning of the day and accomplished everything on it, this is how it would have gone:
- Walkies with dog, coffee, breakfast, newspaper, check in with garden buddies online
- Jump in truck and head to Lowe's to pick up 25 bags of Black Kow composted cow manure, which is almost 3 times the price but lives up to the phrase "black gold"
- Spend 3 hours unloading bags, spreading newspaper, wetting down newspaper, unpeeling corners I sprayed too hard because I'm obsessive-compulsive about coverage, opening and spreading manure, watering manure. 17 bags total.
- Unload rest of bags near where I'll use them. Glance to left and once again frown at the unplanted area in front (roughly 7 ft x 4 ft) that Otahal and I designated for groundcover.Can't take it another day. Make snap decision to add more bull rock and make it an extension of the rock swale.
- Run inside and change into clean gardening clothes because the others are too dirty to be presentable in public, even if it is the rock yard.
- Hop in truck and head to rock yard. Discuss how much bull rock truck will hold with manager. Agree that 1/2 yard minimum order is too much weight but 1/4 yard should be OK.
- While I'm there, remember that I want grab a few flagstones to lay out as stepping stones in corner bed in effort to get myself to stop stepping on the soil and compacting it. 12 stones later, get them weighed, pay bill, have bull rock loaded and head home.
- Lunch break.
- Maneuver truck towards curb so I can rake rocks off truck and onto the ground.
- Grab tools and bottle of water from garage.
- Decide truck is not in right spot. Reposition.
- Attempt to rake bull rock w/cultivator rake. Isn't that what I used last time? Maybe not. It doesn't work so well. Resort to sitting on side of truck and tossing rocks out for a while. My legs are tired from hauling manure anyway.
- Return to garage for more tools.
- Reposition truck again.
- Finally get all but a few small rocks out of truck and the bare area is no more. Uneven spread to be corrected later.
- Exhaustion hits.
- Shower, rest, play Words with Friends and curse a series of bad letters. Make notes for this evening's visit by Cub Scout Den 8.
- Play tour guide for 6 rambunctious 3rd grade Cub Scouts and 4 parents. Discuss composting, insects, butterflies, bees, plants for sun and shade, spiders, fish, yard art, veggies, flowers, seeds, and more. Since they're working on World Conservation Badge, we allow them each a turn with the Fiskars Momentum mower. Grass too short, may have convinced them push mowers are too much work. Boys all want peppers from jalapeno plant. Discuss how best to rid one's mouth of side effects from eating peppers raw. Finally return to starting point after much digression and laughter.
- Wine.
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