Compost. Valuable. Beautiful. (And so exciting!)
Wow. Heart pounding. Deep breath. Really an amazing creature, that Mother Nature — save the ants and maggots (or whatever those creepy wormy bug things are). She is a beautiful woman indeed. Gorgeous, in fact, and her talents are endless. Yes, as you may have guessed…ta-da!…I have my FIRST batch of compost!
I know it doesn’t look like much but photos don’t do this beauty any justice. This stuff is incredible. Amazing how a pile of nasty kitchen scraps can turn into this rich, luscious specimen, isn’t it? I mean, I only started this pile last July and then, voila! Seven short months later, I have this awesome mound of dirt to create a spring garden. Are you serious?
Oh, I’m serious all right. Lucky for me, I live in Central Florida where Mother Nature virtually does everything without you lifting a hand! Kinda like having an outdoor helper you don’t have to supervise, she knows where everything is, knows what to do and how to do it — AND, I might add — she does it a heck of a lot better than I could do! I turned that pile maybe three times, just because I read somewhere that you were supposed to turn piles. Truth is, I think this pile of mine would have turned out plenty well had I not lifted a finger (or pitch fork, as the case may be).
But it’s SO exciting. Now I can “hill” my new potato princesses with pure homegrown compost! And won’t they be in seventh heaven. Once they recover from the recent dip in temperatures, that is. After all my hard work learning to protect them from the frost, I was blindsided by the cool temperatures of late. And to think I was under the impression potatoes were cool worthy, but frost intolerant. Just goes to show how dangerous a little knowledge can be. These creatures turned out to be sensitive all around!
But I digress. I have compost and wagons full. With spring planting in full swing, I have also have a place to put it! Why, my organic garden will be FULLY organic this year, from the ground up. And what a wonderful feeling. A real strap-on-the-boots-let’s-go-hiking kind of feeling! One with nature, breath of fresh air…
At this point, I am nearly sustainable. What I grow, I eat. What I don’t, I compost. Does it get any better than this? My husband might feel inclined to point out a few things that top this one, but we didn’t ask him, now did we?
No. We most definitely did not. So off to the garden I go, with wagon in tow and a skip to my step. Gardening is an adventure! And one ready to begin in earnest. With the potatoes in, the melons are next, along with the beans and squash and tomatoes and peppers and corn and…
Whew! Another deep breath here. There’s a lot of work to be done and I can’t wait to get started! My new year’s resolution to be more productive is working fine, but my waistline has been expanding and NEEDS to get busy. Rather than waste time on my drawer full of exercise videos, I plan to lose it — in the garden! Nothing like a little spring tilling to get the blood flowing and the heart a pumping! In fact, I read somewhere that gardeners tend to outrank others on the list of centenarians. Not that I really want to live to a hundred, but it’s nice to know my hobby will sustain me if I do…
Shoot. I could probably turn this hobby into an exercise video, if I wanted. Imagine for a moment…the sun is shining, the wind is dancing, the birds singing in the background. Up, down, left, right, reach, lunge, pull, stretch. I don’t know about you, but during some of my garden sessions I’ll be sweating and panting before all is said and done!
And this spring, I have company. A friend of mine has decided she’s ready to “start a garden!” Actually, a few women are ready to take the plunge. Well raise the flag and send up the flares — yahoo –we’re going gardening! And if any of you think you don’t have the time or the space, you need to meet this gal. With no yard to speak of, two young boys and a career in interior decorating — she’ll have your excuses flapping in the breeze in no time! She’s even managed to lasso her husband into the mix by enlisting his wonderfully masculine talents in the realm of construction. He already built her this lovely cistern.
So grab a friend and JOIN US as we share the adventure!
What a lovely upbeat post! Your enthusiasm is contagious! Your compost looks lovely, I am looking forward to seeing the beautiful produce it produces. Yes, life is wonderful! No wonder gardeners live so long we have lots of look forward to every day.