~SUSTAINABLE LIVING FOR CHALLENGING TIMES

[sumisu]

REPLENISHING A RAISED BED

Shocked. Shocked I tell you! Just woke up from a two-hour nap and it was pitch black. I can hardly wait for March when the clock is turned ahead. The early sunsets are a real downer.

Actually the nap was caused by a two-hour workout in the garden. It seems that many don't exercise, others who do exercise go to a gym or Zumba, and a very few go to their gardens.

When I began just after 10AM, the sun was out with little wind. After a while, there was variable cloudiness with a very cold wind out of the northeast. It was like a wind tunnel where I worked on replenishing a raised bed for late March planting.

I carefully raked out the weeds, leveled the existing dirt, added shredded straw, then added a four-inch layer of fresh dirt mixed with cow and chicken manure, azomite [trace minerals], mycorrhiza [root stimulant], bio-char, and earthworm castings. These are mixed in a compos tumbler. Lastly I covered the raised bed with chicken wire to keep the squirrels out.


THE LEVEL OF THE RAISED BED SUNK CONSIDERABLY AND NEEDED REPLENISHMENT.


CHOPPED STRAW LAYER ADDED


RAISED BED WITH NEW LAYER OF COMPOST MIXTURE ADDED; NOTICE THE COMPOS TUMBLER IN THE UPPER RIGHT-HAND CORNER.


CHICKEN WIRE COVERS THE RAISED BED TO KEEP OUT THE SQUIRRELS.

Since the compos tumbler was about empty, I refilled with the aforementioned ingredients, which will be used for working on another raised bed on Saturday.

I returned to the house, posted a little on FB, and then decided to take a walk; however, a gardening friend stopped by with two large dumplings. I ate the latter sipping hot coffee to warm up and then I was fast asleep. My two-hour afternoon naps are more fulfilling than sleeping 7 to 8 hours at night. When the body is screaming for sleep, you can close your eyes for a few minutes and a slight slumber turns into a deep sleep.

I will take it easy tomorrow; I earned it.