DQ18 - Accomplishments

The rosemary in full bloom inside the greenhouse. Greenhouse cleaned up and cardboard laid over the ground to stop weeds. 




We borrowed a rototiller from a neighbor, and Homero tilled the compost pile, at least enough of it so that the girls and I could bring over a few wheelbarrows full of dirt to fill some new garden beds. The bathtub in the foreground in a new bed - we discovered it upside down under the pear tree after the tree was pruned and the blackberries cut back two weeks ago. Haven’t decided what to plant in the new tub yet. Might wait until it’s time to plant warner weather crops like beans or tomatoes. 

There are two 4x4 beds in the background, near the lawn chair. They are almost entirely falling apart, but they still have enough cohesiveness to serve as garden beds, as long as we stay on top of the weeding. One is planted with radishes and one is planted with cylindrical beets. 

We also broke down a couple dozen cardboard boxes and laid them down as as a prophylactic against the weeds. It’s ugly, but it’s necessary. 

Harvested nettles yesterday and today made a nettle and Swiss cheese quiche. It looks good but I don’t know how it tastes because el sent it to our neighbor in exchange for the use of her rototiller. Hope they liked it. I have the other half of the nettles blanched as stored in  a ziploc in the fridge. 

Today’s page in my quarantine art diary. I’m going to try and set a good example for my kids - being creative and making art isn’t about the product, it’s about the process. It really doesn’t matter, in the grand scheme of things, if the art I make is “good” or “bad.” What matters is that I enjoyed the time I spent doing it, and that I’m creating a record. My mom managed to instill in me - accidentally, of course - the idea that a thing is only worth doing if one is “good at it,” and that if one isn’t, then any effort expended in the pursuit of a given activity is a waste of time and probably a sin. 

Thats not a message I want to pass on. 

Today was a good day. My shoulders and back ache gently from moving a ton of dirt. The girls helped a lot, they are each stronger than I am now. I’m grubby and tired, but happy.