Harder Than I Thought

So, it turned out making the raised beds was harder than I thought. Not because of the double digging, or of constructing the beds themselves. I anticipated those correctly. What I didn't anticipate however, was how hard it would be to lug in the necessary humus to fill the beds. The smallest bags I could find weigh 40 pounds -that's almost half my body wait! And it takes about 10 bags per bed. That's over 1200 pounds of humus!

But it's been worth it. Today I found the first seedlings of my cover crop poking through the humus. And they're early -it will be a week tomorrow since I planted them, and its supposed to take 7-10 days. My major tasks for this weekend are to finish clean up the backyard and the house. Next week I'm going to plant an apple tree and hopefully a peach tree. Both will be self-pollinating varieties because I don't have the room to plant several trees of each kind. Next year I hope to plant some blackberry and raspberry bushes. Eventually I would like to have a few chickens for the eggs. In a couple of weeks I am going to attend a class on herbs at the local botanical garden, and this winter when things slow down, I hope to learn to sew.

You know, the phrase 'harder than I expected' could apply to this whole journey to sustainability, because it has been harder than I expected it would be. But then, could things always are. I WILL get there. I have no choice -this is not just for me, but for the Earth and all her people, those who are here now, those who were here before, and those who will come long after I am naught but dust.