03-22-08Yesterday was fun, I started at the country store, I shared my training day with another lady, I guess the store owner wants double backup, just in case... anyhoo, it was great fun, we learned the basics, where all the lights are, how to light up the coolers, how to run the register, how to run the ancient gas pump, well it's not THAT old, but you do have to do things in a certain order, or else the pump will lose prime and will not pump anything until a repair guy comes out and fixes it, it's not a good thing to do! The main thing we do up there is talk to the locals, I met more people and dogs that day, a lot of the people I saw I had met previously, at least once, it was nice to see everyone again. I don't know when I'll start for good, I hope next weekend or the following week after that, as far as I know, it's every other weekend (Friday and Saturday).I know one of the first things I'll be doing on the next day I'm there is dusting, the store is pretty clean, but I noticed the can food has a layer of dust on the tops, that is pretty standard out here, everything has a layer of dust no matter what you do, it's non-stop dust here, perhaps it will not make much difference, but I have to try. :)
While I was training, Bob helped out on a storage building outside behind the store, there is a RV/camping place out back, it's not much, but it's not supposed to be much either. This building had roll up garage doors on it, the owner wanted barn doors on it, she had already make one door herself (she is pretty talented with her hands too!), so Bob had a template to go by, she was very happy with it and impressed with how fast he goes. He went back today to finish the doors (there is another set to be made) and to do some other things. After that he is supposed to go help our friends repair their new(old) house so they can get moved in faster.
GardenA few days ago, we started working on our garden area, we have a clearing not too far from the cabin, it's flat and the ground looks great, there are trees surrounding the clearing so I hope it will be a bit protected from animals and weather, at least it will not be an eyesore to anyone. We will have to fence it around and over the top to keep out the deer, birds, raccoons, skunks, foxes, peccaries and any other hungry animals. Bob asked me how big an area did I want to garden, I answered as large an area as he can fence in, I can use, I have done large gardens before, large for city backyard gardens, at my dad's house, we had at least 1000 square feet of garden space that we worked. Unfortunately I will not have that much area this year, maybe as we can get more fencing material we can expand later, but for now, I'll do what I can with the space I am given. My MIL sent some seeds, quite a lot of seeds, lots of herbs as well as veggies and fruits, I can't wait to get them in the ground and see if this soil is as good as I think it is. When we started working the ground, I began to remove the grass, there isn't much to have to remove and it grows in clumps, so it's not too bad. We also had to remove a couple of small trees, these were only a foot or so tall, and we had to remove a
cholla cactus plant, they are NASTY painful plants, I haven't found anything good about them, I used to like how they looked, but I guarantee once you get stuck a few times by their needles, all you want to do is get rid of everyone you see!
Bob wanted to till the ground but we don't have a tiller, so he got out the gas powered auger and started punching holes one next to the other, I suggested he only needed to go down 18-24 inches, he went down the full depth of the auger, 3 feet! We do have to work the ground between the holes, right now it looks like a really big gopher went crazy out there! :) Today, I am going to go around the property and gather mulch to add to the garden area, under each tree out here, there are several inches of good mulch, leaves, bark, grass... I figure I can get several trash cans full of good mulch in pretty short order, I'll work that into the soil. I will also harvest some of the curly grass as a top mulch to help keep moisture in and the weeds down. Well, off I go, I have to find the rake, shovel, trash can and get to work.
***********************I just got finished scraping up 7 or 8 wheelbarrows full of the most delicious looking mulch you have ever seen! I didn't have to go far from the place where the garden will be, I found a rake (a metal tooth rake, not a leaf rake) and a shovel, put on my gloves and a straw hat (gotta protect my skin from the sun, it's brutal), I raked up mounds and mounds of decayed leaves, grass and other stuff, I had to pick out a few small rocks and twigs, but it wasn't too bad at all. I took some rich soil from a few places to add to the compost/mulch. I am still a bit sore from working the dirt a few days ago, but this felt good to my sore muscles, it helped worked out the stiffness.
**********************Well UpdateThe water has finally cleared up from the floaters, but it still smells of chlorine, the well man poured a gallon and a half of bleach down the well, I know that was necessary but yuck! it's just like city water! It's getting better and better every day.
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2 Comments
methods, namely using a thick thick layer of hay for mulch, I purchased 4 bales of coastal hay, I didn't till my garden this year, I barely cleaned it up from last year's garden, I just knocked down the big stuff, I did rake out the seed heads from the carrots, I didn't want to save them because I found at least one wild carrot growing in the middle and they can cross pollinate and the seeds will make something other than the original carrots. Other than that, I didn't rake or till, I merely separated the bales and placed the fluffy hay all over my garden. The only place I didn't put the hay was the rock walkway.
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I like your blog and your Mtn. home looks neat. How thick are you making the concrete walls?
April 22, 2008 12:48 PM
Hi the texan,
The walls are between 7 and 12 inches thick. Thanks for leaving a comment, I appreciate each and every one! :)
Wretha
April 22, 2008 2:05 PM
Wretha,
I saw the post about the auger. Something that might be a good care package from your family is the Garden Claw. I use it at my house. I works great. Just little tid bit, might help.
May 22, 2008 10:39 AM
Hi Hollis, yeah, I remember the commercials for the Garden Claw, they always demonstrated it on dirt that looked as if it didn't need tilling (grin), I guess it wouldn't have sold very well if they showed it on hard, rocky clay! I'm glad to hear it works great for you, how is your soil?
My dad is coming out this summer and is bringing me something that works great, a Mantis tiller, it's light weight and easy to use.
Wretha
May 22, 2008 12:51 PM