Sunday, July 3, 2011

Gardening: two steps forward, one step back.

Had the landscapers come back this year to finish off the drip-line they created last year, but which I didn't know where I wanted it installed. While they were here, I went ahead and had them add three sprinkler heads to where my future garden will be going.

But they left a mess. Not really their fault --when you dig down a foot or two in Central Oregon you dig up a mess of rocks and pebbles. Pebbles, pebbles everywhere. The soil was left soft and dusty on the path.

So I spent a couple of days going back and flattening the upturned soil so it could become firmer, and scooping up as many pebbles as I could. But there are years of pebbles to scoop up.

It was also a little bit of a bridge too far financially. I had to borrow from Linda for a few days until I could come up with the money.

I think the basic outlines are in place -- both of the watering infrastructure and the plants -- from now on, I want them to mature, and then I'll subdivide.

What I remember about Mom's garden was she was never satisfied. She was always starting a new project, digging up a section of the garden.

Sort of like what I do with my store.

Got ambitious last night after the sun fell, and edged the front yard. I do this with a straight shovel, foot by foot.

Two tricks I learned from Mom -- edging the garden and digging up the garden soil, makes everything look great. (Digging up the soil also has the benefit of getting any weeds.)

Meanwhile, I have about 10 square feet of mulch, about 2 inches thick, covering my driveway which I need to dig up and use -- and two pile of gravel I need to spread when I'm finished.

Early morning, or after the sun goes down kind of work.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

People around here are not sitting on their derrieres looking for government to bail them out. They are embracing innovation and using that as a guiding light to start a new business, or take and an existing business to a new level. ...

****

Well even the Bend fool knows the 'gubmint money' is NOT coming to Bend.

What the fuck 'innovation'?? Of fucking what? In Bend? Where Cali? 'Light' didn't 1,000 points of light go out with BUSH long ago? This is a town concerned with MASLOWS lowest hierarchy of NEED's. Certainly 'innovation' is going to house, cloth, or feed a Bend family of the future.

"TAKING A BIZ TO THE NEXT LEVEL", now that sounds to me like marketing, maybe buy MS-CLOUD? Or maybe OFFICE-360? That's it, just by every downtown biz being required to upgrade to the latest MS biz software, this innovative light will take their biz to the next level.

This reminds me of 'batman' Dark-Knight, who said, "I said my drugs would take you places, I never said they were good places". Yes, innovation and light will take downtown BIZ to a new level, but it will be down, in a lower level of poverty, while the last dollar is squandered on the LATEST FAD, there will be less&less to eat, and more business will fail, that is the new level.

So there you have it, ... embrace the innovation of TODAY, and let the BULL take your BIZ to a new level of POVERTY.

Me thinks there are 100's if not 1,000's of starving 'consultants' in Bend, just waiting to share their 'vision' with shopkeepers who are gullible enough to believe that 'innovation' will bring CASHFLOW to their dying Bend Biz.

H. Bruce Miller said...

"It was also a little bit of a bridge too far financially. I had to borrow from Linda for a few days until I could come up with the money."

I think Linda should contribute ALL the money. You both benefit from the garden; you provide the labor, she provides the capital.

It's a perfect capitalistic arrangement.