Quart

Got about a quart of new soil when I sifted the compost heap. Put in on the potatoes - as I am assured that this is the way to get more potatoes. The heap has been an unexpected success, albeit a very small one. It smells good and loamy, and it's breaking down well.

P at work asked if I'd put in any fruit. No, from what I've read it's not the easiest sort of thing to grow. I mentioned that I was prepared for getting nothing at all out of the garden this year. P was aghast, but it was the simple truth. This is my first attempt, an experiment. Failure is always an option. Great to have a significant amount of food from our own garden, but I was not going to be all disappointed if it didn't work. Given how much toxic material I took out of the garage to the county waste disposal site, who knew what was there? What might grow well? What kind of soil, vegetable eating insects, sunlight, birds, are here? I had no idea. ANYTHING that works at all is a blessing.

The hopes of planting more in the front are mostly dashed, delayed at least. Without stripping out the first 18" of dirt and replacing it with topsoil, using earth moving equipment, not much is going to work. I will continue to dig deep holes and put in what I can. A very long, arduous project. Eventually, yes, but not any time soon.

Ideally, I want a large statue of a penguin out there. Or something like

this

.