This stuff is flourishing out back. Any ideas what it is? Furry leaves, tiny purplish flowers, happy in the shade.
After some help from the wonderful folks at Gardenweb, it is apparently Veronica hederifolia.
Seven rows dug, sifted, tilled. One more to go, then the back part which worries me a bit. Call it the Dump. More rocks, more roots, no more Star Wars figures.
I much appreciate previous owner's shovel. The fork makes a huge difference, as I got two rows done this morning. I keep reminding myself that this may be next year's garden, and that's just fine. I find myself being meticulous, and enjoying not having to be efficient, no hurrying, no need to be done. Enjoying the doing. Feeling more optimistic that I can get some kind of crop, maybe lettuce in that 8th row.
When I find worms, I try to lift them out, and put them into where I've already dug and filled in. I tell them "Hey, little guy, this is a better place for you right now." Got a good number all the way around. Hopefully, they'll like the looser soil, and hang around. I don't mind handing them with gloves. When I was a kid, and went barefoot whenever possible, the worms in the dirt seriously creeped me out. Understanding what they do makes them more interesting, if not more photogenic.
Only want to stop having the garden songs going through my head as I work in the dirt. The Garden Song (Inch by Inch), Octopus's Garden, Seeds of Brotherhood. Although when La Isla Bonita got stuck, I went back to the others. Not even rethinking the lyric as "Last night I dreamed I was Pedro..." helped. I need to go out there with a song in my head already.
Being very careful of my back and thumb, I'm sure I look ridiculous sitting down to shovel dirt. Have my thumb brace on under the glove. I figure, I'm allowed to look very silly. I'm in my own garden, and I'm too old to feel peer pressure - not that there is anyone to see to ridicule me anyway. So I puttered about quite contentedly.
9 comments:
Good to see it coming along. I think that flower would be described as "just a weed"...but it is pretty.
Songs..."Hi Ho, Hi Ho...."
" We dig dig dig dig, dig dig dig dig, dig the whole day through...."
Sorry!!
but a weed is simply a flower that is blooming in the wrong place
Not anthromorphising, but I do think houses 'know' and absorb all kinds of things, so doesn't surprise me that it knows you love it. Some places are ensouled and some not - our intuition so often tells us things that we dismiss with our intellects. This should really be on another post, sorry - have been doing some catching up here :)
gz,
It's been so long since I've seen that movie, that song is too far away to stick in my brain. But thanks for trying! (ha)
Mouse,
I will enjoy any plant in my garden, in moderation. I have not killed all the ivy, just the stuff trying to eat the house.
RtheS,
Spirit of place, this place has one. Moby knew. We knew as soon as we drove past it on the day of the first open house, more when we walked in. It called to us.
And, I don't mind stray comments at all. In real life, it's how I talk to friends.
Just saw episode 12 of The Middleman. Fantastic series! Thanks for the recommendation and did you know that episode 13 is available in graphic novel form: "The Doomsdy Armageddon Apocalypse" ... wonder if Ida could recommend a good gardening gadget.
Rou,
Oh, I am glad you enjoyed that. Yeah, the strange interaction between the series and the comic, it's a bit complex. I may have to watch it again, soon.
I found a great gadget to open painted closed windows, worked a treat.
A day without compost under the fingernails is not a proper day for me.
Old cutlery makes excellent gardening gadgets, especially old sharp kitchen knives.
(o)
Gardeners appear eccentric to those who do not garden, anyway you dress or behave. It's liberating.You should see the faces when Californians pass by and see me gardening in the rain. I haven't melted yet! You've worked hard to achieve all that already.
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