A Little Wisdom + New Toys = Progress

What a great weekend. I had the Pluta family in town for a mini-vacation and I it was so enjoyable. I was even able to sneak in a bike ride so I can't complain.

The highlight of the weekend was the roto-tiller that Matt Pluta (the husband of the family) put together for me. He does a lot of small motor repair and on occassion gets something that he can fix up and sell. I had asked him about one last fall and he happened to have one in stock. This would be the "new toy."

My garden has been in desperate need of an overhaul. The "dirt" is very much like clay and is hard to work. For the last two summers I have been working leafs from my huge oak tree in the front yard into the dirt. I get a lot every fall, which I then chop up with my lawn mower, but I have been turning them into the soil manually with a shovel. The "dirt" gets very clumpy and doesn't really mix well.

But just turning the dirt as it was was not going to do any good. (I found that out later on. More on that towards the end.) I needed a means of making the dirt looser and little more fertile than what I had. Spotlight on Tonya McGuire, the Controller at the Fraternity HQ, who happens to be a master gardener. She gave me a "recipe" to use (this is the wisdom):

• One bag of peat moss
• Three bags of top soil
• One bag of sand (I used all-purpose sand, but I think play sand would work as well)

After dumping that on a part of the dirt/clay in my garden and spreading it around, it was time to put the roto-tiller to the test. Needless to say, it was a world of difference. (I wish I had some before/after pictures, but my camera batteries was dead. All I got are after pics.) It wasn't really the tiller that I was worried about, but rather that this new dirt is going to produce a better harvest. Granted, that it is only one day and one working of the soil, but by appearance alone, it looks like I have a real garden.

The other part of my garden is seperated by a strawberry patch and I opted not to make the dirt recipe for this other section. I plan to see how the main area works before I buy into the new program. The tiller was a horse and dug through everything, even though the clay was wet and kind of clumpy.

After we finished, Leandra and Barb (the wife) and Adam Pluta (the son and MY BOY!) planted a couple of rows of peas. It may be too early, but it's been really warm and I thought we could take a chance.

Here's hoping for a good return from what we have been given. I sometimes think that I don't deserve what I get. 99% of the time I'm not asked for anything in return. I'm not much of a religious person so I'm not going to get into the whole "God thing," but I'm fortunate to have the right people around me and I think that they would be satisfied if I can pass on my wisdom that I gain...and the occasional toy...to other people who need it.