Long day

Spent most of the daylight hours taking out all the compost I put into the new beds.  I got paranoid that there is TOO much compost.   And I needed to lime the soil.  Because I didn't do that. And I need to do that . So, everything got undug, limed, top soil added, and compost.   5 hours later,  I still have half of the garden to go. 

I'm blaming Steve Solomon for all of it. I'm re-reading "Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades".  I read it last year when I started this mess but it just was confusing and upsetting. He isn't really a fan of intensive gardening.  I was reading too many things that contradict one another (surprise, surprise) and had zero knowledge to be able to just pick out the cherries.

I'm still totally ignorant, but I feel like I can pick out what I want to at this point from what I read.  So, progress HAS been made in this last year, I guess.   He makes some stunning points about what is wrong with the soil and compost in the Pacific NW and why it is as crappy as it is.  It totally makes sense why my garden last year was a complete stunted mess until I started fertilizing it heavily with kelp and fish. We just don't have enough good stuff around these parts.

So, I limed the soil to hopefully make everything a little more balanced in the Ph  arena, added a lot more top soil, and put some of the compost back in.  Next week, I'll add organic fertilizer.  I'm using stuff from Walt's Organic instead of what Steve Solomon's recipe.  It's just easier.

I'm crossing my fingers that this is going to be the "magic pill" I'm looking for.

On the upside,  spending so much time really working the dead soil with topsoil and compost today has done WONDERS.  The soil is friable and fluffy and dark.  It's gorgeous. 

I must admit that about 3.5 hours into this, I thought "What the f*** am I thinking?!? Why on earth amd I doing this??? There is a grocery store 2 blocks away."  I just had to keep reminding myself that it is only horrible this ONE time while I'm setting everything up. It's been months of horrible, but it's just one time and then I'm good.  OTOH, we won't ever be able to move because after putting this much frackin' work into the beds, I won't want to leave them. 

I make a crappy activist, I guess.  Eh, that's not the right word.  Freedom fighter? Fightin' the man person? I don't know.   My vegetable patch is most definitely a subversive act.  A way for me to tell the coporations  to...well, in the interest of keeping this blog "PG rated", I'll let you use your imagination.   A way for me to "opt out".    I certainly can't whine about having to do additional manual labor because I'm too ignorant to know what I'm doing if I honestly believe I'm doing something right for me and for my family. That's lame.

I had more to write, but I'm gonna sign off.  My back is aching and I want to lay down.