Soil Festivities

A few weeks ago, Macsen expressed an interest in growing something in the weed patch. Being keen to encourage this sort of thing, Eve and I started talking about how to ensure he saw some speedy success without it becoming an issue if he lost interest. Knowing that there are a few soil literate types on identi.ca, I also asked there for some suggestions and received a lot of genuinely helpful advice. This led me to Gardeners World and an evening spent reading up on the basics of gardening.

Macsen proved to be quite adamant about wanting to grow flowers, so we found a plant pot and gave him a space to start planting. The soil around the pot is Macsen’s as well and the seeds are starting to sprout.

Eve also bought a second pot and convinced Macsen that home grown strawberries might be a tasty treat. This is proving to be even more successful.

So far he’s doing remarkably well. The enthusiasm is up and he is doing an excellent job of making sure the plants are properly watered. He’s not so keen on keeping the area free of weeds but I think there is an element of perception to that – to Macsen, if it’s not a nettle then it’s not a weed.

It is the nature of blogging that all blog posts are, ultimately, about the blogger. And so, to me.

As I was following the easy-gardening discussion on identi.ca and, as I was reading up on the basics, the idea of having a go myself started to become increasingly appealing. Consequently, I have embarked on my own soil literacy project, phase one of which is almost complete.

I’m not planning on pulling up the entire weed bed in one go – it’s big – but we have agreed on a place to start and work is progressing nicely. I didn’t think to take a before photo, but here is the state of the patch as of Saturday lunchtime.

The third photo is indicative of where the weeds were when I started. These weeds will be dealt with, but not in phase one.

Phase two starts this coming Saturday and will involve clearing the last of the in-progress weeds, taking a trailer full of junk to the tip and returning with a trailer full of compost.

And on Sunday, we plant!