Out in the garden

Last September I picked a small rectangle on our plot and started working the soil in order to plant something edible. I was warned by our landlady that the soil being what the miners dug out of the mine it was not going to be easy to grow anything there, but I decided to give it a go. I decided to plant corn (sweetcorn) for the simple reason that only GMO corn is available to us here, except for the imported Bonduelle canned sweetcorn that we get from selected supermarkets. With the help of Thembile, the dog, I worked the soil, removed a few stones, added horse manure the day that two of them visited our garden and when the rain came I planted corn and bean seeds. I have not seen a bean stalk in that area. The corn did grow, but surely is not too impressive. I cannot really call it disappointing because I was not expecting much in the first place. Let's say that I did not get too overwhelmed when I saw that the diameter of the corn stems are less than that of my fingers. Leila and I took a stroll to the corn patch this morning and had a peep into one of the cobs. I was already about to explain to her how we would do better next year, expecting to see one of those one-grain cobs as we got last year from corn planted in a pot. Well, to my greatest surprise, this corn has grains! and they are so soft that I can eat them raw! We will (hopefully) do better next year, with a bit of compost in the soil at least. I am liking this homegrown sweetcorn business, and to tell the truth, I do not think that corn ever tasted sweeter than the one that Leila and I harvested.

The rest of the day was a good one too. As yesterday I was offered and picked up bags of soil from a friend's I took on to make a small raised bed. I was amazed at how exhausted I got in the process of making such a small contribution to the garden. I mean, I have not yet finished assembling the banana trees that were cut down last week or throwing in the soil and covering it with whatever mulch I will gather on the plot. I have not yet sewed the seeds or planted the seedlings and I already contributed so much sweat. This labor just drove me to complete puzzlement in the face of supermarket shopping. Oh and there was some admiration too: have you seen Leila poking holes through cardboard with a machete? May this be a hint of how blunt the blade was.

Next on this Sunday's to-do list was reshuffling the play house so that Thembile can nest in there, for... she is expecting! Leila cannot bear to wait another two weeks whereas I am not sure if we are ready. She was such a tiny puppy only a few months ago. Weeks perhaps? The young lady had about ten suitors from the neighboring houses, all howling at night, including a big black alpha male who insists on peeing on our house (or the girl's bicycles) every day since we moved in, but she did not let him come close. She had her own favorite. I am glad his is not bigger than her. I quite like him even. As if that would matter!
Anyway, once the house was ready with an armchair in it and the late afternoon sun, in came our champion napper - Scratchy. Hunting mice at night sure calls for some serious day sleeping and he knows all the best spots. He just follows the sun on its east to west course.

Finally, some painting was done. For the first time I allowed the girls near the acrylic-based paints and was not disappointed. After a few brushtrokes each they went away and let me play around. Soon their favorite piece of "furniture"will go back to where it belongs and they will play some more. It feels great to be moving along, fixing things and making new ones and enjoying the beautiful days of March.