Kiss the Earth

It was only a week's vacation, but it felt much shorter and what a lot of work! I spent the first five days mulching my gardens, a job made much harder by lack of access. I had to have bags of mulch delivered, rather than a pile, and then drag them one by one through the kitchen to the back gardens. Each bag weighs 42 lbs. and if you don't think I was tired and sore after five or six hours of this per day for five days ...

But the end of the week found me in Colorado visiting my son and his wife and helping them plant some native Rocky Mountain flowers and three large containers of vegetables and herbs. They love to cook and eat organically and this, I think, is the beginning of something exciting. We all agreed that if things go well this summer, we'll be more ambitious next year. I may have to schedule another trip this fall!

We were lucky enough to stumble on a plant sale/fundraiser sponsored by the master gardeners at Colorado State University. All the seedlings had been lovingly grown by master gardeners, who are among my favorite folks in the whole world, and many of the gardeners were on hand to answer questions. It was a win-win for everyone.

My own garden is almost entirely mulched. One small area - the same one I neglected last year for the same reason (fatigue) - remains unfinished. I hope to get to that in a bit. But my nails are still dirty, my hands stiff and my back sore from the hard labor of last week. I need to give it a rest!

When people ask why I am working so hard .. is it worth it? It is, most definitely, because the garden looks fresh and pretty. But next year, I may .. may .. hire someone to help - or do it for me. They could probably do it all in three days, maybe less. Imagine. I could have a vacation that's truly a vacation.

But now it's time to sit back, enjoy and let the parties begin ... I'll take some photos to show you what I mean. And to show you how hard I've been working!