CREATING A GARDEN: WORK CONTINUING

There are now eight calabash gourd plants in the two olive tree berms where I tossed the seeds. None of these seeds were placed in the dirt, they were just thrown in and covered with straw mulch.

Some days I have people here to help me create this garden property, but on others I work alone. On this particular day it was only me and there was a lot of work to do with the pick axe and shovel. The day started with the digging of zai pits to catch water and concentrate compost. I had one small area next to the bamboo palace where I could experiment with this technique so I dug 15 pits and mixed up some straw and sheep manure with the dirt. I threw in seeds from some loquats I ate last month, and some wheat seeds that may or may not be mature enough to sprout. As with the calabash I have no expectations that anything will grow but I hope to see a difference in the soil in a few months. That may also be an unrealistic expectation but as my old friend Jimmy Carter says, failure is an acceptable outcome.

Lining the pits with paper helps to hold the moisture in the pits for a bit longer.

Finally, in a fit of optimism, I placed bamboo sticks in the pits to be able to do some precise watering and if by chance something green appears, I will know what is coming up. One stick for the wheat pits, two sticks in the loquat pits.

On the same day I dug the zai pits, I worked on the trenches for the outer olive garden gravel mulch/pathway, and hauled the10 bags of terra cotta brick pieces into the former chicken and rabbit house. It was another tiring day but I felt great about how much I had been able to accomplish.