Mission Accomplished.... Well, Weeding Accomplished. Bring on the Seeds!

Emily, Sara, Katie, Molly, and I went to the garden for about an hour today, and my experience with the garden this time around was much smoother than the last one. Weeding bed 7 was a cinch compared to weeding bed 5. The soil was still a little moist from the rain, so the weeds came right up and the soil left on the roots was really easy to shake off. In less than an hour, the five of us had all of bed 7 weeded as well as the weeds moved to the root pile. Below, you can see bed 7 finished:

The best additions to the gardening experience today were my kneeling pad and music! After complaining about my knees and my tush last week, my mom went out and bought me a gardening pad. Thank you Mom! This purchase comes highly recommended. Also, Katie played music at the garden this time, and it was really relaxing. I felt very at peace and very comfortable today. 

Breaking news- We are planting on tomorrow, so I am very excited! I have so many questions going through my mind right now about it: when will we see growth above soil? When will I be able to eat my first vegetable? Do I need to water these babies? Do I need to worry about them being too shaded? What to plant first? Clearly, I am not the expert I hope to be by the end of this yet.

Even though I’m still a novice, today was really special for me because I was able to teach Molly and Emily how to work in the garden. I was able to pay forward everything Sara taught me last week. I felt like I was really starting to learn something. On Friday, I was not able to get the soil off of the roots without throwing them back in, and today I was able to teach other people how to do it. That was a really neat experience!

Moreover, I had my first run-in with bugs today. Fortunately, there were no worms since you all know I have a completely ridiculous fear of things with no legs like snakes, eels, and the worms that I know I will have to get over throughout this gardening experience. The bugs we saw today were the furthest things from creatures with no legs though….. they had about 100! I was originally a little grossed out, but I know that life in the soil means that the soil is healthy, so I got over it. My little, prehistoric-looking friends are a sign for the life that this garden will soon produce.

I have quickly learned that having a garden is dirty work. That’s okay though. I kinda like it! I don’t think people take their shoes off and just spend the afternoon outside enough. I’m so lucky I have the opportunity to do this. Screw nail polish, I want dirt under my fingernails. That’s a true sign that I’m enjoying life and grounding myself in this beautiful, physical world around us.

I wanted to end my post with a video of our favorite wakadoodle Sara. Of course she is already eating things she finds in the garden. Don’t worry, she is not stealing from anyone else. She is eating what grows around the beds. Friday it was parsley, and today it was a violet. See the picture and video below for proof! I cannot wait for planting tomorrow, and will post about that experience then :).