Weekend Workout (Warning: Parenthesis Addiction)

Hi my name is Angela, and I'm addicted to parenthesis. See this big pile of dirt here?  It was placed here by persons who shall remain unnamed for their own safety.  Said nameless person had grand plans for my garden and was going to relocate it all.  So, said unnamed person moved all of my beautiful rich soil to this undisclosed spot in the yard. (Note: I have no idea why I'm talking like this.)

Well, said plans have been scrapped, and one fine 65 degree day, I took on the task of putting things back.  This pile of dirt was light and beautiful and full of rich, organic material.  I've babied this dirt for three years.  You can't buy dirt like this, I'm telling ya. (Note: You probably can.)

I started with a mix of what we had in the yard, organic potting soil, and a few other soil amendments.  Since then, every time I plant a new crop I add compost to replenish what has been taken out by the growing plant.  I also regularly fertilize with compost tea.  This dirt is full of calcium from crushed eggshells, and other great organic things from my worms. (Read: Worm poop)

The point of this post is to give you a little info on how to get this rich, black earth.  When I put my garden to "bed" in the winter, I take finely mulched leaves and layer them on in a depth of about two inches.  I give the whole thing a good watering, and know in the spring it will have broken down into more rich loaminess. (Loaminess?  I don't know who says that besides me.)

Back to the task at hand...

Since the beds were empty, I moved them away from the fence a little bit more, and started the long, slow process of moving dirt by the wheelbarrow-full.

 I hate to admit it, but by the end of this process, I was so tired I forgot to take final pictures.  (Not to mention that I probably didn't have a clean hand to take pictures.)  =)