About me...

Because this journey is intensely personal, there will be times when my posts will be about more than just rebuilding the physical aspects of my life. They may be random and sometimes I think they may not even make sense to some. But whatever I post here will be as honest as I can make it, no punches pulled, telling it like it it. I hope that I can share some insight with others who might be going through a similar transitory period in their own lives. With luck and perseverence I know I will eventually successful in my new life. I have very high hopes for all of this but then I had those when Dave was alive, too. I am naturally a pretty optomistic person, I think.

Things are not going as planned....BIG SURPRISE!!!  When I started this venture, I think I mentioned that I had no idea how long it would take and I meant that.  I didn't mention, though, that I gave myself a year for a project that probably would only take a couple of months in a different set of circumstances. To think that things would go smoothly was my being totally optimistic about it.

Of course, nothing drastic has happened. Just little niggling things like it being 95+ degrees for days and off the chart humidity. I do not like being hot. Since I didn't start out in the field early this year, I didn't build up a tolerance to the heat and humidity, so it really got me. Also, I am still working through some things from Dave's death (it will be exactly 5 months tomorrow the 24th) and that is holding me back some.

I thought that if I had a project to keep me occupied I wouldn't be so inclined to sadness but I am finding that working with setting up a new garden has done just the opposite.  I just miss him something fierce most days and that is slowing me down...a lot. Plus I am on a limited budget and it is taking much longer that I calculated for some of my funds to be released. That should be settled in the next week or two and that will make a HUGE difference.

Of course, the whole point in creating this blog is to relate the whole process of starting my life over again. That isn't just about setting up a new garden, either. It is about working through some butt kicking grief and setting my life back on an acceptable path.  Notice that I said "acceptable". At this point, that is all I can hope for. I have "re-invented" myself before and I know what that takes.  Luckily, I was relatively successful at reinvention after I was divorced back in the 90's and that gives me confidence that this time will work out okay, too. After all, I found Dave after that transformation, didn't I? Couldn't have worked out any better than that.

And so, I am still confident that the "right" path will eventually reveal itself to me. That hasn't happened yet and I am still searching. But, it should be cooling off in the next couple of weeks and I think I should be able to get to work in earnest on the new beds. For now, I am working on other things.

For anyone following this blog...

If you are interested in following my journey as I transition from Classic New Moon Farm to
the Updated New Moon Farm, I have several new blogs about specific chapters of this latest journey I am on.

If you are interested, here they are:

“You have to do it yourself, no one else will do it for you. You must work out your own salvation.”

Only a true Hillbilly both knows and understands the difference between a redneck, a good ol' boy, and po' white trash. 

Dirt Delayed, yet again....

Well, the dirt didn't come last week.  No biggie, I actually didn't want it to come because there was a big thunderstorm the afternoon before the delivery day and I didn't want all that dirt coming in soggy.  Probably would not have been that big of a deal, since it is already in a big, wet pile where it coming from and turning it over would probably have helped it dry out faster. But, I know me and I know that I would have been out there shoveling it as soon as the truck left and wet, soggy dirt is a lot heavier than dry dirt, so I called and said don't bring it until next Thursday. I know that there is a possibility of another big storm blasting through, but I am willing to take the chance that is will not.  If I am wrong, so be it. Maybe the delay will bring a little cooler weather when I do finally get to start shoveling.
Tomorrow I am getting a load of organic top soil delivered to my new spot. Even though it is more cost effective than some of the alternatives, it is still pretty expensive and I am only getting enough for now to fill in my raised beds so that I can finish off what I have already started.  I apologize for not being able to put up pictures lately, but my digital camera is not working at the moment. I have pictures on my phone that I can't take off just yet, so no way to use it, either. I should be able to get something up soon, though.

Anyway, I am excited about the dirt coming.  I priced using organic bagged topsoil and the price was around $8.00 for 2 cubic ft.  My raised beds are 48 and 60 square feet and to fill them to a depth of 6 inches I would need between 10-12 bags for each bed.  That is a lot of $$ for soil and the one I was pricing was actually being sold at Big Lots for well below the regular retail price at Lowes ($11.75). And this is Garden Soil and not meant to be used alone.

Potting soil is not what you want to use in the types of beds I am setting up. It is too light and will "settle" far too much to make it practical for my application.  I would have to add more soil later on and that would jack the cost up even farther. Plus organic potting soil is even more expensive than this garden soil and because it doesn't have any kind of wetting agent added to it, it is not very efficient for watering (I'll cover the why of that in another post). This Miracle-Gro Organic Garden soil has a lot of bark and other things in it that add to its bulk.  It is a good product, I guess, but not in this situation. 

The topsoil I am getting has been screened, solarized, and contains soil, creek sand, composted manure and other composted organic matter.  It is coming in at about $29.00 per cubic yard and that is a huge savings for me.  It will take roughly one cubic yard to fill the beds at the depth I mentioned. Obviously the difference dollarwise is worth the added cost of having the soil delivered. I checked with several suppliers and the cost for delivery ranged anywhere from per the number of cubic yards being delivered to a flat fee of around $85.00.  Factoring in even that cost, it would still be cheaper than bagged soils, if your beds were the size of these I am putting in. 

I have been saving newspapers to put down as a weed barrier and will get that down this weekend. Once that is done, I will put in the dirt, plant, water and mulch.  I will take you through that process sometime next week or as soon as I can get it up here on the blog here.

This is the soil I priced.






I have officially bestowed a new title on myself.
I shall henceforth be known as

"Suzanne, Mistress of the Dirt"


I will now be known as "Makawee Maha-Mistress of the Dirt"

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