Making Dirt

Every spring, I think, This is the summer I will grow something luscious and wonderful.

My neighbor gave me three wheelbarrows full of monkey grass he'd thinned from the border of his front yard. I rooted it in my front yard to make a border for a new bed. Nothing is seeded yet.

First I have to create dirt. I've scooped the mulchy leaves that collect in the street in front of our house. From the back yard I've hauled around tan colored sand left from when another neighbor installed an inflatable pool. A couple of trips around to the side of the house yielded more crumbly humus and the added bonus of sweet gum balls. To all this I added bagged peat moss and compost.

What I Know About Dirt

*I once used a kitchen spoon to dig up the root of a mimosa tree.

*When my daughter was little her favorite activity at the Red River Revel was the mock archeological dig.

*The earth is so fertile around here trees sprout and grow in the middle of the lakes.

*When my daughter was born the whole room smelled like fresh, wet earth.