A Hard Day's Work

I spent all day today outside in my new garden.  Since this is our first year gardening, I am starting completely from scratch, and that includes a garden location.  After much deliberation, we finally settled on a big area on the north side of our house.  It's being on the north side is a bit controversial, but it is protected from the wind, and gets plenty of sun.  There were several things standing in the way of getting started.  The biggest, and first on the to-do list, was a large, overgrown tree, right in the middle of the future garden.  The tree was too close to the house for comfort anyway, and so it's fate was sealed.  Although it was hard to cut down a big beautiful tree, Nick got the chainsaw out, and down it went.  Then my work started.

Before I can plant a single thing, I have to build my garden fence.  There are too many little critters in our neck of the woods, and I want to be the one enjoying my lettuce, not them.  Before I could start on the fence, however, I had to get rid of the remains of the tree.  I spent most of the morning hauling giant branches across my yard, and before I started work on the fence, I was already tired.  The fence has to be buried, to keep the afore mentioned critters from tunnelling their way to my carrots and beets.  (I cannot help but picture Benjamin Bunny and Peter Rabbit having tea in my garden at this point.)  So out came the pick and shovel. 

For the next few hours I hacked away at the dirt, carving a trench around the perimeter of my soon-to-be-beautiful garden.  It was hard work, to say the least.  Though I didn't want to stop, thirst demanded I break occasionally, and it was disheartening to see how little progress I was making.  But I carried on.  Finally, it was time to throw in the towel (or trowel, rather,) and go pick up the kids.  I had one length of the trench dug.  No rails set, no wire buried.  Just the trench.  But I still felt exhilarated.  I stripped my sap and mud covered clothes off, and got in a hot shower, sore down to my bones.  It was the greatest shower I can remember having in ages.  There is nothing like a hard days work in the dirt, followed by a long hot shower, to make you feel like you have accomplished something.  I have a lot more work to do tomorrow, and I'm ready for it.  I think I will sleep beautifully tonight.