As in, don’t let your mouth go writing checks your ass can’t cash.
and its a constant around here. Get told ‘yeah, we’ll have the water turned on by 2pm today”
only, no, they didn’t. And of course, by this time of day, they are all gone for the weekend.
I’m not even mad about it. I’m fast getting to the point where I expect nothing less than mediocre performance around here. Don’t like it, but ‘is what it is’
War on Weeds: mowed today, didn’t need the linetrimmer to cut my way through. Did have some rough cuts because of the terrain, but that was actually a bonus of sorts. Got me to thinkin’. Unks garden was well established before he went downhill. BUT, it was a shambalic mess too. Typical hillside gardening in these parts. It has been taking on tier shapes from the tiller work, (and why mowing it was a challenge) and I’ma t’inkin’ formalize the teirs I have plenty of block and rock (believe me, I have PLENTY of rock) to establish the walls of each teir, and flatten them out, even make them follow the hillside better for better access to yard tools. Yah, more work in the now, but easier work later. Better water retention too. (right now, its chalky dusty worn out dirt. Needs massive TLC to be worth a damn without using huge amounts of fertilizer, which is what Unk DID do,,,)
Hey, I’m still learning this green thumb thing, I’m likely off base in many degrees, but what I have been reading, and what I had been taught about reading soil, this hillside needs help. That I know Unk used a lot of fertilizer only reinforces that information. (A couple 50# bags every year. Seems a bit excessive to me.)
Or I just throw my hands in air, and put the whole shebang on the market as soon as the paperwork settles.
I’m too obstinate for that sort of retreat, and I think y’all know it too. I’m just farting in the wind when I say shit like that.
And I don’t wanna give up my little castle I built. I could, but don’wanna. And I don’t wanna start over again unless I have no choice. I have lots of choices right now.
Monsoon hit right before sunset. Felt great. Took a walk in it, and was stared at from the porch by Cozzie. He thought (rightfully so) that “dads NUTZ” The boy is part kat, hatez water and getting wet. How he ended up with a kayaky fool such as me, I don’t know. Universe operates on strange humor, that is for certain.
Not in a good frame of mind this eve. Spent more than an hour on a helpdesk line, conversing with someone in Mumbai (at least I think so, sure was not profficient in english.) and still didn’t get the problem sorted out. deets of the issue: Da has a flipphone. Plan/carrier we use is phasing out support for such and the plan he was on, no longer supports it at all. I bought the next installment before finding that out, but the plan is ‘Non-Refundable”. Potential solution: I have an old smartphone that IS compatible with the plan and I move Da over to that, using his SIM card. He is bucking HARD about it, but if he wants cell service, its what I can do. I havent the means right now to move him over to a different carrier (mid-month, several bills hit all at once, and I paid the down to get that water turned on, that hasn’t been turned on. See where the ill-will feelz are coming from?)
Patience Grasshoppa! things will move as they move and pushing does nothing but wear you out faster.
Ohhhhhmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not workin’

So I look at rough ground and think I can make it better and how, and even come up with a game plan. I may not do anything on it now, but its not thinking evil thoughts at people far away. that way lay dragons and wyrms. (in my psyche at least)
I like being the problem solver, I don’t like being on the end of the stick stymied by people that WON’T at least try. And that was the impression I got from the Helpdesk that wasn’t: wouldn’t even try to escalate the problem to a higher teir. Or being promised a turn on time, on a Friday, and now a whole weekend ahead of me before that happens (short of some incredulous “hey I forgot to do that” by some tech who comes out and does it on his own time. Has happened, but I don’t expect that sort of luck in my world.)
I don’t like being the asshole,,,
sure feels like I am some days though,,,
Live
Learn
LAUGH (you have no idea how much I am trying)
LOVE (same!)
LOAD!!!



About that fertilizer, get a cheap test kit and test various spots in the garden so you’ll know what’s lacking. If you want a broad spectrum fertilizer try chicken litter or stable litter. Down here in Texas my dirt is mostly clay. It barely grows goatweeds. When i tested it there weren’t any nutrients to speak of. I’ve been tilling chicken litter and leaves into it for 4 years and now it grows vegetables. Not great, but acceptable growth. Last year i tilled in a moldy round bale of hay. It helped but it also sprouted a lot of various grasses this year. After the worms digest it it’ll be better.
Also, Eaton Rapids Joe has A LOT of stuff about agriculture on his blog. Reach out to him and your local ag extension office. They might be willing to test your dirt for free.
Me? I’m not really a farmer. I’m good at building and fixing. But since I like eating a balanced diet regularly and I gotta pay the land tax anyway, I try to grow some groceries.
And if you’ve got a slope and a few acres, borrow a box blade and tractor and make a small tank (pond). The water well be good for irrigation. Irrigating a garden on municipal water is kind of expensive. And if you can get your tank big enough to support fish and frogs it’ll make the water even better. Fish poop is great for gardens!
Have fun with it. It’s too much work to not have fun with it.
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I need to do that test thing. What I see doesn’t look very good, but eyes do lie and my knowledge, is at best, gleaned from others many decades ago. And maybe this is what I need. It would give me reason to network with others, for that chicken litter/stall scrapings stuff. Only Person I know is my UnkF, who raises chickens/layers. Need to expand if I’m serious about this (and with the price of food going astronomical, NEED to be serioius.)
as for the Pond, already something there, and if need be, II could re-route my already established supply to my house, over there. Plenty of water there with the muni stuff as back up. (like when we had that bad bad drought a few years back.. needed to plumb a line between Unks trailer and my place and back feed up the hill to my tank. Worked! got me to wetter weather at least.
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before you rework the terrace he seems to have set up for gardening, make sure what you plan to plant will grow. Waste of work otherwise
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welll,,,, With the titer (titre?) test pending, and the fact that I have little clue what I would want to plant (the two I do want to plant need extra proctection from wildlife, that adore those plants: MORE work),,,
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And at this point, they are more like ‘suggestions’ than actual terraces
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