The real dirt on dirt!!

Years ago I had read that getting down and dirty with the dirt was good for the body, mind and soul. Recently a friend put a link to a site, which talks about dirt. How there is a certain bacteria (good I would think) in dirt that actually helps to raise serotonin levels. I know this. I had forgotten where it had been on the internet. We know we don't believe everything on the internet. But I want to ask a question.

I know that when I get down and dirty in the dirt that I feel good. I feel so good, that I am compelled to have my hands in dirt almost all the time that I can in the ground working months. I know that it raises my serotonin levels, as does the good ol' sunshine provided from the beauty of our solar system. Earth. Good old fashioned earth.

What does getting your hands dirty, with working in the gardens do for others? Does this bring happiness to your soul? Not only knowing that you are procreating flora, be it flowers for the candy of the eye or food to grace our table, this can bring joy. I am at my peace in my gardens, and when my hands are dirty as old getout, I am further in my glory. Peace with the soil, these feelings that again I know will soon grace my life. Long live the dirty hands, those hands of hard work and loving the soil. Enjoy this little article, you will understand more fully how you can be dirty and still be a very happy person. With that, have that most beautiful day, CynthiaM.

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I spend a lot of time in dirt as well. OK, so a lot of my free time. The time I spend in my dirt, grows things.
Things that I get to eat. Things that I get to come home to. Beautiful flowers, and vines, and wondrous smells.
These things bring other things. Bees, and beautiful birds to listen to.

I like to make my dirt. From poop and such. Add some of this, some of that. Give it a turn with the bobcat. It's a [rocess you know so well. I have 2 piles of dirt in the works. Always one for this year, and one steaming one for next year.

After I'm done playing in my dirt in the spring and summer in my gardens, I plant pumpkins in my dirt piles. Why? Hellifiknow. We grow big pumpkins, and decorate the ouse with them come October 1st. We give them away.

Growing things is good for the soul. Your time and efforts, are returned to you, in the things you grow.

My wife is not a grower. She's the waterer. I get her to pick out things she likes, and I do what is needed for the soil requirements. PH, Nitrite etc. You know, the science of it. It's an art within itself.

When you think about it long and hard, it makes you appreciate those rainy days. Rain is good. Rain grows things. Simple as that.

Earth is a blessing and with some little love from us, it gives up it's magic for us to enjoy. Simple things like spinach and peas can be conjured with only a little work and for people like Cynthia and Hillbilly, a bit more effort brings forth wonders that boggle the mind!

Growth is good for the soul, sweat, shovelling, a can of water carefully poured. I can hardly wait! A spinach salad with hard boiled eggs, bacon bits and orange slices...my mouth waters at the thought!

Dirt, oh ya, sitting out on my front porch this morning, watching and listening to the drizzling rain, yep, 2 degrees, and its raining, 4 inches of snow yesterday, over ice, and then now rain, what the bling blong!! So, I was dreaming of what I could in the earth soon, come middle of March, I know this country here turns on to spring like a switch. Then comes the driveway pumping out, sigh....lots o' water gathers from the higher riding arena, on our driveway to the back to our house, like lakes. But I am a gal that loves to pump out water and this is what I do. Nope. I was talking about dirt. Soon we will see the dirt. When we went down to the coast weekend before last, there was dirt everywhere. No snow, but beautiful dirt and grass. Sometimes missin' the wet westcoast, but my life up here is so much better, smiling that big smile. I can wait for dirt. But, being at my Sister's house and seeing her blueberry bushes in the massively huge pots, which she dug up when we all moved away from our acreage we shared, it made me want to go digging in those massive planters of dirt, to see if I could find a weed. Couldn't find any to see, so my hands did not enter dirt......that day, but they will soon. And guess what, me be that happy, happy gal, all hands all covered in dirt. Sucking up all those good micro bacterias that will make me happy, oh have I mentioned I love dirt.

Uno, I will have more vegetables to grace you and Hubby's table this year, more than last year as I know you will know that I love to feed people. You didn't ask me for enough, and I know you loved the Swiss chard, smiling.....please, lean on me, I know you have a very difficult time on your mountain, between the deer and such, trees, lack of sunshine, to grow much of food, but let me be your food gal, pleeeeeze, you just need to ask. And if you want to come down and pick, well, my girl, come and pick your brains out, you need not be so ding darn shy about this.....there is more than enough for EVERYONE, I am serious, girl (can't wait to plant that banana squash that you gave me seeds for, gonna be a honkin' huge amount of banana squash, and surely we alone can't eat it all, smiling at you, gal!!).

So ya, where was I. Right. I was sitting on my front porch looking up the valley, seeing the mountains in the distance, kind of gloomy, foggyish, but still mountains to see, I could see the blue skies coming from the north. That is a nice site, as I know that when the skies blue in the north, that the clouds will roll down the valley, pass our valley and be gone. Me thinks it is gonna be a nice and sunny day later, but much later, it is only 7:00 AM. Sunshine, oh sunshine, breaths health and warmth to our souls -- winter and snow be gone.

I can't wait to get into my compost piles this year. Last year was the first real year of gardening in my new homelife (are you all getting sick of hearing this yet, but I must speak, smiling that big smile). And our gardens were those of alien in nature, monsterous. Gardens that had not been worked properly in many a year, were brought back to life. The clay soil was amended so deeply with the combination of what the horses, compost and chickens and do, and yes, you could imagine full well what growth occurred. It was a cool, but hot summer at the same time. Perfect for beautiful growth. The climate is arid here, but last summer there was enough rain, intermittently and warm sun to make things grow. Only really watered all the gardens just a bare few times, could probably count the times that I stood with hose in hand, watering. Very unusual for this area, my understanding. Kind of reminded me of the southwest coast, where I never watered my gardens, maybe only in those summers where drought was experienced, there was a few years I can recall where we went for 60 and another time perhaps closer to 90 days without that liquid sunshine, so common on that southwestern coast line.....but I am prepared to water. I water by hand. My Daughter deems me nuts and wanted to put in irrigation for me. No thank you, she couldn’t believe it. Her lawns are irrigated by pop up irrigation thingmabobsthatdothejob, but I didn’t want them. I do not water overhead of the plants, my water goes along the soil, I do not like wet leaves, not good.....if it can be helped, rain, well that is another thing, one can’t stop what Mother Nature herself does. Am I ramblin’, oops my pardon, just can’t stop myself, really I can’t. I start out with one single little thought and then it multiplies – fast and I am compelled, smiling again. So, again, where was I? Right....

I have even bigger composting piles than last year. I have the old one from the last year, this was where I grew the melons. It will have amendments to it, but in a minor way, it will be home to other stuff, and yep, it is well composted and aged, purrrrrfect. I look at the pile of compost that comes from the critters around here, from the clean up last fall and what I have put on it over winter, and know there will be one more big clean to put on it (I clean the chicken homes two times a year, all out, everything, and then start new with new stuff in late spring). That will make a really big pile. I am a pitchfork gal, I am a shoveller, I am a shovel totin’ mamma. I love to dig, I love to fling dirt, I love to turn earth, over and over, with a pitchfork, only way to do that chore . But, now Hillbilly, you got this gal thinkin’ about other things. Yes, it is good for the body and soul to move earth, to put the fork in the ground, turn and move over, but if I used other means, I could have more time to play, doing other gardeny stuff. I DO have access to a bobcat here. My Son-in-Law has one, and lawd knows it is well used. I bet my bottom dollar, if I asked him or Hubby to turn over my compost piles a few times with the bobcat they would. That would take days off my work load, more time to play, as I said – but do I want to? I don’t know, gonna have to think about that one big time. Do I want to spend days moving these piles back and forth, over and over, or do I employ the use of men I love in my life, to do this with a machine. Hmmmm....who knows, only time will tell the tale It is indeed good exercise, and I do have the guts and gumption to move crap with my pitchfork, but do I really want to.....got lots of thinking to do over the next month or so. That kind of stuff consumes me, as I weigh things. Well, think I have already weighed that thought, gonna do the pitchfork thing, forget the bobcat.....and I have a marvellous Rubbermaid wheelbarrow that moves the product for me, I only have to fill it and push it, and dump it where I want it, smiling that big smile again. Think I won’t use bobby......ah, man, wish I could just keep on track and on topic, but I just CAN’T!! I think I should end my little diddy now, as I am just worn out of words, imagine that. With that, have that beautiful day, CynthiaM. Now onto thinkin’ about what I want to actually plant......that is another story for another day, smiling again