12/28/2025
I created a new garden bed in my front yard last spring so I could grow more Dahlias. I laid out a large shape with my garden hose, used marking paint and painstakingly cut the sod into manageable squares, wheelbarrowed them out back and laid them out side by side to potentially use at a later date. I had bulk organic compost delivered and added it to the new bed. It must have swallowed up at least 1 yard, if not more. I turned the heavy soil with a fork until the color changed to a milk chocolatey brown color. I planted many tubers in the new bed, too many to count, each staked and labeled with flagging tape. The plants grew little by little and I dragged a long hose out as often as I could during the weeks to hand water at the base. When the first plants started to bloom it wasn’t until late July. There were many times over the weeks I thought to myself, “what am I doing? I’m not a flower farmer!” but I guess I just enjoy the process of watching plants grow and seeing the result of all@of my hard work. There’s nothing like walking out the front door early in the morning before the sun is up to cut flowers from the garden. It’s such a peaceful and tranquil part of the day for me.
