We're sticking to It

While some people get ideas from great literature or history, I got mine today from a stick.

Not uncommon for me.

Inside our garden we had originally laid out some soaker hoses. In order to get them to lay straight, we needed stakes to use as hose guides. I had taken my hatchet and cut off some branches from a a hurricane victim, a downed black walnut tree not far from the house.

Well, we had to give up on using the soaker hose because we couldn't afford to buy enough to cover all the rows. (That should give you an idea of how broke-ass we are.) We returned said hoses to Walmart, but left the stakes in place. Yesterday, we noticed that they were actually still growing. Not just one, but they all had little shoots of new growth. Weird, huh?


So today when I got home from work I went outside to water the garden. Of course I was outside for a while, because I found out that one of our ratcheting sprinklers doesn't ratchet any more. Itwas a few years old, so that loss was not too bad.

Anyway, I got my trusty hatchet. I love the hatchet. I just feel so woodsy when I am chopping stuff. I want a really nice one from Lee Valley tools, but they cost a ton. I hacked off a new branch from the walnut tree and trimed the bark off the bottom five or so inches. I filled a coffee container with a mix of regular dirt and potting soil and inserted said branch.

OK, I am well aware that this sounds ridiculous, but who knows, maybe it will actually grow. I know that for it to have any chance, it will need lots of water, maybe some fertilizer and probably a miracle.


Here's a picture of our lettuce from the container garden on the porch. Both of our girls ate it in their salad last night. They were balking at the prospect of a little rabbit food for dinner, but when we gave them the old "Hey, you helped grow this," their mouths were soon full of green stuff. If you're wondering, yes, that is a tub from an old washing machine.