March 15

#SOL22 #15

Today I began the annual back breaking ritual… spreading literal tons of compost throughout my lawn and garden areas. Although many people (including me in the past) generally spread some kind of tree bark as mulch, since moving to this house two years ago, I use compost as my only mulch.

My house is in a brand-new development, and in typical style the developer scraped the soil down to nothing during the excavation and building process, then laid sod over the bare ground, which in this area is pure clay. As a result, the grass struggles to survive from day one.

This is the third year I am spreading a couple of inches of compost everywhere. And the grass is thanking me. It is increasingly lush and full and tolerates periods of hot, dry weather with increasing resilience.

As further evidence of the improving soil health, the earthworm supply has been increasingly rapidly. I spotted only a couple here and there when I first began planting things. Now, they are lurking everywhere, such as this congregation I found under a stepping stone I moved today.

So many things to learn and experiment with, to fail at and to cause to flourish.

 

 

March 14

#SOL22 #14

I wrote about pruning a week-ish ago, and my mind has returned to the topic today. Among my several “hats,” I am the president of a nonprofit organization devoted to… gardening! We promote (and build) community gardens and educate people in the county about gardening. I have experienced a “meteoric rise” (definitely tongue-in-cheek) from lowly volunteer less than a year ago to this esteemed position.

Requested, nominated, and voted in by the other board members. Full of visions of possibility. Enthusiastic, energetic, taking action. Only to encounter “we-want-things-to-stay-the-same”-ness. Not in words, in (re)actions.

What started out as energizing has receded to anxiety, frustration and anger.

I have been reflecting, trying to decipher the reasons I am encountering this resistance, and trying to identify what I am doing that is causing fellow board members to reject my ideas. I have working theories, and have bounced them off another board member whom I trust, who is empathetic and non-judgmental. His analysis is similar to mine, so I feel less crazy.

So, this gig is one I quite possibly must prune. If so, I will have mixed emotions, part relief, part “aaagh!” I am thankful that there will not be any sense of guilt. I have been honest, transparent, solicited feedback, invited dissenting viewpoints, done everything I can think of to build unity.

If we are not in alignment, I cannot change that. And will take my vision elsewhere.