Sunday, March 08, 2009

FLEA MARKETS & COMPOST

SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH 7

Saturday morning found Farm Mom and officemate and daughter (everyone thinks I'm Mom, she's daughter) Very Mary at Rinky Dink's Flea Market for their weekly thrifting frenzy. With eyes peeled for the treasure of the day, they stopped by the "Bras & Underpanties" department down Aisle 2, located right behind one of Rink's many childrens' book stand.


(Note "The Curious Kid's Activity book of Boredom" right behind "A Day at the Mall. " As discerning readers, Farm Mom and Very Mary do not regularly purchase reading material for their younger friends at Rinks or the bras and underpanties on Aisle 2.)

These days, economic woes are inescapable, even at Rinky Dink's. As evidenced by the covering at the Longaberger Purses Booth, sales of "Aignier" purses and "Yard Orderments" are on the wane. Perhaps the economic stimulus plan will boost many Rinky Dinkers' discretionary income such that purses and orderments will soon be back in demand. One can only hope. After all, spring's almost here, and everyone's going to want a new cutesy yard orderment, like the ones of Ma and Pa bent over pullin' weeds with their butt cracks and underpanties showing..

(Very Vanna White Mary encourages all to write their congressperson in support of unemployed "yard orderment" workers.)


SUNDAY, MARCH 8

Farm Mom felt a burst of energy and decided it was a great day to work outside. Despite the afternoon's gale force winds, she picked up all the shoots from the grapevines she haphazardly pruned Saturday afternoon and hauled them and fallen branches from last month's ice storm to the fire circle. She had planned to start up the tractor and haul the bundles of branches with the tractor cart, but the 'ole farm tractor wasn't much in the mood for starting.

At that point, Farm Mom could hardly wait to begin her favorite early spring chore....spreading this year's compost and turning the yet to compost compost from one bin to the other so it'll be ready next year.

This year, the large bin (on the left in the photo below) held the rich soil that's now placed on the garden beds. With farm tools in hand and the almost rusted beyond repair farm wheelbarrow, the farm matriarch unloaded 15 huge piles of compost on the gardens, raked the rich new soil into the old, and beamed with satisfaction - -1..Her body was still upright....2... Her heart hadn't exploded.....3... The composted soil was beautiful....4... She can now think about getting peas, collards, spinach, and lettuce in the ground SOON !!- -



(Happy Buddha's standing in the bin that held the compost that's now on the beds. In the photo, he's anchored on the compost that got turned from the bed on the right to the one on the left. Actually this is a very boring photo unless you're Farm Mom and really into the compost.)

As she writes this, Farm Mom realizes not everyone gets as excited as she about making his/her own dirt, but there're few things that bring her greater joy. Once this good, healthy, rich black compost gets mixed in with the many years of composted soil that awaits it, it's a for sure that the veggies will be happy there, the weeds will be very, very happy there, and a very, very, very happy Farm Mom will have spend a great deal of the summer there...with her hands in the dirt she composted....YEAH !!

(Dark, dark compost + lots of TLC = good, healthy, organic veggies!)

1 comment:

Very Mary said...

I love Farm Mom and Very Mary's weekly thrift-ventures! I'm Very Happy they didn't blow their wad on underpanties.