rain

This morning it is raining.

There is something soothing about rain out here in the desert. We don’t get a lot of it and when it comes it changes our perspectives, those of us who have our hands in the dirt, any way.

Yesterday I dug a couple more beds, added horse compost, and planted a lot of bean seeds. Some will be eaten green and even preserved for next winter, some will be left to dry for soup. It was a good day to plant and this morning it is raining.

It won’t rain long, not here, it will be a decent day, 76 or so, cooler than we often have in June. I deep watered the ground I was planning to work today, it might be too wet to work well, we will see. There is always more work to do.

My emphasis this spring has been to work hard to reduce future work. I converted more of my garden from wide row open beds, to raised beds with wood borders.

The books and experts all say to use redwood or cypress or teak for the boxes, but I used plain old cheap Home Depot studs. I put on a coat of good house paint, and screwed them together.

My beds are about 8 feet long. Most are 4 feet wide, but two rows are 2’ wide and one row is just a foot wide (it is next to a 40 foot long trellis). Though it is a lot of work to get all of these beds in place and the grass and the bindweed in tow, it pays off long term.

Some of my bed boxes have been in place for 4 years. I expect to have to replace the 2 by 4’s occasionally, but so far they are doing well.

Beds with edges have a sharp dividing line. This is in the growing area, this is the aisle. One I carefully weed with my faithful trowel, the other I trim with my equally faithful Stihl string trimmer. I put lots of horse compost in the beds and I never walk on them.

My watering preference is drip irrigation. Like the beds, it is a bit of a pain to set up, but once inplace, it puts the water where I needs it, on the roots of the plants, with the turn of a valve or two.


Each year these beds are a tiny bit easier to maintain. This is hard work with the intent of eventually doing less work.

And then when it rains, after I have the seeds and plants in place, I can find comfort and rest.