House Intruder

It was early in the morning just after light. My alarm clock, Julip,  had not woken up yet. I thought I heard someone in our house. I did hear someone in our house. There was a very growly man's voice. He was talking pretty loudly. Then he slammed the door. I sat straight up in bed, threw on some clothes, and ran outside with my sawed-off shotgun to face the intruder.

Thankfully, it was just Josh. And no, I don't really have a shotgun. I didn't live in Alabama that long! hahahaa

A scary bearded man with a tatoo. 

Dustin and Josh are great friends. They have extremely similar personalities. However, Dustin doesn't like to shovel dirt (neither do I). And Dustin doesn't want to shave his head bald (neither do I). 

Our friend Josh is an incredible guy. Strangely enough, he and my brother were almost roommates long before we ever met him. Josh really likes to help people...and he has a truck. When you have a truck, you know you'll be asked to do some heavy lifting. We asked Josh if he'd shovel compost into his truck and deliver it to our garden spot. We were desperate, thought it wouldn't hurt to ask, but knew he'd decline our plea. Much to our surprise one early morning last week he pulled up our driveway with the most delicious, rich, manure-filled compost I've ever seen.  A heaping truck load. Yes, he shoveled it all by himself. For us!!! What a friend.

See the manure clumps. When I saw the truck full of compost Josh said, "Now this is the part where I have someone thank me for a bunch of crap!" I did...with tears in my eyes! :) 

Then he un-shoveled it in our garden plot. (That's not a word, is it?) Afterwards, he came and got some coffee, and we my mom hemmed up his pants.  We also paid him for the gas. Man, we are some major barterers, huh? :) I love bartering!

I built these boxes all by myself without electrical tools. Want a tutorial? 

Of course, I promised him some vegetables. Want to know what we I planted? broccoli, cauliflower, peas, brussels sprouts, and carrots. Next week we'll  I'll plant spinach, kale, and arugula. Yeehaw! :)

My pea seeds. They're fast maturing peas. Hopefully they'll be harvested before the first frost. 

My lovely neighbor's tomatoes. 

My other friendly neighbor's peppers. 

I like to think we live on a commune. See our house on the far far left? Well, next door lives our landlord (they garden, too) then next to him live our dear friends whom Dustin actually works with (they garden, too) then next to them live our other seminary friends who have twins Julip's age (they garden, too) then next to them are other seminary students. It is in the last couple of houses' yards that we garden. I'm hoping to have about 10 raised garden boxes built by next summer. My landlord said we could even talk about maybe keeping some chickens!!! :) We're hoping Josh and his lovely wife will move into one of the houses next year, too! The future looks so bright! 

For a buget breakdown:

compost= free
seeds= free gift from mi madre
raised beds= free handmade
labor= cup of coffee, gas money, pants repaired, and future vegetables
winter garden= priceless

GROW BABY GROW! I'll be posting pictures throughout the growing season.

love,
Caro, the want-to-be-gardener