playing in the dirt

it has been snowing now on and off for 2 and a half days or so. it's just enough to be annoying, but not enough to get me out of going to work. it's prevented me from going outside and getting much done in my beloved butterfly garden... which has made me restless.

the good news is that i have had some time indoors to sit around and plant zillions of seeds (and by zillions i mean more like 160 or so). of the seeds that i currently have in my possession for the butterfly garden, i have planted enough to fulfill my butterfly garden plan. the rest are currently in the process of being shipped to me via various online vendors. they were difficult to find locally for whatever reasons... so i ordered them. i got bronze fennel this afternoon, only to discover after inspecting it that i most likely already had some in my spice rack. i don't know if it's a little known fact, or if i'm just a naive and inexperienced gardener so far... but bronze fennel appears to grow from anise seeds. whatever. at least i've got nice fresh seeds speficially chosen to grow nice, healthy plants. who knows what i'd get if i just started planting my spices... though in college i did try just that, and i think some of it did come up - but i don't think that experiment got too far. i moved out and trekked to Europe not too long afterward. but i digress...

i've also had time indoors to play with my dirt. i've been performing highly scientific experiments on it. i've discovered that it has a pH of 6.0 (or perhaps slightly higher, but not high enough to be 7.0)... it has Low to Very Low levels of the 3 big nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorous, & potash. i'm currently conducting an experiment that will tell me the approximate levels of sand, clay & silt. that one's not quite as exciting to watch - it will take several days to settle, and will settle into levels... the other experiments turned fun colors when i added the necessary chemicals. fireworks or not, it'll give me some useful information.

in attempting to dig out a big fat rhododendron on Saturday, i also discovered that i have hardpan soil - which is easy to dig through until you get several inches down - then it's hard as a rock. the recommendation for it was that i take a pick ax to it, and chop the crap out of it... the good news is that even with a little hand shovel, i was able to chip away at it with just a little effort. a pick ax should make quick work of it (or so i hope, right?)... i've also discovered that i have a really healthy earth worm civilization moving around out there. that can't possibly be a bad thing. i just hope i don't kill 'em while i'm chopping away at the hardpan problem.

as far as i can tell, the number one best thing i can do to to my crappy soil after whacking at it with my brand new pick ax (that i just bought this afternoon, and i'm super stoked about), is workin a bunch of compost... which i also bought this afternoon. i'm not quite as excited about the compost as about the pick ax... mostly because it's not MY compost. not to worry, though, i am working on building my own compost bin, and should have an abundance of my own compost next year. even so - it's annoying to go out and buy something i could have for free if i had thought ahead and tossed my vegetable waste and dead leaves into a bucket, right?

so between all of this math to figure out just what will fit in my butterfly garden without crowding stuff out... and all of the science to figure out what kind of soil i've got - so i can start improving it... i'm finally finding (after 30 years of life) actual uses for all of that math and science they pushed on me in school. i'm finding that it's far more exciting and fun when it's done in direct correlation to a real life problem. so naturally, i'm plotting ways to bring all of this math and science into my art classroom in an interactive and fun way. why not? i find that the kids get excited about the things i show excitement about. it's contagious. i'm planning lessons at both of my middle schools that will include some of the stuff i've been playing with.