Pictures of dirt

Now this is a thing of true beauty: our two years in the making compost heap.  Hubby decided to start breaking in to it today, and called my attention to the lovely shade of deep rich brown, almost black, and the wonderful smell of fertile soil instead of the various stages of decomposition.

digging in to the compost heap

spreading rich compost on the garden boxes

You can really see the contrast in the half-filled garden box!  That box was filled from the compost heap last year, but what we have today is superior.

Today's outside adventures started when I decided I would prune back the raspberry cane, the grapevines, and the still-small fruit trees.  Then, hubby offered to help me plant seeds for the little greenhouses: tomatoes and peppers. That sent me on a hunt for the jalapeno seeds from last year and from the store while hubby filled the little Jiffy-pot cells with potting soil (before we broke into the compost heap, or we might have used that instead).

What we've accomplished so far today:

• pruned the orchard, berry patch, and vineyard (hey, it sounds good ... I'll get more planted soon!)
• planted Anaheim and jalapeno peppers, along with two unknown pepper varieties.  I forgot to write down what they were, just know they are some kind of pepper
• planted Brandywine and San Marzanzo (sp?) tomatoes, along with some Mortgage Lifter seeds I had saved in 2013
• started topping off the garden boxes with the compost

And that's only outside stuff.