Thursday, September 11, 2008

Gardening Snafus

The idea of starting a garden seems like a simple one. Add soil, seeds and water and PRESTO! You have a garden. That process in our case did not go as planned. Below is the best word I've found so far to describe our progress:

Snafu: a normal situation that has become foul.

Our garden project had created a buzz of excitement (ok, so maybe only in my ears, but excitement nonethess). Isaiah, the trusted Ag Assistant went with me to examine the rototiller I had spotted in our shop last week. While looking it over, it suddenly occured to me that assuming this dilapidated machine actually worked was a bit presumptious. It's origins where unknown, and it had come from a department store that has been defunct for over 10 years.

We filled the machine up with gas, and then tried to figure out how to start the thing. About 15 minutes into examining it, we realized the string hanging on the handle should be untied, and wrapped around a wheel on the front of the machine and pulled. On the 8th try (after much coughing) it actually started. Hooray! We were ready to till. We wheeled the machine out to the site and then tried to figure out how to get the tines into the ground...which was when we realized an essential part was missing: the belt connecting the motor to the tines. By this time it was 4:00 p.m. and we had to quit for the day.

The new plan is to have my father (who lives down the street and has been begged) come down with his rototiller and help till the bed tomorrow. If all goes well, we should be working on connecting the irrigation next week. Of course, this is assuming the irrigation parts in the shop are everything we need...maybe I should be planning for a spring garden?

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