Soil. According to several online sources and science in general, it’s not the same thing as dirt. Dirt is a subset of soil. Dirt lacks the microbes- -fungi, bacteria, etc.- -needed to make plants grow. This spring, Lily, 9 and I are once again in the business of making plants grow, and this week we are up to our elbows in soil.

Wednesday morning we took delivery of 5 cubic yards of compost:

Upgrading from dirt to soil: 5 cubic yards of compost

I asked the dump truck driver to unload it on the front yard. There are several good reasons for this:

1. The front yard is in no way the same thing as a lawn; it is a lumpy, bumpy collection of various weeds and grasses that have the decency to, more or less, cover the dirt and turn green at the appropriate time of year
2. There is no access to the back yard wide enough to accommodate a dump truck, or even a mini truck
3. My other option is the driveway, which not only is handy for the car, it is also about 25 feet further from where I need to tote the soil. With 5 cubic yards of compost, that adds up quickly. The only member of the household who would be happy about using the driveway is my FitBit (Congratulations, you walked to New Zealand today!).

Since Wednesday morning I’ve been moving the compost to the back yard by wheelbarrow, first weeding the beds it will enrich and later working it into the garden dirt so it won’t blow away the next time a frisky spring wind rips through.

I like weeding! It makes me think of working in the yard with Grandpa Denny.

Working the soil: Gardening with Grandpa Denny

A very happy time, 9. He and Grandma Mary had a huge yard and he kept a garden patch in a back corner. Raspberries were their signature crop. They also had strawberries and a plum tree and probably some vegetables, though I wasn’t much of a vegetable fan back then.

You sure eat a lot of them now.

Thankfully, our palate has matured.

Lily, this year you can try everything from angel hair spaghetti squash to noche zucchini.

This morning the compost pile is down by about twenty percent. It’s really satisfying to see the garden beds enriched with nutritious organic matter. But this is not our only soil experience this week. Today, I will also start eggplant and peppers from seed! This involves seedling trays and starter soil and a heat mat. Not all seeds need heat under it to grow strong roots but eggplant and peppers are particular in that way.

Working with starter soil: 8 week seedlings

They both take eight weeks, on average, to grow large enough to transplant so I counted the “start” date eight weeks back from May 10, Walla Walla’s average last frost date. The local wisdom is to plant seedlings outdoors on Mother’s Day, this year on May 12. For both seedlings and direct planting this can involve checking soil temperature, and yes, we have the technology!

The new soil passes Hoosegow’s inspection. . .

Eight weeks feels like a long time and this is good because somewhere between spreading the compost and planting the garden I also need to test the soil for pH and other characteristics. Then there will be specific amendments to make for different plants. I enjoy this phase of the process- -it makes me feel like a mad scientist.

Intense planning, physical labor, nurturing, testing- -good stuff! And it’s a good thing I have a lifelong love of playing in the soil, because that’s really where it all starts.

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