Autumnal equinox

Just two days before Fall. Days are cooler, highs in the upper 70s and lows reaching the 50s. I know I have to wear a shirt now mornings on the screen porch while I read the paper and drink my coffee.

The result of three hours with a shovel this afternoon. Digging new garden beds for vegetables. Each is 7x20 for approximately 150 square foot apiece. Funny how as time went on they got a little narrower; only meant to dig one but still an hour and half until "All Things Considered" so I kept going. Felt it in my back the last half hour.

At Lowe's earlier searching for fertilizer and bullshit I found aisle after aisle of Winter Feed and Turf Builder and Cool Weather Fescue ... damn there are a heckova lot of bags o' crap for growing lawns. Is that what people want? A big part of my reason for doing this is so I won't have so damn much grass to mow! Plus, I know I will be hungry in the Spring.

From left to right, front to back: pecan tree, sour cherry, grape arbor, smoke tree, compost heap (with pitchfork), the popcornball hydrangea, and the peach tree new this year. Plenty of room for six or even eight beds if my back holds out.

I saw a firefly still hanging around today, and a huge tiger swallowtail yesterday. Plenty of bugs and grubs and worms in the soil, too. The garden should do well.

-Phillip