starting the garden

in years past, i have tried to start a garden from scratch in the spring. this year, i am initiating the whole process in the fall, which should put me well ahead of the game come spring. mom and dad visited this past weekend and mom took this picture of me mowing the grass. in theory, by early spring, this grass will have turned itself into dead organic material to make my garden soil rich and my tomatoes delicious.

my idea was to cover all the grass with a few layers of newspaper, held down my a combination of rotting horse manure and woodchips, but dad found a giant tarp in a pile of debris and we thought it might be easier and less stinky to use this to smother the grass instead. we were dragging it up the driveway right when bill and glorian arrived. i explained to mom that this tarp-dragging, multiple-people-visiting thing was a bloggable moment and she continued with her photographer's duties.

i am sure mom would like it pointed out that she even captured magic the horse in the background.