Carrot therapy

Yesterday my brother Kelly volunteered to build raised garden boxes with me.  I’d envied them in his backyard for a few seasons. 

As we began loading the supplies on Home Depot’s orange carts, Couponman paled as dollar signs danced in his head.  Who dreamed “clean” dirt could be so expensive?  “This is a lot of money,” he stated.

“But it’s a great stress reliever,” Kelly reassured.

“Wouldn’t it be cheaper to get counseling?” he questioned back. 

By the time we’d gathered sixteen cubic feet each of peat moss, vermiculite, and compost, I figured the veggies would average about $100/lb. 

I tossed those bags around like a professional dockworker.  Okay, so it was the vermiculite bags I flung.  I pulled a three-cubic feet bag of compost from the back of my brother’s truck, pulled two muscles and plopped it on the bottom plate of the hand truck.  The handle of the dolley jarred with the weight of the heavy bag and banged me in the forehead.

Soon I was frolicking inside the newly-framed box mixing “clean” dirt of various origins like Lucy in my favorite episode, stomping grapes in Italy.   

Today Kelly taught me the right way to hammer a nail (who knew there was a wrong way?), and gave me the opportunity to enjoy good company, laughter, sunshine, and hard work.

So if I spend a little extra for carrots this year, does it really matter? 

P.S.  I do realize I’m a little ahead of myself.  I haven’t actually planted the carrots yet.

Related posts:

1. There’s a teepee in my front yard
2. Super awesome day at the garden