Last week we were at my mom’s house relishing two things: 1) that we were still on vacation and 2) that there was no snow on the ground on Long Island.
It was a perfect March day: cool, but warm enough to be in t-shirts for most of the day. The sun, peeking in and out through the clouds, beckoned us outdoors and we gladly obliged.
I went into the backyard to change the water in the birdbath – my self-appointed chore for as long as I can remember. Mark came outside to take a look at my mom’s compost bin and see how the contents were faring now that the deep winter freeze is over. (Can I just say: I love that my boyfriend is dorky about compost!)
Mark and I dug and turned the grass, spread compost, and planted seeds at my mom's new garden
A few hours later, my mom’s backyard was almost entirely transformed: a 10’x10′ patch of grass was turned into new garden beds, outlined with old bricks, topped with beautiful compost.
You might say we went overboard. Or, you might say we didn’t go far enough in this project, our latest Lawn-to-Garden conversion, since there is obviously still a bit of lawn remaining.
All credit for this project goes to Mark who immediately saw the potential: people who want more garden space + underutilized resource-intensive lawn + perfectly aged compost + two able bodies = backyard garden. These days he can’t see a lawn without noting what a waste of space it is. We were pleasantly surprised that my mom and her partner agreed. We left some lawn at their request; a full lawn conversion would have taken more time than we had that day anyway.
It was our first time digging in the soil in months, and it made me realize how much I’ve truly missed it. All of it: sinking my hands into dirt, picking up worms, planning out garden beds, being outside all day, using back muscles that have gone weak over the winter, ending the day with blackened fingernails.
I couldn’t help but be reminded of being a child playing in that same backyard, and in the pebbles that had once been in our driveway. Had you asked me in kindergarten what I wanted to be when I grew up, I’d have said I wanted to be a farmer. I later set my indecisive sights on being either an actress, a scientist, a teacher or an artist. I’m now back to wanting to be a farmer, or something darn close.
My definition of ‘farming’ has changed, of course. No longer am I a little girl raking driveway pebbles into rows of imaginary crops. Now I’m digging up the grasses, breaking ground, starting new life…
Renovations & Relationships 