Plant love

I'm sipping tea now, but just a few moments (and a nice hot shower) ago I was covered in all manner of dirt, wood chips, pond muck and plant debris, and I have to say I enjoyed it. Thank goodness for another fabulous morning at the Botanical Garden, eh? It really warms the soul.

Today I got to join a "work crew" - and let me tell you, they were serious about the work part. We cleared maybe three or four cubic metres of dead reeds and other viney plants from the pond at the top of the botanical garden, beyond the Nursery holding area, near the Children's Garden. Those serious-looking yellow fisherman rain pants and jackets were involved, as were some of those pants with the boots attached for wading. Then I pulled maybe six or eight cubic feet of weeds from a small strip of path - and that was all before lunch!

One of the most excellent women who runs the Nursery is also a founding member of the Arizmendi cooperative up the street, so there is always pizza for lunch, and today a lovely volunteer baked an enormous four layer, chocolate rum cake, heavy on the rum, for everyone with March birthdays. How great are these people??

After lunch I climbed a woodchip mountain to loosen and shovel woodchips down to the other volunteers to fill wheelbarrow upon wheelbarrow and 15 gallon tub upon 15 gallon tub with woodchips for the new beds we're clearing in the holding area up on the hill - the kind of physical labor you'll remember when you get out of bed the next morning, but what happy pain!

If only I could be up to this sort of joyous outdoor activity every day. And could you even imagine getting paid to do it? What heaven.