Night Garden

In the night, the earth worms come out. If you shine a flashlight around, you can pick them up and put them in a coffee can. That's what my grandpa did. There was a little dirt In that can and it still smelled like Foldger's. Then we went fishing in the early morning, when it was still chilly, when everything was still, the water clear and dark because the sun hadn't come over the mountains yet. Perhaps the night before we'd been to the dump to watch the bears. They'd amble through the piles of trash and find things to eat. It was back when garbage went in the back of your truck, driven to some place off the main road. It smelled terrible, those dumps, those poor bears must have had belly aches. Now those piles are called compost. You can't savage them for relics but you can grow some nice soil with the help of earthworms. Their castings make for rich dark soil that can be put back in to your garden. And then in the night you can go out there and look at your worms, keep them there, unless you need a few for fishing. They are one of the best things for your soil.

I'm thinking also of the flowers that bloom at night. There are some white ones that seem to light up once the sun goes down and they are crazy with fragrance. I'm not sure right now what they are called, some morning glory perhaps. Anyway, in the night besides the worms, raccoons roam the garden. They've been known to scratch up the compost, so food scraps need to be dug in well. Also, cats and rats and coyotes. And perhaps a bear or two. Well, little good they do for the garden.

Fish fertilizer is good for the garden. I remember grandpa burying the fish heads and guts. Grandma had a nice strawberry garden. I don't recall that she grew any vegetables, but there were flowers and berries and we'd go out and pick wild things. There were the thimble berries and the huckleberries. She made jam, which we all loved to spread on the toast that was usually slightly burnt and slathered with butter. Well, it's morning. I don't hear the rain, maybe it finished itself. I do hear the gulls and I do need to get up and shower as the grandbaby is coming soon.

Happy composting,

Flower