Walking the Tiller

Yesterday was a busy day:  work, followed by a mission to find a 6 round pin-to-seven flat pin adaptor for towing (more on that to come), a bit of garden squeezed in, followed by egg for cheese trading and dinner with friends.

I realized that yesterday morning was the last day in May.  Then I realized, crap.  None of my summer seeds are in the ground!  No beans, no peas, no corn, no nothing.  Augh!  Some of these crops need days and days of growing time, and while it's still early in the season, they really need to be in the earth.  All day, while writing reports and answering calls I kept thinking about one thing:  Must. Plant. Beans.

Must. Plant. Beans.

Must. Plant. Beans.

So once I finally had some garden time available, I was off to plant those beans I had been thinking obsessive thoughts over.  The only dilemma was, those beans are intended to be planted in my community garden plot.  The plot needed to be tilled before planting.  I have a tiller, but no trailer.  Hmmmm....what to do, what to do?

The only solution was this:  Fill up that teeny gas tank (an exercise in extreme annoyance, as you can fill the gas container easily BUT you can't get the gas to come out of the safety-proof spigot without swearing, smashing things, and shaking it in fury).  Grab the hoe and some markers, stuff the seeds and cell phone in the back pocket.  Start that clunky old engine.

And then, drive this down the road:

Yes, that's right.  I piloted a vintage 1960s-era Briggs & Stratton rototiller up the block to the Community Garden.  It was clanking.  It was rumbling.  It sounded like a small airplane had fallen from the sky and was limping up the road at two miles per hour.  People slowed down their cars to stare and gawp, and then when I smiled and waved like I was in a parade, they sped up and drove away from the crazy person taking her tiller for a walk.

Just another day in the life of the Chicken Lady.

Really, my neighbors should be used to this by now.

The tiller and I made it to the garden without losing any essential metal bits or a rubber belt along the way, and then it was all about turfing up the soft black soil and whacking out clumps of aggressive quack grass.  After about an hour of working away, this is what was left:

Three long rows of hilled up King of the Early beans.  It'll look much more impressive when they sprout.

And then I walked the tiller back home.  I'm really good at steering while doing the Princess wave now.  Maybe I'll join the Dairy Days parade in July...