Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The Magic Shed of Mystery

Tonight I mowed our lawn for the first time.

Along with the house, the seller sold us a toolshed full of stuff, a living room couch set, and a queen mattress. Jer's been having all the fun with the electric mower (from the shed) and tonight the weather was nice, we were between storms, and the grass looked shaggy. So I took the bull by the horns, so to speak. And charged the battery.

There was a brief panic when I forgot to plug in the safety key, which was quickly averted by going inside and reading the instructions.

After I finished mowing I decided to go for broke, seeing as how it was still daylight. The seller left behind a pair of green aerating shoes. (They might have a more technical name, I can't be bothered to look.) You buckle them to your feet and walk around in the grass to aerate the lawn -- at least I hope that's what you do because that's what I did.

And that's about when my life became another "I Love Lucy" episode. Me. In the backyard, falling over, trying to walk with metal spikes on my feet. Gouging dirt holes in my lawn.

So, I grew up in southern California, which is important as I continue with this story. I grew up in a place where moss does not fill in the thinning areas of your lawn like an opportunist. Apparently if moss shows up it means you have not been taking care of your lawn properly. And yeah... we've got moss.

I bought some grass seed and fertilizer and next I plan to use a rake and a grass spreader from the shed (we really should take an inventory I have no idea what's in there, it's like magic -- like Mary Poppins' purse) to agitate the soil a bit and lay down some seed.

I don't actually know if any of this will work because I've never done it before. But hey, I've kept all the plants alive so far. Maybe my luck will continue. Also, I trust the Internet and this is what I said it should do. Well, this, or hire a gardener.

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