First Day in the Garden: Almost a Disaster.

Wow. So, our first day on our garden plots was today!

It was nearly a disaster for me: I thought I had drank enough fluids this morning, but amidst trying to clear the years of overgrowth and the volunteer spider lily bulbs that need to absolutely go for what I intend to plant, I had a few particularly strong dizzy spells that grounded me pretty badly. I had to sit down before I fell down, and standing back up rendered me dizzy again, which was kind of alarming.

Drink Some Water, J!

I wanted to, so much. We did not have a water cooler, nor did we have a running water tap until the end of our gardening time; at that same time, a keg came to us from the Rec yard with water, which we gratefully guzzled from.
It taught me a few things, though: take a cup with me to class, and stare down anyone who dares to stop that; I've got a lot more work to do on clearing my plot out to its property line; I need to clear the sides for drainage; ask for cardboard to see if I can get that soil overly hot for a few days before we get seeds for planting, once I have the soil turned and weeded.

My goal is to turn deeply, get out of the topmost strata of reused soil, break up the soil to get a mixture of what I hope is arable underneath it. I do not have access to cow patties or horseapples, so getting nutrients into the nearly barren soil will be challenging in my environment. I'd love to lay down a cover crop that could just be tilled down and into the soil, but that's not an option as of this time.

It's also taught me that I don't consume enough calories for the energy output I did. I am so sleepy this morning! :')

So, after a nap, I managed to head down for class to do our bookwork selections: this course seems to be set up as a closed course, as opposed to an open enrollment program, so we are (hopefully) all that will be in that class until completion. Someone new would be a long way behind if they came in three months after we started, after all -- we have garden plots, logs to be kept and updated with work we've done, and an objective to potentially become FNGLA (Florida Nursery, Gardening, and Landscaping Association) Certified once we take their exam.
As an Oregonian, I would need to find out what equivalent organizations exist there, as well as in Washington, should I end up northward: a Florida certification won't mean much clear across the country, I would fain surmise.

Now to remind our truancy officer to come and get us for insulin call in the afternoons before calling for everyone -- I lost a lot of my afternoon to standing in queue. :')