One more section

Not much sleep today. Figured I would really crash out since I never could take a nap yesterday. Tried but couldn't. So was up from 8 AM yesterday until about 11 AM today. Yet still had difficulty sleeping and kept waking up. Still don't feel sleepy.

No work tonight, so got out and worked for a while on another section of soil off to the side. Got that section completed.

Of course the soil as it's replaced is much looser. By just leveling the soil out, it results in much soil being left over. So a fairly large pile has remained in the center. Moved that pile over tonight as best I could. It had already gotten dark, so the effort wasn't the best. It still gets me closer to having the center ready to dig out. Going to dig out the center and leave the pile for my daughter to play over the weekend. She had even asked me to leave the pile there permanently. Can't do that but may leave much of it for a while and just use the pile to form mounds shortly before planting.

Seems the leaf pile will be just enough for this section of garden. Which means I can reserve the contents of the compost pit for the south section. Thinking I'm going to plant to north section (which I'm working on) first this year and leave the covers on the south section a bit longer to allow the heat to help compost the area more. Not sure yet. Decide once I see how well that section composts in the next few weeks.

Soil from the area I'm working on is conditioning extremely well. The dog had dug a few holes in the yard and I decided to fill those in using soil from the pile. As I did, the contrast with the surrounding soil was nothing short of amazing! The soil from the pile looks almost black next to the other soil.

Unexpected benefit is the effect of all the digging on my shoulders. Started off with some level of pain and even numbness down my arms as inflammation squeezed the nerves at the shoulders. As I've continued, numbness has diminished and pain has decreased. I've also gotten some aerobic exercise at the speed I've dug at times. In any case, my endurance is up and I'm happy about that.