Time for the hay

I started my mulching yesterday afternoon, laying the rotting hay on the weeded bits of the garden. I applied fertilizer first and I am hoping the mulch will provide protection against the weeds as well as much-needed sustenance for the sandy soil we have here. I am told that this lot of hay should be weed-free, unlike the last batch which produced heaps of luscious grass, ideal for sheep, but not so much for a garden that one desires to be clean.

I have also heard that applying mulch in winter can predispose the plants to rot and fungal infections if the soil is too moist. However, I don’t want to be weeding every week or so and the main component of the soil around here is sand, which drains readily.

I have been systematically working my way around the garden, just doing a small amount of weeding when I can, but now I have the hay, I can complete the job with the fertilizer and the mulch, so that when the weeding is completed, the area will be mulched soon after. I already had to pull out new growth when applying the hay yesterday.

These bales had been removed from the shed. They were wet and the owner feared they might combust, causing a fire and thus burning the rest of the hay. She threw them outside where they sat in the heavy rain. Fortunately, a tractor with a front-end loader was available to load them onto the trailer, and just as well as these bales were heavy and really falling apart. They would have been difficult to lift by hand.

But anyway, the trailer was extremely heavy. I had been worried about getting a flat tyre, before we even left, even though we have never had one with this trailer. That would have been a nightmare on two counts, one not having a spare and the second, the shear weight of the hay would have made changing it on the side of the road, difficult. I told Stephen of my concerns, but fortunately we got back safely, tyres intact. About quarter of an hour later, Stephen looked out and the back right-hand one was flat. Thank heavens we made it home. It is not nearly as difficult changing it here and the hay can be unloaded first.

Now here is my next question. Did my concerns about having a flat tyre actually cause it, or did I pick up on something that was going to happen later?

It reminds me of a foreigner visiting a jungle-tribe once. He was concerned the vehicle they were going to travel on was without a spare. The tribespeople admonished him for bringing that thought into their reality. Without his concerns, they said, they would have been fine, but it was his fault for the resulting flat tyre that subsequently ensued. In my case, I think I was picking up on the future event, as I have never been concerned about having a flat tyre on that trailer before, but the idea is an interesting one. I know thoughts will randomly come into my head and I will wonder why I am thinking about that particular event at that time, often something insignificant that happened years ago. I know I have often thought about someone randomly, and again someone I mightn’t have seen for years and they ring me up out of the blue an hour or two later. In these cases, I believe I was picking up on their thoughts and their intention to ring me. Because they were thinking of me, I started thinking of them.

Anyway, we got home safely with the hay and I am sure my garden will be much happier for it. That’s all that matters, after all.