6/22/18

Found in the Dirt, What is it? A grounding rod?

a deep hole in the dirt with a black center, and spiraling shovel marks
I kept hitting something with my shovel.
Garden update: New fence is up, soil is prepared, going to plant tomorrow!!!

Also, found something weird in this hole. >>>>

So, my dad got back from the hospital on Monday. I wasn't kidding when I said the garden was in bad shape- but he didn't have a fit or anything... Worse, he just got real silent and sad.

I don't blame him for being so disappointed. He's always been proud of his garden, and now he comes home to see his own kids haven't done their share and kept an eye on it in his bad health.

I know I'm guilty, but at least I think I made the situation a bit better, I was out there every day this week, helping Dad get the garden back on track. (Now that school is out for the summer, I don't really have any excuse not to- my brother and sister don't seem to see it that way though).

He's still recovering, so I did the physical work- whatever he asked without question. The weeds were so out of control, Dad said we should just tear up the top layer and lay down new dirt, which we did.

While we were digging we found a big iron bar, which Dad said might have been an old grounding spike.

a rusty iron bar lying in the grass
At least 3 feet long, and thicker than my thumb. 


a closeup of the rusty iron bar, showing a pinhole which is clear and see through
There's holes in it, maybe for grounding wires? I love the texture on this spike!







from this angle, the iron bar can be seen to have been hammered in on one end
With my hand for scale.

All in all, using a pick-axe and shovel is kinda fun but it's also exhausting, and now my hands are covered in torn open blisters.

Dad also wanted me to set up a new chicken wire fence... I didn't do a great job of it, but I'm still kinda proud of myself for getting it done.

I hope Dad is proud of me too, I know he loves the garden more than anything (besides me and mom and my bro and sis, of course).