Making Mud
Apologies for the lack of in-process photos - it was just me and I declined to cover my phone in mud. (Though I DO have a waterproof pouch for it...)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTh4EjklKs2/?taken-by=ansate
No more putting it off. It was time to make mud. Like I mentioned last time, it's dirt plus water plus sand in unspecified proportions. As you may have noticed, unspecified things stress me out.
On my little back patio, I assembled:
- Two buckets, one 5 gallon and one 2 gallon
- box of dirt from when I planted roses over the last few weeks
- bag of paver sand from the store
- water can full of water
- paint stirrer stick
- trowel
- disposable latex gloves (the same ones I use to dye my hair)
All I needed was the gloves, 5 gallon bucket, dirt, sand, and water. I ended up stirring it all with my hands. Despite my skepticism, I THINK I got the consistency feeling right away? Memories of playing with clay or playdoh and knowing exactly how much it should squish so I could work with it. Much more recent memories of making pie crust and biscuits - trying to get the liquid level just so, and get the flour all worked in. Somehow there was a very exactly consistency that felt RIGHT to me, and I definitely couldn't explain it either. I could even grab a handful and decide if I wanted to add more dirt or more sand. Maybe I am totally wrong and it will all wash away or something, but it felt satisfyingly right, and that's a worthwhile experience.
I ended up mixing 7 or 8 small batches in my five gallon bucket. Then I was tired and the sun was leaving me, so I called it a day. It was about an hour of solid work. 5 batches (and the first ones were smaller as I gained confidence) created a thin layer over the crushed rock. Then I placed several wine bottles, and some lava rock to act as insulation - it's like the air pockets created by the feathers in a down jacket. A few more batches of mud got bottles settled into place, but I didn't get them all before running out of steam.
I found and discarded several rocks, bits of grass, and at least one dead earthworm. I was VERY SURPRISED when suddenly there was a squiggling earthworm in the mud I was mixing! I threw it out into the lawn and was very glad I was wearing gloves. Remember, this dirt had been sitting in my garage in a box for at least a few weeks.
As I realized I was putting off this step, I finally figured out that I have a visceral distaste for making mud. I have learned too well that I don't want to get dirty, I don't want to make a mess. Gloves helped a LOT in getting past this, even though mud definitely got into them, and all over the rest of me.
Next: acquire some firebricks. Finish covering the bottles and make a mud surface nearly to the top of my cinder block base. I'm worried that I'm going to run out of dirt. Good thing I need to plant more roses and some tomatoes soon!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTh5bd1F-1x/