Dead Ant, Dead Ant

I am now putting together a bed that I will used to sprinkle various seeds until something sprouts. The picture on the right is the reason that I

decided to do this. I had around 10 Beans starts that I had growing in my window in the earliest of Spring. Everyone of them went through transplant shock and they all died. The remaining plants that I now have are all seeds that I sowed directly outdoors after the fear of frost vanished. I am now believer of starting most seeds in the place they will continue life to the end.

The blocks in the center that almost a circle is the platform that I intend on placing a water collecting barrel to catch the downspout water on the side of the house. This may be either a late July or mid-August project to look forward to.

I have to mention my experience with the ants b/c it is the human side of me that is on a Journey and having not reached my destination that made me cave into letting my husband use the ant spray. While I was digging and leveling the ground where these planting blocks were to be placed; I ran into an ant colony and my mind quickly reverted back to being a kid and being covered and repetitively stung by these ants. Without thought of how it would impact the soil, the ants, or my dogs or children if they encountered this dirt (or if it had drained and gotten into the water supply which would be drunk by any random individual); I quickly asked my husband to spray the ants so that I could continue building my planter. It didn't even cross my mind once b/c I was sucked into a deep connection with the ant attack I was under at age 4 or 5. The next morning I was hit by the dread of what I had actually gone through with (and without any thought about it that previous evening). When I was able to begin my work with the ground again I was relieved to see that very few ants had actually died and that it was still swarming with some very busy tiny creatures. I quickly shoveled the affect soil out and into a different location so that it could be transported into a safer place. I haven't yet thought of where that might actually be, but I think I'll be more aware of my fears next time so that I don't make the same mistake twice. Yikes! That would be one reason why this blog is about the journey. It did hit me today as I was working that having a raised bed is good cause for leaving the living things alone while I work on the upper surface.