Getting Barrels Ready

We have about 20 of these half whiskey barrels (not whole barrel) by the greenhouse waiting to be placed on the medical campus. Last week, we were not able to drill holes in them with the equipment that we have. So, I contacted the carpentry shop who sent someone over with a drill. The carpenter said... "WOW, these are REAL whiskey barrels." I said, "yes, sir! Corn Whiskey!" You can smell the mash and the insides of the barrels are burnt to give the whiskey that smoky flavor and golden hue.

We have to place them on bricks, put in: compost, soil moist, and time release fertilizer in all of them. So along with the ones that we already have, that is approximately 70 barrels that need to be prepped. We will not plant flowers in them until after May 1st. I told the patients today in our morning meeting that regardless of the weather to be prepared to work outside tomorrow. It might be cold, so bring a winter coat! As long as it is not raining or snowing, I want to get this project started. I was looking at the weather this morning and I saw that Amarillo, TX had reported a temperature of 28 degrees Fahrenheit! But regardless the ominous, we need to start working outside.

One of the things that I am trying to get my patients to work on via Horticulture Therapy, is the idea that working on new things is not a bad thing. Some of my patients have various form of cognitive brain damage, and new ideas are not seen as a positive endeavor. A vocational program in Horticulture such as the one at the Medical Center, offers the therapist such as myself various opportunities to encourage patient growth in accepting change and working as a team. Team work is also very important and I stress this constantly.

On the horizon, I hope to work with the patients on cleaning out some more flower beds. We started on Thursday with the flower beds around the greenhouse. I still have a lot of work to do on my wildflower garden. However, all the bending over aggravated my sciatic nerve pain so I need to find a patient to complete this task for me. I ordered the first 70 yards of mulch (colonial black) to be delivered on Thursday. I hope tomorrow to talk to the mechanics about getting the water dog out of storage.

Spring is here!