Division of Labor in Our Garden

There is a somewhat distinct division of labor when it comes to gardening related stuffs. There are duties that Harmony prefers to do (or does because I don't do them); the same goes for me.

You could sort of say that Harmony is the management, and I am the labor. She knows when all the planting / harvesting dates are. She is the one that researches all the seed varieties and chooses potentials for our garden. You can see an example of this in our 2008 Garden Plan post. Generally, she knows more about how to tend the plants and what to or not to do to them. I don't really like taking seedlings out of their containers and transplanting them into the ground; I prefer to let Harmony handle those tasks.

...that is, unless the seedlings need to be transplanted deep in the ground. That's where I come in. Whenever holes need to be dug or dirt needs to be flung around in some manner, I am the one doing the grunt work. This might be different if our soil were nice and our subdivision not built over a small stone mountain. As it is, the soil is hard enough for me to break up, but I can do it with more ease than Harmony could.




Composting is almost completely my own domain. The sight of rotting stuff in general makes Harmony want to gag and barf, so I handle everything related to that. I don't mind it one bit either. She puts the scraps into a bucket, and I handle everything else from there; taking it out to the pile, turning the pile, monitoring the pile, and whatever else you can do with compost piles. I also shred up paper and cardboard fodder for the compost, in an attempt to get the proper carbon/nitrogen ratio. This is one area where I am much more knowledgeable than Harmony; she's usually the one asking me the questions about compost.

Our roles are also somewhat analogous to the legislative (Harmony) and executive (me) branches of our government. Harmony comes up with ideas for what to plant and what variety of cultivar to buy, as well as garden layouts. She will usually present these to me for my approval. There has never been an occasion for me to totally veto what she proposes. I trust her judgment and knowledge in these matters. Sometimes (many times?) she has trouble deciding between options, which is where I am once again needed.