The story of my green wheelbarrow
Fred in the Wheelbarrow
My green wheelbarrow and I have been together for twenty five years - twenty five years of plodding around the garden, through good times and bad, in sunshine and rain. It's watched me develop and mature as a gardener, and supported me when times were tough. Without complaining it's carted weeds, bags of horse manure, mulch, firewood logs, pots ready for planting, and dry mess for the bonfire. Cats and toddlers have ridden in it. Roses have been shifted in it. I've taken hundreds of photographs of it.
More than a wheelbarrow...
It's been more than a wheelbarrow - it's been my gardening friend, and it's seen many changes in my garden over the years. So our Silver Anniversary Year should have been full of grand, meaningful, and thoughtful celebrations, yes? Oops.
I use my green wheelbarrow a lot for carting bags of horse manure around the garden. These are tied with baling twine, and after opening the bags I loop the old ties around the wheelbarrow's handles. There can be as many as one hundred twine loops hanging down each side. And it's also used for carting dry mess (my garden produces lots) to the bonfire. This can gurgle until dusk, then the next morning I might crank it up again. Perhaps you can guess where this is all leading?
Green Wheelbarrow
One fateful morning this March I'd filled my green wheelbarrow with a load of gum leaves, and parked it by the ash heap. There was time to make a quick cup of coffee, then tip out the gum leaves and restart the bonfire. Oops. When I returned, the bonfire had self-ignited, and my poor green wheelbarrow, parked far too close, was blazing merrily. The hanging clumps of twine were well alight. The wheelbarrow's contents were flaming away. And its body was melting! Large blobs of green plastic were dripping onto the lawn. Eek! Doused the barrow with water from my safety bucket. Surveyed the damage. Oh dear. One quarter had melted away, but amazingly the front tyre was still intact. I felt very sad.
My Green Wheelbarrow Is Ruined!
With indecent haste, later that week Non-Gardening Partner bought home a brand new replacement. Now I only use my three-quarters of a green wheelbarrow for carting firewood logs (carefully balanced) from the woodshed to the house. Not the way I'd have expected to celebrate our Silver Anniversary. Oh dear!