Soils
Soil 1
This soil is from the ground in the garden just in front of the back door. It's gritty and grey. The earth here is rocky and hard-baked by the sun. When the rain comes in the autumn and the spring, the water sits on top before eventually running off to drainage.
Soil 2
This soil is from the base of the eucalyptus tree in the back garden where Panda used to sharpen her claws on the bark, which is shredded on one of the trunk's lower sides. Panda drowned in a flood on December 23, 2025, and I write that here to mark her passing and fix her death in words. She was seven years old. The soil here has the consistency of cake when it rains.
Soil 3
This soil is from the bed we made of breeze blocks during Covid. That year we grew tomatoes and chillis, but the courgettes didn't work. The sun was too hot, is always too hot, and the depth of the soil isn't enough for the roots. We haven't grown anything in earnest since then, although I did put basil in one of the pots last year. It did well.
Soil 4
This soil is taken from under the stones on which the pub bench sits at the front of the house. It's darker than the hard earth at the back, but it's so solid it won't break unless it's hit hard with a crowbar or a hammer. We paid to have the stones replaced after we'd lived in Montpellier for about five years, so maybe three years ago. When we first moved here from Les Vosges, we had to have cable internet installed in the house, and the first Orange crew that came to run the line into the living room became exasperated at the hardness of this soil. They had to drill a hole in the low white plaster wall in front the trees that mask the downstairs windows from the road, and then try to dig a trench to the living room wall. They failed. We didn't have the internet for more than two months, partly because of this soil.
Soil 5
This isn't soil so much as compost, and compost that isn't particularly rotted. It's from Panda Mountain in the back garden. Panda used to sleep on it and sit there during the day, because decomposition creates heat. This soil is full of life.