Good for body, mind, and soul

[torquill]

When it rains, it pours: I went to the comic-book shop, and after about five minutes in there I realized they had to have put in new carpet. (New tile, too, as it turns out... argh.) Oh, well, what's one more exposure to add to the pile?

Fortunately, contrary to my belief that it would be beyond my capabilities when toxed, weeding the garden has been the best therapy I could possibly have. Light exercise in fresh air for a couple of hours a day, while resting my brain. I've got about a third of the place done now, with huge green weedstacks everywhere. I had thought I would have worn out my hands after doing it for three days running, but despite being tender and a little sore, I haven't got any signs of injury or weakness. I've been trying to trade off between pulling with my right and left hand, but they're still working non-stop the whole time (the garden looks like a meadow, and I'm pulling all the weeds one handful at a time). Wow.

My knees/shins are bruised, but other than a little stiffness, they're okay too.

I'm running across places in the plot where there just aren't very many weeds. Normally they all grow together, several to the square inch, getting spindly as they all compete for light... but sometimes I run across patches where they're up to six inches apart in undisturbed ground. I think I'm actually starting to deplete the seed reservoir out there... Incredible. To put it in perspective, of course, it's as if you had been bailing out a moderate-sized pond with a bucket for five years, and just noticed that the water level had gone down by a few inches... but it means I'm actually making a difference with my eradication efforts. The composition is shifting to less-noxious weeds (I let the wild geranium, mustard, and wild lettuce alone so that it can go to seed in some spots) and the overall density is going down. If I can keep this up, it'll get significantly better every year.

I'm contemplating what seeds I want to sow in the next couple of weeks... I think it will depend on how much of the garden I think I can get into a functional state, and clearing the ground is a major part of that. The other big hurdle is digging, which will happen in March. As I'm not going anywhere for spring break this year, and I'm well on my way to having the whole place cleared, I'm leaning toward sowing a full set. Taking care of the plants is nowhere near as hard as prepping the ground. I'll have about two weeks off school to dig most of the beds... I hope that's enough.

I have seen a few earwigs, and I wonder what the population is like this year. The nematodes broke the back of the Horde several years ago, but I may have to repeat the dose if their population rises too far. Maybe I'll start trapping as soon as the weather warms up and see what I get.

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[catnip13.livejournal.com]

I hacked the 2 big climbing roses in the back yard yesterday, it was later than I was planning on pruning them, but they are no longer encroaching on K's play area. I cut them back way, way further than David has in previous years, and if they are not so annoying this year, I may let them stay. I've got a stack of compost to add to the planter boxes, I need to turn the compost pile and replace the fuschia that got trampled by the guys that built the neighbor's new fence- they also got most of my violets, but those should spread from what's left.