Weeds, oh, brother, do I have weeds...

The weather was to be terrific, so said the forecast.  I had planned for it, and I was ready to clean out the garden...  Then it froze.  Huh.  Not so great for my wanting to do anything outside.  I cleaned house instead.

The next day, it was so much warmer.  After the light frost in the morning, it was pleasant.  So, I forged forward with grand plans of attacking the- Oh, Holy Crap! That's a lot of weeds!  I stared at the raised bed, that I could not see the overwintered plants in, because of the weeds and grasses... EEEK!

Ok, one thing at a time.  Get wheelbarrow.  Check.  Gloves? Check.  Weed popper? Check.  Knife?  Check.  Off to the races! 

I proceed to pull weeds.  And pull weeds, and PULL WEEDS!  Filled the wheelbarrow twice with one raised bed.  The chickens were waiting with bated breath for me, I dump the load, and it's tossed like a salad, for the seeds they want.

Grasses, probably could have had a fair hay bale, from all the crud I had in there.  BUT, pull, pull, pull, got it down to the soil again, except for some tiny greenery, that shall be hoed and raked away later. I was able to get rid of everything but the curly dock weed... 

That monster was not leaving without a fight.  It had all winter to get nice and huge.  I dug, picked, pulled, and was even trying my menacing glare, when Husband walked up.  I mentioned that the dock weed was going to be a bear to remove. 

He shrugged, just a second, I have the shovel back here. 

I watched as he scooped out the weed like it was a hand in a glove, toss it in my wheelbarrow, and then repeat with 2 others he saw.

I was grateful, I would have been there for, well, a LONG time, trying to remove the crud.  And even with the shovel, I doubt I could have removed it as thoroughly as he did.  But, can I say honestly that I really wish I wasn't envious of him being able to DO that?  I would probably jump up and down several times before the shovel would move.  No leg strength...  Sigh. 

But now I have the big stuff cleaned out, and I can start adding compost and new soil, and get things ready for planting, soon. 

Oh.  And the potatoes I planted?  Remember I mentioned there was a freeze?  Well, I had waited to where I remembered the last frost being, and Mother Nature LAUGHED!  Anyway, it burned the tops of the tall ones.  They all had been attacked by some little round bug, and slugs.  Loose translation, I have to replant them.  Ah, the joys of gardening.

Snarl...

Veggie P*rn.

Hopefully that didn't get anyone's spam checker in a panic.

Yes, it is the time for the books with all those wonderful photos, luscious, primo, just out of the garden lovelies.  And the veggies, too. HA!

I received my usual bunch, and decided to go with two companies.  Unfortunately, a lot of the companies sending out veggie catalogs have devolved since I first started buying from them.  Some have changed ownership, some have less than charming customer service, some just don't have anything that will grow in this area.  Or at least outside.  (I would still love to grow a Paw Paw, though... But I would have to grow it in the house, I suppose.)

So, I have one order out to Texas, where they have a couple items that looked neat, and I couldn't find locally.  I also have an order out, to a town... Just a very short distance away.  I found out about them almost by accident, at a seed swap.

We have seed exchanges all around nearby, and they have other items, too.  This particular one had tools, and catalogs.  I looked at one tool, and asked how much.  She said, "do you need it?"  Yes.  It was a... Okay, I have no clue what the actual name of the tool is, I refer to it as a dandelion popper.  Husband says it's a weeder.  It looks like this...  She smiles, says, it's yours.  Cool! :)

I then found a table of catalogs, after raiding the seed table, and making my donations of seeds I didn't use.  I found the company, and thought they sounded familiar.  Hmm.  Looked it up, Oh My Word, it's just the next town over!  One of these days I will have to see if I can go there in person, but for now I just order from the catalog.  A LOT from the catalog... I will see if I get a response, the first time I ordered, they have a blank page on the back of the order page. It mentions that they would like to see what your garden is, or put a picture of something, just have fun.  So, I drew my garden, and put in my Buzz kitty, showed our "plant prison fencing" with ravenous deer outside of it.  I received a personal reply with the order saying it was on the wall in the packing area, 'cause it tickled everyone so!

So, when I ordered this time, I put a little cartoon of sorts, loosely based on an actual event.  One of my cats loved to sit in the shade, and had picked a spot under one of the broad leafed veggies, crookneck, I think.  Anyway, one of the chickens was exploring, before I figured out where she was getting in the garden at, and I just watched.  Obviously, the cat thought he was invisible, all that was showing, was a flicking tail.  The hen, for some reason, decided this must be a most tasty morsel.

CHOMP!

Next thing I know, the cat is going straight up through the leaves, screeching, the chicken doesn't let go immediately, and the fight is on.  No one was hurt, much, but between dignity damage, dinner let down, and general mayhem, not much was successful at that point!

The cat was not so inclined to be benign to the chickens after that, he stayed away frome them, and hissed wildly if they came anywhere close.  I covered the chicken "leak" in the garden, and so he was safe from future attacks.

So, who knows, I might give them a laugh, and then I get some goodies from the local area, that I will make into dinner at a later date!  Stickers and poppies and beans, Oh, My!!!