Today’s view of the pond

(The 3:00pm view)

Did I mention that gardening is hard work?

Yes, I think I did, somewhere in my last post.

The problem, of course, is that I neglected the garden for about two weeks. We were gone for five days. It was hot when we returned. Then it rained. I had all sorts of excuses. And good ones too, so I thought.

The weeds practically took over the garden. The good news is that they mostly grew between the rows of vegetables and not in with the vegetables themselves. I work on keeping the weeds away from the veggies every time I go out to the garden, then attack the stuff growing prolifically between and around the rows. A garden hoe would be an excellent tool for this purpose. However, I’ve found that my lower back does not respond well to the stance and movements necessary to do a good job with the hoe.

Instead, I’ve been using a cultivator, that little hand-held tool with three prongs. I squat or get down on my hands and knees, and cultivate like crazy. My back is happy, my arms and legs get a good workout, but it’s taking a very long time to make any sort of progress.

I’m going to have to suck it up and ask M to hoe between the rows for me. It will probably take him all of ten minutes to have it all finished. Then I can do what I should have done earlier in the growing season: mulch. That will help keep down the weeds. It will also make the veggies happy, especially if we hit a dry spell.

The weather is unseasonably cool today. I’m enjoying it. I had originally intended to work in the garden for the usual 30-45 minutes, but ended up out there for over two hours. It’s amazing how fast time flies while I’m weeding.

I brought in some lettuces and a few radishes to put in a salad for tonight’s dinner. Yummy. M and I also took a ride up to Hilgert’s (the farm up the road from us) to pick up some strawberries. They had some spinach, green onions, and a few other local goodies in the market.

I ought to stop being so lazy and go out to the strawberry fields to do some picking. They’re much cheaper if you pick your own. Today would have been a good day for it. It’s cool, cloudy, and breezy. Those three conditions do a good job of keeping the bugs away.

M the Younger is still searching for a job in Colorado. If you know of anyone looking for a guy with a degree in Geology in Colorado, give me a holler. A few leads would be nice.

The wedding date has been set for June 13, 2009. M the Younger and his fiancee have found a church. They’ve been looking for a place to have the reception. As far as I know, they haven’t decided on that yet. Then there’s the cake, the food, the DJ, etc., etc.

I think I’m lucky I had sons instead of daughters. 🙂