Worked on the garden a little today…almost finished clearing the plot which I found surprisingly satisfying. At first, cutting the weeds down seemed overwhelming but then I discovered, there aren’t a lot of weeds as one moves toward the far edge of the garden, just big ones. It became easier. That is, I’d cut the base of a big weed and pull it up and all the little weeds that had twined around the bigger weed would come up too. Didn’t bring the camera today –will take a picture before I start to work next time to document my efforts. Am enjoying working outside. The plot is almost cleared and looks smaller than it did when full of weeds. I think one or two more work sessions will finish up the inital weeding. I guess the next step will be bagging all the dried up weeds. Filled another large bag with dried weeds I pulled earlier in the week. The ones I pulled on Thursday were still green and fresh despite yesterday's high heat. I spread them around a bit so that the sun and heat will dry them out faster. So far I've bagged two 30 gallon bags with pulled weeds and think that I'll have another three or four bags worth once the just pulled weeds dry out. Keep expecting to find a snake or some dead scarey thing under all the brush.
Nottoway park
Hunter House facing gardens
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thursday July 28th
Decided to work on the garden today because it is supposed to be hot and humid tomorrow. I took pictures of the work I did yesterday and today. The plastic tarps I bought are 10 feet by 25 feet and I estimate that I covered 20 feet by 20 feet based on the tarps although it looks as if the remaining uncleared lot is more than 10 feet.
After I finish clearing the rest of the weeds, I'll re-orient the tarps so that the newest cleared ground will be covered. Then we can decide on the fence etc. In working today, I found several rusted tomato cages and sensed that the prior renters had used mounded earth to plant rather than either flat or raised beds. Will be interesting to see what the ground actually looks like under all that stuff.
Decided to work on the garden today because it is supposed to be hot and humid tomorrow. I took pictures of the work I did yesterday and today. The plastic tarps I bought are 10 feet by 25 feet and I estimate that I covered 20 feet by 20 feet based on the tarps although it looks as if the remaining uncleared lot is more than 10 feet.
After I finish clearing the rest of the weeds, I'll re-orient the tarps so that the newest cleared ground will be covered. Then we can decide on the fence etc. In working today, I found several rusted tomato cages and sensed that the prior renters had used mounded earth to plant rather than either flat or raised beds. Will be interesting to see what the ground actually looks like under all that stuff.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Wednesday
It is a beautiful day; sunny but low humidity and when my plans for the day were cancelled I decided to continue the weed attack. After today's effort, I estimate that about 1/3 of the Farm is denuded of weeds and covered with thick black plastic. I used landscape "staples" to anchor the plastic tarp, so much easier then finding bits of rocks and bricks. I just piled up the pulled weeds on top of the plastic- not an attractive look but it will be easier to dispose of the weeds when they wilt.
Met the owner/renter of the next plot over. She was difficult to understand because at first I thought she was speaking Korean but then I understood some words. Her plot looks GREAT- she said it was her first year with that plot but she has SIX plots at Nottoway. She told me that I was wasting my time and I should wait until the spring to clean up. I laughed and said I was so happy to have the plot that I didn't want to wait. Then she asked me what I could plant this late in the year and shrugged when I told her I wanted to clean up the plot, build raised beds and put up a fence so I would be ready for next year. She nodded so I guess my explanation met her approval.
A little later, a man about my age (or a little older) introduced himself as "Mark". He showed me his plot- also his first year- it is around the corner away from the Hunter House. He also showed me the "trick" with the spigot. (You have to wedge a piece of wood or something into the lever device to keep the water running) He said he couldn't figure it out and had to ask someone...definitely not obvious and I was happy that he volunteered the information. He also filled me in on the adjacent plot that looks abandoned. The owner/renter is pregnant and not up to working in the hot weather. She has some tomatoes but nothing else. While there are weeds, her weeds are nothing compared to those on our plot. So far, we are Queen of the Weeds- no one else even comes close to our weeds.
Mark was a fount of information about what rules are not enforced (dumping garden debris into the nearby woods) and what a pain it is to get water for the gardens. He has a rain barrel and fills it with water when he uses the hose. Next time he waters, Mark uses the water from the rain barrel. He said most people do that b/c the water is such a hassle.I asked about mosquitoes with open water and he said most people put screens on top of the sitting water. Mark also told me that the Korean lady with the six gardens has at least twenty pepper plants and he was ticked that he had to wait 4 years for a garden and she has six gardens. Mark said she brings groups of people to work her plots and probably uses other peoples' names to get around the restriction of one plot per person. Hmmm, always a scandal even in paradise. Had a great day and enjoyed myself with the work.
Met the owner/renter of the next plot over. She was difficult to understand because at first I thought she was speaking Korean but then I understood some words. Her plot looks GREAT- she said it was her first year with that plot but she has SIX plots at Nottoway. She told me that I was wasting my time and I should wait until the spring to clean up. I laughed and said I was so happy to have the plot that I didn't want to wait. Then she asked me what I could plant this late in the year and shrugged when I told her I wanted to clean up the plot, build raised beds and put up a fence so I would be ready for next year. She nodded so I guess my explanation met her approval.
A little later, a man about my age (or a little older) introduced himself as "Mark". He showed me his plot- also his first year- it is around the corner away from the Hunter House. He also showed me the "trick" with the spigot. (You have to wedge a piece of wood or something into the lever device to keep the water running) He said he couldn't figure it out and had to ask someone...definitely not obvious and I was happy that he volunteered the information. He also filled me in on the adjacent plot that looks abandoned. The owner/renter is pregnant and not up to working in the hot weather. She has some tomatoes but nothing else. While there are weeds, her weeds are nothing compared to those on our plot. So far, we are Queen of the Weeds- no one else even comes close to our weeds.
Mark was a fount of information about what rules are not enforced (dumping garden debris into the nearby woods) and what a pain it is to get water for the gardens. He has a rain barrel and fills it with water when he uses the hose. Next time he waters, Mark uses the water from the rain barrel. He said most people do that b/c the water is such a hassle.I asked about mosquitoes with open water and he said most people put screens on top of the sitting water. Mark also told me that the Korean lady with the six gardens has at least twenty pepper plants and he was ticked that he had to wait 4 years for a garden and she has six gardens. Mark said she brings groups of people to work her plots and probably uses other peoples' names to get around the restriction of one plot per person. Hmmm, always a scandal even in paradise. Had a great day and enjoyed myself with the work.
Friday, July 22, 2011
July 22, 2011
July 20, 2011
Spent an hour with Ginny working on the garden. We measured it- about 20 feet by 30 feet and full of weeds. Took some before pictures because the space is so overgrown with weeds.I think it is good to have a record of what it looked like before we began our work. Some of the weeds are over our heads. The heat and humidity were such that after an hour we packed up. Before we left we took some pictures to record our efforts. Fairly depressing but we estimate that we "did" about 1/10 of the width. Loaded up the Subbie with a bag of sweet smelling mint and weeds. We left the other bag on the plot b/c there wasn't room in the car. Poison ivy is in the plot so we have to be careful. Who knows what else we'll find when we go back. My face hurt from sweating so much because of the humidity.
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