hardcore outdoor

i took yesterday off and worked in the yard.
i probably weeded for five hours. my hands show it. or feel it.
they ache and the tips of my fingers ache and my wrist is sore from grappling with bermuda grass. i have a bruise on the heel of my hand from leaning on it while i pulled out root rhizomes as hard as i could.

i ripped out the berries that didn't make it.
i'll weed the berry beds and then sow them in a cover crop (right now, yellow clover since that is what i have handy) in hopes of making the beds better for next spring and Berries: Take 2.

progress was small but noticeable.
just walking outside today to feed the chickens i could see the difference. the beds are clean looking and over night one of the winter squash blossomed. the grass is mowed, the patio clean, the scrap wood out of sight.

i've been lucky this year. the vegetables are all doing pretty well.
certainly no bug problems. however, the parsnips took awhile to get going, the beets aren't very big, the melons are still small and the spinach & chard just now are looking good. i've begun thinning the herbs and the greens a little late, but i think in time they will bounce back. i think i prefer my greens sowed in rows as opposed to broadcast, its a little neater.

not exactly sure the cause of any of it—its been a strange spring, very cold and wet for a very long time. its been consistently in the eighties now, so things are beginning to perk up and take off. my radishes have done marvelously this year and i could stand to reseed some carrots, beets and greens. and i need to stake my tomaotes—i think i've put cages off too long to be able to do it. (a common story this season)

guess we'll see what i can get accomplished this weekend.