Wet and Gray

There were some nice days this week and I did get outside to work in the yard. This weekend is shaping up to be a wet one. Wednesday I went out with my hand cultivator and once again attacked a garden bed that has already been weeded thoroughly this Spring. I dug down deep and removed miles of roots from the couch grass that is firmly embedded in there. I spent a few hours out there but had to stop when I got a grass cut through a knuckle on my right hand. It hurt of course, but it wouldn't stop bleeding so I had to come inside to clean it and wrap it tight. I also had an open blister develop on another finger from using the cultivator. I showered and changed and called it a day.

This is the flower bed I was working on. You can see what a tangle of roots there are. Hopefully, by pulling out all that couch grass over the summer, I may be able to eradicate it from the garden. Then I can lay down some mulch to help in the fight against it coming back. Those blue flowers are true geraniums or perennial geraniums, not the kind you might buy as an annual from Home Depot which are actually Pelargonium.

Yesterday started out as a nice day so I went outside again. I couldn't weed because of the injuries to my hand. I didn't want to reopen the wounds. So with work gloves on my hands, I once again raised the blade deck on my push mower and tackled some more of the tall grass areas on the property. I managed to clear quite a bit. I also mowed about half of the back lawn. It grew quite a bit in the last week. I used the submersible pump to remove the water from one of my fish ponds (with the waterfall). I haven't cleaned the pools yet or set up the filters, so they were basically just pools of open water and breeding grounds for mosquitoes. When I emptied as much as I could, I poured in some salt and vinegar solution and moved the pump to the second pool (with the fountain). I kept watch over that until it began pouring rain and then stopped the pump until this morning when I finished the job.  I am not able to clean the ponds on my own, so the question this summer is whether or not I want to set them up at all, or do I fill them with dirt and plant flowers. I am also questioning whether or not I want to put in a vegetable garden. It is so late in the season now, and do I really need to add more to my "To-Do" list? Should I just let the strawberry plants take over?

This raised vegetable bed that was completely cleared of weeds last week, is quickly growing more weeds, and I am losing arable space to the encroaching strawberry plants. I am thinking maybe I will just have my roto tiller fixed and tuned up and keep plowing the weeds under during the summer...... maybe just plant a few things in containers this year.

I have to admit, though; it was lovely to pick all of these berries this morning. The 6 in the back row are the ones I lost to birds, bugs, or critters because I didn't move quickly enough. I didn't think there were enough to pick. I guess I was wrong. I will have to check every day from now on.

Besides emptying the second pool and picking the strawberries this morning, I have opted to stay inside for a bit. The mosquitoes love this damp weather and I have been harbouring them after all. I had the standing pools of water and the tall thick grass for them to hide in. I did my usual puttering in the kitchen this morning emptying the dishwasher and filling it up again, washing down the counters and microwave, making my iced tea, and now cooking up a crock pot of garbanzo beans. The weather is trying to brighten and if the sun does manage to come out, I will do a couple of loads of laundry and hang outside. Otherwise I am not feeling very motivated to do anything at the moment. Most of my Springtime flowers are finished. Here are some more flowers that are coming out this week.

My   peonies are getting ready to burst open.

White and blue Campanula

My large lavender bush will bloom in days. I am very surprised that my Bleeding Heart is still in bloom. They must love all the rain. 

 

Have a great week-end everyone.