May 21-22, '10

Sally was still in New Mexico, so this was a solo trip. It was hot (mid 80s) and the ticks were bad.

Short Cut
I came and went via the short cut through the WMA. After crossing this beautiful clear creek, I cought up with a tractor just as he was pushing a downed tree trunk out of the road. Later he pulled over and let me pass. That was before I got to this tree still hanging over the road -- all damage from storms about 10 days earlier. Hopefully they will do more maintenance on this road, though I doubt I will be taking it once it gets dry and dusty.

Garden
The rain gauge showed 1.75 inches -- that meant we got almost 7 inches over 7 or 8 days. (The road north of the house still had a little standing water.) But the last rain had been Wednesday, and the garden was already dry on the surface. I brought a basil plant out to add to the mix. I picked two more broccoli, another big bag of spinach, a few more radishes, and some more collards. But little green worms were getting to the collards and broccoli leaves. I doubt we will get any more collards. Before leaving, I did go ahead and water.

Mow/Weedeat
This time of year, it seems like this is all I get done. It looks great by the time I leave, only to return the next weekend and start over. Had to bring out another 5 gallons of gas for the equipment.

Weeding
I bought a new tool to use for weeding. Its sort of like an ice axe. Real heavy duty. I worked around some of the berries and apples. Got into an aunt bed under one of the apples and had to leave it. Also spread all the newspaper I had around a few blackberries.

Found this walnut sprouting under one of the pear trees. Normally I'd let them grow, or even transplant them, but it was too close. Felt bad pulling it up.

Sprayed
I sprayed the apples with fungacide, and 12 gallons of herbacide mostly applied to knapweed. I did take one tank up to the hill where I was disappointed to find quite a bit of summac still growing -- but far far better than 3 years ago. I mixed some diesel in this time, so will be interested in seeing if it improves the effectiveness.

Knapweed
I pulled up another 450 plants. But much of these were more firmly planted, and my hand grip began to fail. This is such a massive problem, but I am persistent.