Just Do It

As I've walked the land a bit lately, I've been discouraged by the number of Johnson grass seed heads. Boo. They're so prolific, it felt overwhelming even to snap off the seeds.

But sometimes you need to just do it, so I determined to take an hour and do so. I think it took the full hour, and I probably missed some, but overall, I feel like the spread is contained, at least above ground.

Then I went over to the tree nursery. I don't know how long I've neglected it (three or four weeks, I would guess), but I have weed trees almost up to my armpits. The overall weed pressure isn't horrible, but these enormous, fast growing plants popped up in a few places.

The poor trees, unaided by supplemental water, have been quite stressed by the summer we've had. They're holding their own, for the most part, but if growing things ideally need an inch of rain a week, I think they had one week or two that was sufficient in the last three months.

I noticed recently, too, that something was eating the tips. A few trees have been half defoliated. I should probably attempt something like a garlic spray once weeding is done, but the bug (deer?) pressure also really discouraged me.

It makes sense that lack of water would cause stressed and weak plants, a better target for bug predation.

It felt good to just do it, and finish weeding four of the nine rows.

Phil, too, had a just do it day. We had finished the tasks he knew how to do, and had to again dive into the unknown.

He had to wrestle with the flashing along the roof. Not only were the drawings extremely unclear, but the flashing itself was a thin metal, so thin it bends easily. He managed, somehow. He also finished the flashing along the front of the building, and framed out the garage door along the front.

Late in the day, we got the first panel hung along the front.