Strong Boys

The light at this time of year has turned to fall. Even the weeds have their special gleam.

The boys helped Phil all afternoon. They spent several hours clearing a few sections of "market garden" (weeds). The boys used clippers and pruners to cut down weeds around the raspberries planted in the swales, and Phil scythed the rest of the weeds. There is a clear line of sight now, and Phil was encouraged to see how many of the missing raspberries were still living.

Then the boys helped Phil put up new pig fencing. The pigs were ecstatic to have a new area to root and plow, and I'm thrilled to have a new area for them to plow and manure. Those boys were good helpers, too: Jadon carried three T-posts at once, and then Isaiah did, too! Strong boys.

I was pleased to weed one of the two beds of asparagus. The raspberries that lived, interplanted with asparagus, are growing enormous now, some stalks about 5' tall. This variety was supposed to require no staking, but I can see how stakes could be useful with those slightly prickery brambles.

With the massive rainfall, weeds came up easily, and it was a joy to go barefoot in the softened earth, pulling up some enormous staghorn sumac sprouts, some grasses, and plenty of other random weeds. Even a dandelion came out with six inches of exposed root. So satisfying!

(Though I can say that, overall, we encourage dandelions on our farm and appreciate the beauty of their cheery yellow flowers, their ability to bring nutrients up from the subsoil, their healthy vegetable status—more nutritious than kale!—and the amusement of blow-the-puffball. I just didn't want any dandelions in my asparagus directly.)