Phil finished tilling all the garden on the north side of our road. The peppers and Johnson grass and celosia and rocks of yesterday have been chewed up and strewn about, leaving only a trace on the ground.
He also tilled up sections around our asparagus patch, so I can add a couple of rows. I transplanted 25 asparagus plants that had been entirely hidden in a thicket of grasses, weeds, and flowers. One had gone missing due to piglet wallowing; two or three others simply didn't sprout, but overall, it felt great to remove small but growing asparagus into a brighter, more open environment. I put the shovel in the rich soil, and a full shovel of roots and plant came, too.
I also found some more nut sedge (boo, hiss). I have heard that nut sedge is named for the little nutlets that grow from the roots, and I have diligently looked to see if I could find these nutlets.
Well, I found a nutlet or two today. I think "nut sedge" could more accurately be named "bead sedge," as the nutlet was no larger than a bead.
While I was transplanting, Phil broadcast rye, clover, and buckwheat on the just-tilled area. He tried to press the seeds into the soil to improve germination by pulling the non-rotating tiller over the soil. That didn't work as well as he wished, so he raked it for a few moments. Then, in another creative moment, he quickly assembled a drag out of a piece of wood and (I think) the chains for the truck. That worked very well, and he merrily dragged the field.
Next he went up to the apple orchard and tilled between trees.
Note the difference in the row he tilled and sowed last month: the ryegrass is coming up well, and there's a sharp delineation between the brown switchgrass.
I gathered stones: three or four tractor buckets' worth by the end of the day. And I was covered in a fine layer of dust. My end of week shower was a blessed relief.
I sincerely hope that after this session of tilling and sowing that we will not have to till the apples ever again.
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