Brace yourselves - this may come as a shock...
all this grow-your-own-food stuff takes a lot of work.
Here's the thing though: it's not often work work. As in, not sitting depressed working on some official paper kind of work. No cranky customers (this only applies to when I work during nap time).
Nothing but me 'n the weeds and the hose right now. Which brings me to my newest weeding rule:
"Get 'em before they go to seed!!!"
That's it. I don't worry about getting them the second they poke their first leaves out, or even when they're a couple inches tall...I just get them when I can. Way easier than trying to pull off the Weed Nazi. I don't really have that kind of time, there's a LOT of weeds out there. I am entirely outnumbered. Usually, I know which areas need attention and when, but ultimately, until our soil has been consistently weeded (no matter how you do it, spray, hoe or pull) for a few years I'm going to be seeing a lot of weeds. Hopefully not their seed-heads empty.
The new rule has brought me a lot of peace. Yeah, those weeds are there, but I'll get 'em before they go forth and multiply.
Anyways, it's nice to work outside and to make things produce and flourish. I love seeing the rhythm in things, always assuring me that life goes on and that faith in a seed has some beautiful payoffs in the end. Sometimes I kill plants accidentally. Occasionally, I knowingly kill a plant...muahhahaha. Okay, so it's usually a weed but occasionally I just let them go if they're overly high-maintenance and aren't pulling their weight in the food supply or pretty field.
Since I've learned about and am starting to use mulch for weed control, gardening makes me much happier. I mulch with newspaper covered in a couple inches of grass clippings; right after I weed an area if it works out that way. Awesome results. I water way less, the weeds are suppressed and have very happy plants (especially those heavy nitrogen feeders: tomatoes, corn, potatoes... ).
