At the Farm During the Pandemic November 21 - December 3, 2020

 

• Saturday.  The official start to my week of vacation.  Next week was supposed to be my first week back at the office, but since I'm taking the week of Thanksgiving as vacation, my start day will be the last week of December. 
• I started first thing raking in the Star Garden.  I filled the wheel barrow with leaves and dumped them in the shady part of the Star Garden.
• Then I spent about 30 minutes cutting down Philippine Lily stalks in the Circle Drive.  I spread the lily seeds in all the beds in the Circle Drive.
• Next, I sprayed herbicide on the walkways around the house and the driveway in front of the house.  I also sprayed along the edge of the Daffodil Border where the winter weeds were about to encroach into the bed. 
• I drove the cadet down to the Orchard after that, and I spent the rest of the day cleaning up in there.  I did some raking, although the lion's share of that was done the day before.  
• A couple of months ago Bert and I had surrounded a stand of swamp sunflower with some goat wire.  It had finished blooming, and so I pulled away the wire enclosure and cut all the swamp sunflower down to the ground.  I loaded it into the back of the cadet and hauled it away to the debris pile.  
• I did a lot of cleanup in the the blackberry beds where the large-leaf winter weeds are already taking hold.  I drove to my good pine needle spot, raked up two truckloads of pine needles and spread them everywhere that I pulled weeds.  
• The blackberry bramble in one of the beds was leaning into a rose and blocking the path.  So I pushed it up with a long piece of rebar and hammered the rebar into the ground. 
• I spent some time weaving long blackberry canes into other canes to keep them from hanging out into the paths.  
• I pulled all the ageratum.
• I cut back gangly limbs of blue salvia.  
• I spread seed in all the spots where I pulled up ageratum.  
• I cut some nasty vines down to the ground and poisoned the cuts with my oil can of poison.
• I sprayed herbicide around the outside of the Orchard and on some of the paths.
• Sunday.
• I raked in the Star Garden and dumped several wheelbarrows-ful in the wild part of the Star Garden.  
• I pulled up lots of lily stalks.
• I moved several Ox Eye daisies growing in paths over to some flower beds, but then I started thinking that was a waste of time since I have a bagful of seeds.  So I started just pulling them up.
• I raked up a truckload of pine needles from my good spot and mulched several spots in the Orchard.  
• Raked some more in the Orchard.  Pulled weeds.
• Then I got my long leather gloves and spent about an hour cutting and pulling out dead canes from my small blackberry bramble at the back of the Orchard.  That bed was the only one I hadn't cleared out for the season.  Worst job in the world.
• Into the house for lunch.
• The rest of the day was spent piddling around.  Weeding here and there, spreading seed, deadheading flowers.
• Monday.  
• Bert and I went to the grocery store and liquor store with our Thanksgiving list.  We stopped at the hardware store and I bought a sprinkler. 
• I sowed s half pound each of black eyed Susans and Drummond Phlox in the top part of the Meadow.  I set the new sprinkler out to water it.  
• Fast forward to Thursday Thanksgiving.  I had a super-spreader event with all of our kids (sans Josh and family who thought it was too many people during a pandemic) and their kids.  A big group.  We ate outside - our nod to the virus.  It was a wonderful day.  So many children running around playing.  A good day.
• Friday.  Will and family spent the night on Thursday and headed home around noon on Friday.  Bert went to Groesbeck for a father, son, grandfather weekend.  I took a nap and did nothing much else.
• Rainy and grey, perfect for spreading all the remaining seed I had.  Red Drummond phlox, clasping cone flower, back eyed Susans, tall poppy mallow, moss verbena, Maximillian sunflower, and red poppies.  I held back some handfuls so I could spread more seed in my gardens.
• Saturday.  rainy and grey - perfect again!  Keep it coming so that my seeds can get a good start.
• I spent the day going through the closets, cabinets, drawers, shelves, and laundry room.  I packed up several dozen sacks full of junk, clutter, trash and goodwill:  cords to electronics we got rid of long ago, partial sets of linens, clothes I've out grown or won't wear, an old coffee machine, old rugs, broken toys and mysterious toy pieces, old receipts and papers we saved for some reason, a box full of cups from previous crawfish boils, yucky blankets, worn out towels, placemats I will never use (because I have 8 other sets), mismatched glassware, a broken electric wine opener, all the expired medicines in the cabinet, all chipped plates and bowls, empty bags we kept "just in case", old broken window blinds - why?, and countless other things that, frankly, I don't know how they got here or what they are.  It will be a real nuisance packing it all in the car to take to Houston.  But there is no way to get rid of it here - no trash service!
• Sunday.  Cold and grey, but no rain.
• I went to the grocery store.  
• Monday.  Worked.
• Took a long walk during my lunch hour.
• Tuesday.  Worked.
• We had our first hard frost of the winter, so all my plants with tender vegetation died.  
• I worked in the Vegetable Garden during my lunch hour.  I pulled up the remaining basil plants.  And I pulled up the Poblano pepper plants.  I harvested all the poblano peppers.  There were 50 or so - yuck -what am I going to do with all those peppers?  I raked up a big wheel barrow full of pine needles and spread them in several places in the Vegetable Garden where I won't be growing anything this winter.  I sprayed a little herbicide along the side fence.  I did some weeding, and I pulled up what was left of my green bean plants. 
• I pulled up some more ageratum and spread clasping coneflower and poppy seeds.
• I pulled up some stands of zinnias.  What was left of the zinnias are dead now due to the freeze.
• Thursday.  Worked.
• I raked up one more wheel barrow of pine needles and mulched in the Vegetable Garden.
• I cut away some frozen cannas that had fallen into paths.
• I watered in the Long Border and I watered my new camellias.
• Headed home to Houston for the weekend.  We have Airbnb guests arriving on Friday.  They booked out of the blue, kind of a random time to be vacationing, but there you have it.