The rows are sprouting only have about five rows are sprouting up (Khol Rabi, radishes, Beets, spinach or swiss chard and lettuce).
Yesterday I was able to hoe the whole garden. It keeps the weeds completely under control easily. But I will need to get a bench grinder and a the special grinding stone for sharpening blades. Where things went well in the garden, it didn't go so well in the yard.
My new favorite line is "Have I ever told you how much I hate dandelions?!?"
For the last week (or so) I've been pulling the tops of the dandelions off (the blooms and the buds) because if I dug them all out I would not have much of a lawn. So what seemed to work last year was that I picked the tops off and then when it was dry enough I sprayed a diluted broadleaf killer. This reduced the dandelions by about 15 - 20%.
That being said, I've had a new neighbour since Spring 2019 and he doesn't spray. YAY!
The previous fellow who I've lived next door to almost all my life sprayed very HEAVILY each year for at minimum three weeks (dandelion bloom time in the spring) and I had had an inkling that the unusual swelling of my body for years in the spring may have been associated with his annual chemical spraying but seeing that I'm also terribly allergic to grass, certain trees AND dandelions, well, you can imagine that it's hard to really pinpoint the cause. The last few years I use latex gloves and kneel on a mat to ensure I reduce exposure. My hands and knees still swell but last year and this year it's quite minimal so I'm now fairly certain its the heavy chemicals.
So this is the paradox, in years past, I couldn't go outside whenever a neighbour heavily sprays their yard (as I start choking and of course the bizarre swelling) . The dandelions got worse but I always tried to get on top of them by mowing frequently so they wouldn't go to seed (not always successful). So this is now why my lawn is filled with dandelions. So last year I tried an experiment. I had some old dandelion herbacide that you attach to a hose and spray your lawn. I diluted it so I don't get sick. So today I sprayed my front lawn. I wanted to do this earlier but with the rain lately, it would just wash it away.
I also had some ecological full strength stuff that smells not as nasty as some of the other soil sterilizers out there, so I sprayed behind my garage as I have a different neighbour that lets all of their driveway go to seed. UGH!
But this weekend, it will be tacking the back yard as my back yard is about as big as my garden so time to tend to that! I suspect by the end of the weekend I will have a photo where you can see some of the sprouts. hoe hoe hoe.
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