Armed with my hat...
And my iPod loaded with Bible teachings...
I left Michael sitting comfortably in the shade with a cool drink and his last lesson of the book in math.
And I headed for the mower.
Warming it up.
I notice that clover is beginning to make a dent in the soil at the front of the house. That's great! The legumes will pull nitrogen into the soil from the air, and also add Mycorrhizae to the root area, making it much more hospitable for other plants to move in later.
A small detour to put on the steering wheel knob we bought. It turned out to make a real difference in not only comfort for turning, but also wear and tear on the steering shaft.
Before...
And after about 3 hours...
We spent an hour cultivating the gardens. I was chagrined to see how hard the soil had become after only 48 hours since a heavy rain. This is why we cultivate so often, but it hit home once again how poorly conditioned our soil is. We decided on a plan. We are going to ask the neighbor who often helps us if we can have some of his oldest, most rotten, big round bales that are no longer good for feed. If we can get about four of them, we could mulch all the garden beds.
At this point, I am willing to put up with the weeds that might come with them. We are in a constant battle with cultivating anyhow, so a few more seeds are not going to make a difference.
Not my pic, but isn't the horse stuck in the hay bales cute?
Giving credit where credit is due...
~Faith
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WOW! and I thought we had a lot to mow. Can you imagine doing it with a REEL mower? No wonder the animals grazed everywhere, except a small fenced yard and garden, LOL! I keep thinking we need to make bettr use of our property that is in lawn, but then again I can't keep up with the gardens and beds we have now*wink*
ReplyDeleteYour place is lovely, so green and orderly.
Can you tell we have free time on our hands, not really we need to be cleaning the house*sigh* The snow has stopped and it's already melting.
Blessings,
Kelle
I like that idea of the stearing knob. I might have to look in to one of those.
ReplyDeleteFaith be careful. Hay is sprayed with pesticides that are very toxic. before you use it please plant some beans in a tray of dirt and when they come up, soak some of the hay in water for a while. 2 days maybe and then water the beans with it. if the beans die don't use the hay at all; That toxin will not compost out.
ReplyDeleteKelle,
ReplyDeleteI once bought a reel mower. I love old fashioned things, plus I loved the idea of being able to mow to a natural swishing sound much better than the roar and smoke of an engine.
No matter how I tried though, I could not get that thing to cut well. I finally gave up.
I hear you. I think we are all spoiled and want these perfect park-like settings, at least I do. When the most natural thing in the world would be to let the animals graze it off.
As a matter of fact, we could just do what they did thousands of years ago and let the animals move into the houses with us....
Nah! LOL
~Faith
SFG,
ReplyDeleteWe officially like it. :o)
~Faith
S's Mom,
ReplyDeleteFortunately, our neighbor doesn't spray his grass, so we'd be safe. I just hope he has some!
~Faith