February 01, 2005

Clearing Out the Raised Beds

Its been an industrious day in my gardens. The winter rains have ended and the air outside is cool and sunny. My little dog has been having a good time sunning herself in the bark mulch. I'm sure that the heat feels wonderful on her coat. I've been enjoying the fresh air too.

I removed all the pepper plants from my raised beds this morning. My fresno peppers did have ripening pods, but due to the shady location and the cool weather, my peppers are not having any real heat to speak of. I don't find them worth eating right now. Also, the insects have eaten most of the leaves and the plants are looking horrible. I will start with fresh plants in a couple of weeks.

I also went over my raised beds looking for more of those awful vines. I pulled any that I discovered in the composted soil. I will give things a third going over before I amend the soil this spring. I don't want to bury any of those vine roots in there or I will never be rid of the plants.

My efforts at removing weeds from my yards in general continues. I spent a good two hours this morning with my hoe and shovel. I wish that I could use roundup on the weeds, but I don't want my dog to become sick if she eats a plant that has been treated and I don't like to use poisons on general principal. So I'm doing it all the old fashioned way with sweat and muscle.