Garden Update: Weeding Frenzy

Heroes. All of them. In any garden season there are make-or-break moments. These moments are sometimes small windows in time when the ground is dry enough to plant or cultivate. To make the garden thrive, we need to seize these moments and have enough help at just the right time.

Well, it dried out a little last Friday, so on Saturday morning we had a small crew of CSA volunteers who showed up bright and early. I brought them up to the garden and I pointed out where the crops were and which I thought we could save from the mucky weeds. First, we hoed the flowers, herbs, and green beans. Yay! Progress. We saved them. Then we looked at the bed where the early beets were planted. They were nearly invisible amidst all the weeds. First we carved the weeds away from the rows with a sharp hoe. Then, on our hands and knees, we painstakingly extricated each cluster of beets from the weeds growing in the rows. Then we thinned the clusters down to one plant every three inches. Whoa! We will have beets. Thank you Saturday heroes!

Then on Sunday evening our first group of summer apprentices showed up. On Monday morning the sun was shining (Bonus!) and all 10 of us went to the big field by the Homestead, armed with hoes of various shapes and sizes. We weeded the pumpkins, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, dry beans, sunflowers, corn, potatoes, onions, leeks, and sun chokes. Sh-whew! There were two moments when the team was hoeing away and it came time to stop for a break. Both times they asked to finish the task at hand before going on a break! Thank you apprentice heroes!

It might rain tonight and probably tomorrow - so this was our one day to weed. Yay team!