Me and Mother Nature
I am always working around the weather.
It doesn't matter if I'm sick, injured, or don't feel like working, if the weather is good I have to get out there and do whatever needs doing because you never know if you'll get the chance later.
This is "pre-spring" in Texas. It's not safe to plant until mid March. And although we've had relatively mild temperatures, Mother Nature has tricked me in the past throwing a freeze in between 70 degree days.
This year we're growing in our other garden and letting our main garden rest. We let the secondary garden rest last year, but we did a lousy job putting it up for the year and we were rewarded with the worst weeds known to man.
It took weeks to get it cleaned out. It's all done except for a couple of beds where we await the demise of two fire ant hills. After that we can proceed with installing weed barrier.
At our age though, we think it's time to invest in something more permanent. I don't want another backbreaking year of pulling those tough nut grasses from the walkways.
I wanted to do concrete pavers. Greg is against it because they need to be sealed between the crevices. He suggested pouring concrete walkways.
My back groaned at the idea. I hate pouring concrete! It's heavy work and dusty. Those bags of concrete are 80 lbs each. Neither of us can handle a bag on our own anymore. I'd rather just seal the pavers myself.
Another idea is to buy rolled rubber matting. I used that in the original garden but only for the two main walkways since they were quite expensive.
I wish I could go back in time and tell myself to bite the bullet and buy more rolls. The prices today for the same mat are nearly twice what I paid before.
I suspect the prices have gone up because people now buy them for their in-home gyms. Originally, they were used for horse stalls.
The rubber mats I installed have been in place at least ten years and still does a perfect job at keeping down weeds.
Live and learn. Prices only go up.
You'll excuse my short post today. I needed Sunday to recuperate, but I have a window to finish the garden today. Tuesday is the dentist and errands. Wednesday it rains.
If you're curious about what I use in the main garden other than the roll matting, it's old indoor/outdoor rugs with the rubber backing. They last quite a few years and do a moderate job of keeping down weeds.
I'm always on the lookout for those rugs on trash day. It's like gold to me!
If you garden, do you also have walkways between your beds? What do you use to keep the weeds down?
Are you gardening this year? How's the weather by you right now?
Comments
I'll settle for at least slowing weeds down.
It's definitely a learning curve to have someone underfoot 24/7. My biggest adjustment was the elevated noise level when Greg finally retired.
Greg is loud and boisterous. And when he's loud, the dogs get loud, feeding on his energy. Suddenly my quiet orderly world became a circus. LOL!
Since then we try to meet halfway. Not dead as a tomb and not Ringling Brothers.
However the trade off is worth it because the man is worn down from years of worrying about us here during certain times of the day when we don’t feel well especially.
Anyone who's worked decades like we have are entitled to our retirements. I work harder now than when I worked for corporate America, but I enjoy it so much more.
Right now, it's snowing hard enough that the paved road 300 feet from my front door has disappeared from view. We started out with "we'll see 2-3 inches" and now it's up to "well, maybe we'll be getting 6 to 8 inches, but we're not sure yet" so we'll see what happens.
Hubby is getting his other knee replaced March 6th. So far, that's a tentative date depending on the hospital's schedule. :)
It's weird. You went to spam.
I did weed barrier and wood chips last year. The chips created fantastic soil--which is where the weeds grew.
Because it was shallow though, those weeds were easy to pull.
We should have one more mild freeze before spring. I got the hard work done, so I feel vindicated.
Good luck to your hubby! I hope you get in.
Greg needs his second one done but he hasn't committed yet. I wish he would get it done before he gets too old to recover quickly.
His second knee was his idea, not mine. It needs to be done though so better now than not at all.
re: knee
His surgeon told me, the knee tells them when to go in. When the pain is too much, they gladly go for surgery.
I'm pleased to report that Greg has not complained about his mechanical knee in months. For which I'm grateful. He can almost keep up with me now.