Weather Holding

The Old Amigo is feeling like he needs to get some blogging done.  I've been working on a longer piece -- an animal story.  It's taking some serious hours to pull together though, so I thought I'd give you an update on the garden.

We're feeling pretty good about the weather today. Fox, the Blind Man, recommended the Namesake of the Other Folksinger (Notof). Notof is 27 and Fox's son's best buddy. He's spent the summer fishing up north and now he needs some work before winter sets in.  

Notof can work hard.  He spent a day-and-a-half clearing brush and then breaking up soil in the garden.  Job well done. I spent several hours yesterday sifting and moving soil. Angel mixed in compost. 

Notof and I also did quite a bit of clearing on the south side of the property. That's about the last bit that needed attention. It's starting to look darn near manicured (hardly). But at least it's starting to look cleaned up.

The Farm Girl called today too. She couldn't work last week because she had a fire in her yurt. Yep. It started where the pipe from the wood stove went through the wall. It was a close call, but she got it put out and got her place cleaned up. She got her garlic crop in and can work this Thursday AM. If we can get Notof over tomorrow or Tuesday and FG over on Thursday, we'll have the garden dialed in.  No extra time left, but that's okay.

I mowed some more on the south side today. There's long grass there. I pull it up and then run over it with the rotary mower. That chops it, but it clogs the chute into the bag so every few minutes I stop the mower, turn it over, and push the heavy trimmings into the bag. Then I mow a few more feet and do it again. It's a lot of work, but it's having a great effect. 

I call the south & east sides of the property "The Meadow". As I clear it and mow it, I also pull out surface rocks and wood debris. The weedstack continues to grow. The Meadow looks better and better. 

Angel laid in Halloween candy. This'll be our first Halloween here at the Edge of the Continent, and we don't know the trick or treater traffic levels yet. Not many kids in the immediate neighborhood. Of course Halloween, like everything else, can depend an awful lot on the weather.

One more thing: the "Monster Maul". A neighbor loaned me his Monster Maul. It's a heavy (VERY) splitting maul with a metal handle. This thing is amazing. This afternoon I split a couple of 16" long, 18" diameter rounds. No wedges. It's a real... monster.

Okay, I'm going to try to talk Angel into giving me a haircut now.

Stay warm.

Stay dry.