They hang on opposite walls of our workshop, hidden among all sorts of other useful stuff. They are the old & the older, the seldom-used & the     never-used-anymore. I don’t like either, and avoid them if at all possible.

The weed whacker has the date we purchased it scratched on the plastic housing – 1/96. That makes it quite old! But it still runs when needed and the heavy-duty blade on the bottom takes care of a lot of weeds in a hurry.

I hate the weed whacker. It’s loud, it’s heavy, and it vibrates and shakes. You have to wear ear protection, eye protection, foot protection, & leg protection … And so it has spent most of it’s 19 years hanging on the wall of the workshop.

The scythe is even older. I remember this same scythe (and it’s partners) from when I was growing up on the farm. I also remember my father patiently teaching me the proper way to use it. Once you catch on to it, it’s actually a very efficient piece of equipment, and can take care of a lot of weeds in a hurry.

It’s safe to say that the scythe has not been used since the weed whacker was purchased back in 1/96, or probably even longer, since we had other weed whackers before this one.

Right now, there are a lot of weeds around the trees in the orchards. We prefer to use mulch – hay or straw – to help keep the weeds at bay. But we can never cover the entire farm, so we also spray with herbicides around the trees to control weeds. Between the rows we mow the grass.

We are a little behind in both weed control & grass cutting. In our defense, the grass is growing at an alarming rate due to all the rain, and the weeds even more so. So the orchards have a slightly wild look right now! But all will be brought under control in due time.

However, when I came across a few patches of thistles the other day,  that were about to go to seed, I had to take immediate action.

The obvious solution was to use the weed whacker … or maybe the scythe.

I chose to go old school & pulled the scythe out from it’s hiding spot & sharpened it up. It felt good to be using it! The thistles were taken care of in a hurry – without noise, vibration, & no needed ear & eye protection. Plus I got some exercise.

Perhaps there still is a place for the scythe on a modern farm …

The weeds in the vegetables are controlled with cultivation by tractor, by hand hoeing, and by hand weeding. We use a lot of mulch in the vegetables too.

The tomatoes are getting mulched & staked this week .

The eggplant & peppers will be next.

 

There is never a shortage of vegetables waiting to be weeded.

What’s in the box?

Green garlic, Asian greens, lettuce mix, spinach,

radishes (maybe), rhubarb (Friday only).

• Green garlic is fresh garlic, picked now, before the bulbs mature underground. Perhaps a little milder than fall garlic, it has amazing flavour and can be used raw or in cooking – wherever you would use garlic cloves. You can eat the entire plant. Because it is fresh & not dried, it must be kept in the fridge.
• Asian greens can be added to salads or stir-fried. They are juicy & delicious.
• This week’s lettuce is a mix of various kinds & colours of leaves. It looks & tastes beautiful! As usual we have rinsed it once but you may want to wash it too.
• The spinach plants have regrown so we are cutting them again & spinach will be in your box this week.
• There are still  a few radishes – at least enough for Tuesday’s boxes. No promises for Friday.
• But Friday gets the rhubarb this week -last week it was in the Tuesday shares.

Here are the beautiful Asian greens …

The snow peas & broccoli are maturing & should appear in your CSA box by next week (or sooner?)

Here is something to make your mouth water!! The first cherries are making their move & showing some colour!