That's my mathematical breakdown of gardening. No, I'm not a stereotypical redneck that counts by taking off my shoes. I know that my percentages are more than a 100. But gardening is far more than numbers. My heart is in it 100% of the time. Heartache is a factor of life and most definitely a big part of gardening. (i.e. failed tomato plants and no pumpkins in 2010) 50% of my time is spent getting plants to grow, either by preparing the soil, planting, watering, and harvesting.
However, had I known that 80% of my time was going to be spent on weeding, I may have considered another route, such as covering my entire lot with concrete and building only raised beds. Around my raised beds, I even dug up the grass/weeds, laid down that lovely black anti-weed fabric, then covered in several inches of rocks to hopefully subdue the weeds and grass from getting through and thwarting my progress in the garden. Kudos to that guy who invented that black fabric. I would hate to think that my weeds were bored out there, but fortunately they have the black fabric, a dense yet not impossible obstacle to entertain them on their passage to sunlight and happiness amongst my veggies. I do find a slightly deranged humor in that the weeds could potentially find humor in my weed cloth.
I start at one edge of my garden and work my way around each raised bed. I like to do this right after it rains because its much easier to get the weeds out by their roots in damp soil. I swear that by the time I get around the last bed, the first bed where I started already has teenager weeds growing again. If only my veggies had the gusto of weeds. If only.
Anyhoo, another odd, chilly, cloudy day in the 'ville. Happy weeding!
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