Slow Down And Smell The Honeysuckle
Spring is a wonderful time of the year. Plants reemerge from their winter dormancy and transform the drab, grey tree lines into a beautiful display of shades of green, yellow and red. Animals ensure the survival of their species by producing offspring. So much beauty and rebirth. Spring is also a harrowing time. The pollen? Yuck! The gritty byproduct of the beautiful regrowth can cause quite an unsightly scene in the form of runny noses, puffy red eyes, coughs and sneezes by the afflicted. And then, there’s my nemesis…
It is not an uncommon occurrence for us to be overwhelmed by the stampede of spring’s emergence. It’s pretty predictable really. One of the biggest challenges has always been keeping up with mowing, trimming and bush hogging. All of the grasses and weeds burst from dormancy into a wide-assed open sprint of growth. As the kids have gotten older, they have been able to help. Sometimes they are a huge help. Sometimes, when they do it their way instead of how you told them to do it at least thirty-three times… Whoosah!!!
When I get in a rut, sometimes all that I can see is the task at hand. It has helped me to work my way through some pretty unsavory tasks over the years. Trust me, you don’t want to know. Must cut the grass…. It can become a drudgery. It’s not that cutting grass isn’t enjoyable. It can actually be soothing and satisfying. It’s more that it can become all consuming. There are so many other things that need to be done, yet the grass cutting continues to demand more than its fair share of the available time. It’s like an annoying little brother wiping a booger on your cheek just to get your attention. Repeatedly.
Don’t think that I’m belly aching about a tidy half acre lot in a cul-de-sac. I’m talking acres. Lots of acres. It can become a huge time sink, especially if you get behind. Which we always seem to do.
It comes down to a simple cost benefit analysis. The last time that we priced it, the cost to have the yard and a few other areas mowed and trimmed by a professional service was over five hundred dollars a week. That covers about a fourth of the area that we need to maintain more closely. “Hi Ho! Hi Ho! Off to work we go!”
Since we don’t want to let one task dominate our lives, we’re going to have to do something different. The other consideration, is that my little helpers are growing up and before I know it, they will be starting tribes of their own. Wait! That means more mowing for me… F^@% that! Here are three tried and true things that we will be doing in the upcoming weeks to help decrease the workload:
Tarping: In the garden areas, we will weed and weedwhack to ground level, maybe carefully burn the area and then place a thick tarp for several weeks until the area is needed for new plantings.
Fencing: In larger grassy areas, we will use a combination of temporary and permanent fencing to create paddocks for grazing. Once the animals are done with the area, we can move them to the next area and then cut the exhausted area. Rotational grazing is great for parasite control as well.
Mulching: Thick mulching around trees, bushes or other areas can be very helpful for weed control. The persistent weeds and grasses will eventually re-emerge, but are not difficult to manually extract if you don’t let them grow too long.
I have been working too much lately, which is also predictable. We’ve mowed and trimmed for pretty much a whole week non-stop. We decided to take it a bit slower today. I was the first one up. When, I stepped out into the cool, quiet of the morning I was welcomed by the sweet aroma of honeysuckle. When did those plants get so huge? Tens of thousands of yellow and white flowers. I took a few minutes to walk around and enjoy the farm.
I am thankful for so much. I don’t always make time to process it, but I truly am. I am constantly changing gears between work and home and business and life. I strive for harmony, but sometimes it’s more like Wrestle Mania. I remain forever a work I progress. Following are a few pictures from my morning stroll. I think that I have found some inspiration for the upcoming week.
Bush cherries ready for harvest (May 2023)
Promising young peaches (May 2023)
Jacob Spotted and Lincoln Long Wool sheep with lambs (May 2023)
