Today is an absolutely fantastic day, with perfect weather. Thermometer has not yet made it to 80*, and there is an off/on again gentle breeze. The ducks are out, marching in tandem, back and forth across the yard, snagging japanese beetles from the lawn. It's incredible to see them work!
I've been ripping and tearing in the garden. Tearing weeds away from one of front fence lines, then laying cardboard, and some stable litter. We've found a fellow in town who has goats and horse. He says (and based on the quality of the litter, I believe it) that he cleans his stalls twice/day. So, instead of him hauling his stuff to the town compost facility, and us going there to pick it up, we go straight to his place, and save him a trip. When we were at the compost facility last time, I was mortified to see how many rats were in that one pile. I don't think they would be attracted to the wood chips, so we'll probably continue to get wood chips now and then. But, I'm delighted to get this stable bedding straight from the source! we're getting about 10 contractor bags full/week. I'm also pruning and tying up tomato vines. Doing a modified basket weave against the cattle panel trellis. This will be the first year that I've been able to corral the tomatoes into some semblance of good behavior.
Love it!
