The list of things to get done in the garden is growing faster than these weeds. Spring paid a visit, so I used the sunshine to make progress. First up: the potato bed.

I could make an entire video about the things I still need to get done to prepare for growing food. That list is overwhelmingly long. So, instead, I only think about the next few things. Weeding the potato bed, building the greenhouse, spreading the strawberries out, setting up water collection.

Those are most urgent when I’m here. At home, there is a similar “list.” But I’ll worry about that when there’s gray and rain again. For now, we are enjoying the sun.

Weeding the bed by hand was meditative and fun. I really enjoyed the process. I’m still very glad that this bed is the only one I’ll weed this way. Remember that goat that wasn’t supposed to be in my garden? Soon, she’ll be there on purpose. I’ll get some help from two sheep, two goats, and a lot of feathered friends.

Speaking of friends: there were a lot of earth worms everywhere in the bed. I covered them in soil whenever I found them.

Most of the weeds are easy to remove. The hardest are thistles, the low seedy grass, and whatever this is. Apparently, weeding is a workout.

There aren’t many things that aren’t allowed in my garden in moderation. Thistles are one of them. I understand their value to the ecosystem but they’ll need to go thistle somewhere else. The pansies get to stay for now.

At home, dinner was another fast and simple one. An almost literal fry-up of an evening. Excitingly, I got to add some foraged hop shoots to the meal from wild hops near where we live.

When I ran out of energy, the air fryer took over the frying, and I rested on the couch. We never take a lot he first time we try new foraged foods, so there wasn’t much of the hops. Enough to know it was worth eating, though.

I was feeling a little unsocial the next day, so I hid in my overgrown food forest instead of weeding.

A few episodes ago, I’d stuffed these strawberries into these planters with a promise to do better soon. Dear little strawberries, it is time to make good on my promise. I like to think of this as a haircut. I’m trimming dead plant matter and things that get in the way. I also gave this planter a bit more organic matter to work with. Leaves and dead strawberry bits will turn into soil.

These are woodland strawberries that grow wild in this area, so I am planting some under the cherry. Hopefully, they’ll like it there and spread around the tree for years to come. I’ll do what I can to give them a fair chance. But they have to figure it out. This is a food forest, not a garden bed.

There were still people all around the garden plot, so I made it an odd-job day instead. Some days, I just don’t feel like masking. Pretending to be a normal human being is exhausting.

These rain barrels where left by the previous owner. I couldn’t source plugs, so I am adding taps into all holes. Adding these is one of those jobs that is easier with more people but it works if you are a bit creative. I didn’t want the ant to get squished while I work, so I gently blew it off. And then it was time for the worst part. Or maybe just one more delaying tactic: re-check the seal? As I was doing this alone, I used the bin to stabilize the tap on the outside. So that when I crawl in for the second tap, I can tighten the first one properly.

In the end, the stupid things are in, and I can refill the barrel with the little water it has collected. Collecting water is slowly crawling to the top of the list. I need to get that done. And now, I have a plan.

The garden plot seemed vacated, so I decided to try weeding some more of the bed before the forecast storm.

The GoPro was accidentally set to time warp for all of the weeding that weekend. So, this is all I got. Time-lapse footage isn’t really my style in most cases.

Despite all of my efforts to hide from people, some neighbors came by to chat. When they were gone, and I started weeding again, the announced storm was already rolling in.

When I saw Pepper hiding under a blanket, and the things I threw kept coming back, I called it a day. It wasn’t until I reviewed this footage that I realized he hadn’t chosen to be under the blanket. Oops.

The wind was way too strong to talk to you, so I’ll spare you the noise. The birds were frantically going into hiding, so I knew it was time to get home.

There, dealing with this mess is on the top of the list. But I’ll tell you about that next time.

So long, and thanks for being here.