The Further Adventures of Nature Girl

So I ventured back into nature today. I had a couple items on my agenda and accomplished most of them.

My first goal for today was to do something about what I call the "crack weeds." You know those weeds, the ones that grow in the cracks of a sidewalk or driveway or (in my case) the cracks of my concrete patio. I tried pulling them when I tackled the crop circle in my backyard, but I could tell that just wouldn't be as successful since I couldn't really get at the roots as easily because of the concrete. I had resigned myself that I was going to have to fight these things chemically, which I was not thrilled about. I hated the idea of using chemicals that could damage my lawn or get into the ground water or hurt the rabbits I often see hanging out in my backyard. So I did what anyone does nowadays -- I went online and did some research. I found recipes for several natural weed killers. My concern with a lot of them was that they involved using salt. I took Latin. I remember how the ground of Carhage was salted so that nothing could ever grow there again. One errant spray, and I could be destroying future gardening attempts! I finally settled on a recipe that involved 1 cup of vinegar, 1/2 cup of dish soap (which makes the vinegar adhere to the leaves of the weed), and then filling the rest of the spray bottle with water. I doused the crack weeds with this mixture this morning, so we'll see how it goes.

My next goal was to plant some more flowers. On my shopping expedition to my new beloved Menards yesterday, I found some beautiful impatiens plants that would grow around the tree in my front yard. Luckily, it rained last night, so the ground was a lot easier to dig into than it had been when I planted the petunias Sunday morning. I planted two rows of impatiens around this tree, but the really remarkable moment (for me anyway) came as I was digging and came across a worm. A WORM. And do you know what I did? I picked it up and tossed it into the yard but away from where I was working -- WITH MY BARE HANDS. I mean, seriously, a worm is like a tiny snake and there I was picking it up and not even cringing or screaming or anything. What has happened to me?!?!?!?

My last goal for the day did not come to fruition. Also at Menards, I had bought one of those seed blankets that promise to be a quick and easy way to cover a large area with wildflowers -- perfect for the crop circle! "Quick and easy" is a big old lie! Once I read the directions, I realized that it would take a ton of work, including completely clearing the crop circle of all vegetation, even grass (and there is some of that growing in the crop circle), and raking the area and moistening the area and I just didn't have it in me to tackle that today when I also had a lot of stuff I wanted to accomplish inside the house. So that might be a project for this weekend. Harumph!