Weed Control Time

[MPH]

Well, it wasn't quite as the ground was a little wet, but August is "go to seed" month in this country so I got 'er done last nite anyway. Not sure why the poor quality pics last nite but they still show the quality time I had when I got home from a week of 5 outta 6 days working in the Delta monsoon season, including a major flooding of out job site, like 4-5 feet of water in a 1200 foot long 20 foot deep trench, along with 3-4 feet of mud and rocks in 300-400 feet of it and the rest covered in clay silt. At least a week set back on job completion. Anyway, here's the 725 with the finally installed 10 inch tranny pully, Thankyou Kent about 5 years back, tilling pigweed, chickweed and barley around the old barnyard.

In the garden lot.

Maybe the picture problem is due to the fact that my midnite sun is petering out already, this last pic was just shy of 11 pm.C

With the tiller down to the side shields sure do make that Model 19 talk at WOT, little loud yea, but beautiful compared to the tinny rattleing sound of them hondo's running pumps and presuure sparyers at work all week

[4xbill]

That's some fine looking soil you got there! What are you planting?

[rsnik]

Marty, I am amazed at what great looking soil you have. Our native soil here is so thin, poor and rocky it is just pathetic. You have to add tons of amendments over the years or replace the soil as I have done in 2 gardens with this slaughterhouse loam created years ago by a slaughterhouse that blended the ground up carcasses of slaughtered animals with sawdust and dirt. The strawberry patch, growing in the slaughterhouse loam, went past and my attention went to the front, main garden and the front yard, brick walkway project:

I scored on 3500 paver bricks from the 1700's from an excavation contractor working in Boston. But..... Here's the weeds that sprang up in the gone-past strawberry patch in the super nice slaughterhouse loam in the last few weeks:

[Johnrenk]

Never saw any tiller work that good, has to be trick photography.

[MPH]

"Marty, I am amazed at what great looking soil you have" 25 years ago there was no such thing as soil on my place, just dirt. For Tok I was blessed with about a 100-125 foot strip of 6-8 inches of dirt with green sand under that for 3 feet running most of the full length north to south for 450 feet. Either side of that the dirt varies from 4-6 inches before I'm into rocks. 15 years of having milk goats, laying chickens and for several years 200-300 meat chickens, most raised for sale at live wt. Lot of pitchforking in those days. Since I have out of the animals and into tractors I been green manuring croping everything that is fun to play in 2-3 times a year. Past couple years I been into clover with the intent of getting bees when I quit leaving home for working. Just practicing what grows here good now.:D Only trick on that tiller tilling better then it has in the past is the 10 inch pulley I just put on the tranny. Slower ground speed gives it more time to chew stuff up. Think it would have done better if the ground hadn't been a bit too wet to be tilling, but I only get 22 hours a week at home to play right now, sooooooo. just do it. Oh, 3500 pavers, man, now that sounds like a back ace to me, can't think of any way to set them in place with a tractor.:p

[rsnik]

I first read about and saw green manuring in your posts and have been talking about it ever since. That is an incredible thing, growing your soil amendments and nutrients with a crop you turn under. I was wondering why you were planting the large field with a clover mix. Of course, bees! We keep considering getting into bees here just to pitch in and help as well as get my fruit trees pollinated. Some sort of bacteria or virus kills all the honey bees here in MA every year. Even the bee clubs have to get new colonies every year. It's a crap shoot whether my cherries, apples, etc get pollinated as all the feral honey bees are extinct in this area. The big, black bumble bees are not affected, you still see them, but it is very rare to see a honey bee any more. Yep, the old pavers weigh 4 pounds each so it's just a matter of taking it slow when the time comes to move them up to the job site:

Right now it's slow just rototilling each layer of dirt up, shoveling it up and hauling it off to excavate for the crushed stone that goes under the bricks.

[MPH]

Thinking you need to build yourself a johnny bucket before you carry on any furture^ "shoveling it up and hauling it off"