Toil in the soil

I spent two – just two – very hard hours in the garden yesterday, pulling weeds, dismantling the [ineffective] fence and pulling up tomato stakes. I was hot, tired, sweaty, dirty and itchy when I finished.

And I didn't even get the tiller out of the shed. You've heard the expression "too wet to plow," right? Well, it was! And I was more than a little grateful, because two hours in the fall garden is quite enough, thankyouverymuch.

Self-seeded cilantro makes me happy.

(While I'd love to have a year-'round garden and while I envy those who pull kale and chard from their back yards in December, I'm apparently not there yet. Although the cilantro has self-seeded, and if I can make fresh pico de gallo sometime this fall I'll be a happy farmer. And chip eater.)

I was hungry when I finished, but a shower trumped food. There are many more bugs in late summer than spring, and I felt like I was crawling with critters. The shower helped. A lot. Much more than lunch would have.

As I pulled weeds around a couple of onions, I noticed more onions. And more. And ended up finding an entire row of walking onions that I didn't even know was there. I'll still plant more, but it's nice to know that Mother Nature has given me a head start. Also? I'm a little embarrassed at finding them under all those weeds.

More proof that I'm not not not a fall gardener.

For Diandra, here's a primer on Amish culture. It can't be conclusive, however, because each community makes its own rules. Many of our neighbors moved here from Kentucky, and when they lived there they were allowed to smoke tobacco. With the move to West Virginia, apparently the elder decided to have a new no-smoking policy. (I say apparently because I don't know if it's a community vote or if the elder decides for everyone.)

At any rate, I'm glad they're here. They are peace-loving, hard-working, generous and stable.

And they make good donuts.