It's a huge job - the lawn, that is - and J. and I are working together. If we had a weed whacker, it might go more quickly; but something in me resists. The noise pollution, the gas-power (I'm looking into cordless electric ones), it feels like high impact where lo-impact might be do-able. I pulled a lot of the taller weeds out by the roots; it will take the entire fall season probably to get them all.
It's late season now, so most of the veges have done all the work they're going to do. I harvested a row of beets - tiny 2-inch guys that were supposed to get to more like 3-4 inches - and made a yummy beet & goat cheese salad (boy, lots of investment for ONE salad). Am looking forward to sauteeing the greens. Also have a couple of tomatoes just about ready to drop, and a yellow squash that should be sizable by next week. No luck at all with eggplant. The green beans have done reasonably well, but not abundant by any means; the chili peppers don't seem to be turning red. The lettuces are finishing up, and I've planted a new crop of greens for fall, along with snap peas and spinach. Mostly, it's clear that my garden does not get enough sun, and that a lot of the plants needed to be staked or supported in some way. I'm scoping out alternate/additional sites for next year, and I guess I should get smarter about supports. (Structural engineer I am not.)
Driving around the area, I am amazed by the size and scope of people's gardens. Many of these are summer homes, and I can't help but wonder who does all the work, how they manage to plant and maintain so much. It can really be a full-time job. Do they have hired gardeners do it for them? Or, more likely, they've been building their gardens for many many years. Gardening is nothing if not a supreme exercise in patience, learning, and persistence.
Speaking of huge gardens, we stopped at a local CSA farm / nursery on the way back to the city. I had actually learned of it at the farmer's market, in Manhattan. So strange, meeting the woman who runs the nursery in the middle of an urban park, then visiting her farm in the country, then asking her to label two butterfly bushes to bring with her to the city so I can pick them up during the week. City and country are forging ties like this more and more, it seems.
The butterfly bushes are for the Bronx. Our landlord is working on the backyard fencing, and hopefully will clear out the concrete and lay down some mulch. K. from next door is going to have a look and make some recommendations, maybe even donate some end-of-year inventory from the garden center nearby where he works. In the meantime, I'm working on gathering up a few plants that might survive the industrial climate... better than Ella did.
Her roots seem to have dried out a bit (they were soggy and a little moldy), but I'm not sure if there's life left in there. I'll keep tending to her, though; you just never know.
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