Today we started work on our new vegetable garden. We refer to it as the View Patch, because it commands an astonishing view of the Cascade mountains and Lake Washington. As usual, we’re starting out with a space largely covered in blackberry bushes and creeping buttercup. I spied some horsetail in there too. So we’ll have to start off with some very hardy vegetables to beat back those weeds. Lots of potatoes and squash should do the trick.
It’s not quite as bad as it sounds. There’s a nice patch that was previously cultivated by a neighbor. And we should be able to get chicken manure from that neighbor too, which will be perfect for nitrogen-hogging plants like corn and squash.
We made great progress today. It’s very satisfying to whack down those blackberries. And I got to wield my new kama sickle that I purchased only yesterday. It turns out to be the perfect tool for the job: it easily cuts all but the very thickest canes, as well as smaller brush, dead grass, and weeds. One more round of clearing and we should be able to move on to digging and planting.
