Today found me in a determined frame of mind to get my little garden plot ready for the fall/winter crop.
Since June, I've ignored the weeds playing happily alongside the squash and cucumbers, but I draw the line at letting weeds compete with the new seedlings that need to get started. One thing or another has kept me from getting to the garden this week, so I finally decided that today had to be the day. Looking at the forecast, I quaked in my boots a bit at the predicted temp of 102 F, but I made plans to get out there at 6:30 in the morning and attack it before the sun got the better of me. (Rachel doesn't like weeds and she doesn't like hot weather. The two combined make a formidable foe!)
Well, after a restless night of sleep, the 6:30 alarm was put back to sleep until 7:45, at which point I had to get ready and leave for a morning appointment. I got back home at 9:30--the outside temperature was already 80 degrees F--but refused to put off the task until another day. I donned a tank top, shorts, and a hat, and grabbed the shovel.
There was my first mistake. Between donning the tank top and grabbing the shovel, I should have applied sunscreen. Little did I know...
I've talked about my nemesis Bermuda grass in a previous post. Basically, my garden plot is a dug-out section of the lawn: an island of dirt surrounded on four sides by a sea of the Bermuda scourge. It's a type of grass that spreads by seeds, roots, and trailing stems. (Yeah.) Over the course of the last six months, nature took its course and the grass infected the garden.
My goal for today was to cleanse the grass out, work a fresh batch of compost in, and plant several rows of new vegetable seeds. Two hours of work maybe? Done by noon, the heat wouldn't be too bad. Doable.
Four Hours, a Palm Blister, Lobster-red Shoulders, and a Borderline Heatstroke later, I'd finally gotten the grass out and the compost in. Panting and shaking, I dragged the garden tools off the lawn and basically crawled into a cold shower, where I stayed a good long time.
Jay was very sweet, bringing me cold drinks and rubbing aloe vera gel on my blazing shoulders. By this evening I had recovered most of the way, in time to savor the meal Jay bought me of a delicious, calorie-crammed burger with fries and iced tea on the side.
Unfortunately, the iced tea was mistake number two. I'm a caffeine lightweight, but didn't even consider that when downing the large glass of tea at 6 p.m. Now it's 1 a.m. and I'm as awake as ever. The complication is, I have to be out of my house again at 7 a.m. tomorrow--er, today--for another (unrelated) outdoor project I'm doing.
Naturally, the forecast high for the day is a grand 106 degrees F. I'm already failing at getting enough sleep, but I'm determined not to fail in other areas. Shade. Sunscreen. Being done and indoors by 1 p.m. And not pulling one single weed.
Say, is it hot in here or is it just me? Oh, it's my shoulders. Aloe, here I come!
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