Not a fan of the Cleavers

We're not talking about Ward, June, Wally and The Beaver, but rather cleavers-- the weed.  Today is gardening day.  I have taken to weeding the worst area of the garden first.  It involved field grass (how the heck did that get in there) and cleavers.  Last year I tried to avoid the cleavers.  I didn't know what they were.

They set seed.

The seed got all over me.

They were like little velcro balls.

They were not fun.

The cleavers themselves also stuck straight to my skin.  Ouch.

So I dealt with the cleavers this year a bit earlier.  I also pulled the field grass, guild over the ground (that's what Hubs calls it, but I didn't find it on a search), Pennsylvania Bitter Cress, dandelions (in the beds and not in the yard), pulled the ivy away from the house and trimmed it back, trimmed back the attack bramble-type berry thing that the neighbor really wants to be rid of (with his blessing), trimmed back the butterfly bushes (one was over 10' tall) and hauled all of that to the tree lawn and discovered that the butterfly weed that I purchased last year for not-so-terribly-cheap did NOT come back.

Drat.

K and I made a gallon of environmentally friendly weed killer that I had pinned to my Gardening Goodness board.  I found the recipe on Pinterest and though it is listed as organic, it doesn't specifically use organic ingredients.  I used the following:

1 gallon of white vinegar
2 cups of epsom salts
1/4 cup of Murphy's Oil Soap (They called for dish soap, but Murphy's is vegetable based and 98% naturally derived ingredients.  I thought it would be better than Dawn.)

We mixed it directly in the hand pump sprayer/applicator that I have.  K wanted to apply it and since it wasn't something that would make her grow another beautiful green eye, I let her have at it.  Though it has only been about 9 hours, I can tell you that the weeds have started dying out.  The particularly deep-rooted guys, she felt like she should hit one more time.  We'll give a report of how it went.

I went on my chemical-free feeding and applied coffee grounds, epsom salts and baking soda to the beds.  (Baking soda applied to the areas where the tomatoes will be planted.)

I climbed the ladder and tried the best I could to trim the deadness off of the crab apple.  I truly do need a taller ladder.  The drought was particularly hard on the aged tree and she's beginning to show it.

In between church and the soccer field, I'll be seeing how much more I can get done in the gardens tomorrow.  I'd like to get the collards planted for Spike.  He loves them.  He'll be happy to have them once again.

I have a feeling that I'll be having a difficult time moving tomorrow.  Advil-- take me away!  :)

Have a great night!