I’m allergic to bees, wasps, and hornets (I’ve been to the ER thrice), so there’s a point in the mid-summer where I give up garden maintenance for everything but the Victory Garden to Mother Nature. Usually by mid-September it’s safe to get back out in the dirt, and one of the first things that gets my attention are the weeds. Last fall, we traveled a bunch and didn’t put out new mulch, so this fall everything’s particularly hairy. But that’s okay because one of my very favorite things to do is edge out the garden beds. I am merciless in my approach, one that I perfected twenty years ago: I dig it out with my shovel. Through the years my husband has tried to use attachments for his mower or tractor, or the weed wacker; none of it works like the spade.






The remnants of Hurricane Sally are coming through today and tomorrow, so I’ll order a truck of mulch from my man Peanut to be delivered next week. I’ll post photos of the finished product.