I am totally unused to this sort of effort and I gave up at lunch before I injured my back doing something stupid while tired. I shall hopefully dig it a bit at a time over the next week. But the potatoes aren't due to go in till mid-April so I've got plenty of time to prepare. keep to the Fen Causeway
One of the difficulties I shall face in the move is that I must exchange one floating world jurisdiction for another. Fortunately the leader where I am moving is a kind of spiritual capo de capos, so, in a way, I am moving up.
Borgå is the first town I got to know in Finland, so there's an element of homecoming. It also has far more decent restaurants and more artists per hectare than even Helsinki - though they tend to represent the more crafty tradition. In summer, it is one of the best places to be, (except for the archipelago) and I am looking forward to getting the watercolours out again. You can't be me, I'm taken
This is a bit of a tribal move, since several of my closest friends and colleagues are also moving there this summer. I think 5 years of my whining about their profligate lifestyle has finally paid dividends ;-) You can't be me, I'm taken
I haven't found a place yet, but I know they are out here... You can't be me, I'm taken
So I'm aching from asking my upper legs to do lifting they don't normally do. Still, better than a bad back. keep to the Fen Causeway
A stirrup hoe:
using this tool it is possible to reach under the grassroots to the height of the stirrup cutting the roots. This will make rows of turf that are much easier to pick-up and replant or toss in the compost pile. The cutting edges have to be kept sharp, that's the downside. It is possible to find them with a wheel on the front to make it easier to use.
Another is:
This tool is about 2 feet wide with 5 foot handles to either side. Simply step on the foot bar and lever back to turn the soil. Two things:
anyway, I've done the patch for now. No more de-turfing till autumn now. keep to the Fen Causeway
The idea is to step on the tine bar like it was a shovel. Then pull towards you on the handles. The curved tines act as a lever, lifting the soil. Step back 6 inches and do it again. It's the levering action of the tool that makes things go easier and quicker ... in friable soil. (See first sentence of comment! :-)
reach under the grassroots
easier to pick-up
how much your soil is compacted
You know you're getting old when ... ;-p You can't be me, I'm taken
His views on the nubility are entirely at variance with mine. I don't think a fascination with 14 year old girls that look like your mother is entirely healthy. You can't be me, I'm taken
My daffodils are in full bloom and the forscythia is starting to bud out. The red-buds can't be far behind. We just finished a week of temperatures in the 10C-15C range and I have spent some time out doors. This has been limited by an untimely occurrence of what felt like the beginnings of an ulcer. Instead of anti-biotics for H. pylori the Dr. gave me some super anti-acids which, unfortunately have the side effects of making me feel like I am on speed, which I have always hated. While I loved weed and wine, I never knowingly did weed, whits and wine, though I loved the song by Lowell George. Things seem to be coming under control, but I am taking it easier than I otherwise would be. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
