Now that the summer heat seems to have finally passed, we are taking a renewed interest in the great outdoors and working on our property.

This weekend, we cleaned out one stall of the barn so we can fill it with a hay for the winter and composted a large pile of old hay. We also cleared the vegetable garden. It felt so good to see progress outside after feeling trapped inside by the summer heat.

We discovered a few issues that we need to address. Bermuda grass is attempting to take over one of my raised vegetable beds so I am looking into an organic solution. So far, I’ve read that spreading corn gluten as a pre-emergent and spraying vinegar on the existing plants may help, but not at this time of year. At the moment, I haven’t found any solution attacking the rhizomes besides digging. 

We are also looking into a granulated rattlesnake repellent. I need to research whether it’s nontoxic, effective and cost effective. By now, the rattlesnakes are hibernating, but it would be fantastic to have some sort of a control mechanism in place by the time they re-emerge next spring. 

Today, the drizzle is keeping us inside. It’s a wonderful day for practicing piano, homeschool prep, writing and blogging, knitting and cooking.

Overall, it’s been a wonderfully peaceful and restful weekend.