Scientific Experiment and Jack and The Beanstalk

I think my neighbors are halfway afraid to come home most days, never knowing what they will find me doing next. Last year, while my next door neighbor was away in Argentina, I dug up the grass err... really weeds, between our sidewalks and replanted grass from seed. By the time they came back a month later, there was a nice green lawn growing instead of all the weeds.

This year before they left for Argentina, I decided to cover my front yard, well whatever wasn't replanted last year with black plastic to kill the grass/weeds and to germinate whatever weed seeds were in the soil, essentially sterilizing the soil.



It's been funny watching the neighbors from the community look and try to figure out just what I'm doing now! Some have even almost had accidents while driving they were craning their necks that far and long for a look. Still others walk by and stop and get a puzzled look on their faces and walk on. Only a few brave souls actually venture and ask me when they see me.



So I thought I would invent "smart a$$" answers for them, which I usually give first! LOL! I've told them that I've buried dead bodies under the plastic and I'm hoping they will decompose faster with the black plastic but to not tell anyone. I've told them that I'm conducting a scientific experiment, but didn't tell them exactly what it entailed. Most times, I just explain, which to me, should be pretty obvious, that I'm killing the grass/weeds in hopes of replanting.


So it's been almost a month now with the black plastic down...sure cuts down on the lawn mowing. I'm hoping that my patience will pay off and that all the weed seeds will have sprouted and have died. I guess I could be like most of the people that live in my neighbor and just used a bunch of chemicals to kill off this weed, then that weed, but there wouldn't have been as much fun in that, now would there have been? Not to mention exactly what all those chemicals are doing to our environment, we still don't know. Remember when DDT was thought to be ok to use? Now look at the long term effects of it's application. We are just starting to recover from them. Ok, I'll get off the soapbox now!




Anyway, it will be lots of hard work when I take the plastic up as the dead vegetation will have to be removed. Then new topsoil will be added, along with lime, some organic fertilizer and finally the grass seed.






Our neighbors also walk by and comment on our vegetable garden beds. They aren't anything really extraordinary. Just a few raised beds, with deep, rich organic soil, which grow really huge plants!


This years beans got a later start than normal as we were adding another layer of depth to the beds. As you can see they sure are making up for lost time. I sometimes think that they will just keep climbing higher and higher, just like in the story of Jack and The Beanstalk. They have climbed to the top of the trellis, then to the top of the 12' conduit pipe that the trellis is attached to and they are still looking to climb higher. Can you see the bean trendil in mid air looking for something to grab onto to? We should have beans by the end of the month as they are just starting to flower. MMMMMMM....I can't wait! Nothing like a big ole pot of ham, green beans and potatoes!