I spent 2 hours cutting grass with the scythe, pulling weeds and pruning bushes in the garden Friday. The grass was 1-3 feet tall back there and just getting out of hand. Mackenzie was kind enough to sleep through the entire thing which allowed me to really get down to business. I was covered in sweat when I was finished and not only from the slighty warm temps! I couldn’t believe how sore I was for about 2 days – all the up and down action plus swinging the scythe and using garden sheers to cut grass elsewhere. Few people remind you just how physical work in the garden really is – but I’m very pleased with the progress. And hopefully I can invest a hour or two every week now to maintain the beast before it gets out of control again.  It was really starting to look wild back there so at least now I don’t have to dread running into our neighbors who see that garden all the time.

We also harvested a few handfuls of raspberries and strawberries. There are more berries to be harvested, but we got a bit worn out by the chore. As much as I enjoy the fruits of our labor in the garden, harvesting can be very tedious. And with a baby strapped to your belly, picking strawberries is just not fun; especially with all the up and down action.

One of our main problems when it comes to harvesting is that we never have baskets nearby and sometimes even lack the tools we need to get the job done (like knives for cutting thick stems) . Carrying everything back and forth from the kitchen in the house to the garden is just terrible, especially since I’m usually carrying Mack as well. So when I saw this gardening bench for harvest time in a Mother Earth News article, it got me thinking.

I know, like we need yet another project, right? But something like this is really quite brilliant. What I would ideally want is a closed in space for baskets so they don’t get wet in the rain…or a place in our garden where we could protect the table from the elements. And a drawer to stash knives and other small hand tools in would be a must. An old sink or bucket is recommended for giving an initial rinse to veggies. When you’re finished, the water can be used for your plants and the dirt sludge you collect can be thrown on your compost pile. Or you hook up a hose to the sink and let it run wherever else you like. The article also suggested keeping a cooler or ice chest in the garden with you during harvest, loaded with ice packs (or ziploc bags filled with water, laid on their side and frozen) to keep everything cold and fresh while you continue harvest during the day. This saves you time going back and forth to the house where you might also get sidetracked from the task!

Just a little food for my thoughts. Like I said, not on the top of the projects list anytime soon. Instead we’re finally going to start working on our outdoor kitchen so we don’t have to heat up our house when it’s time to start canning. The potato fields are slowly starting to turn yellow which means they spuds are almost ready…and lots of other veggies will be growing and ripening as well. We certainly don’t want to be building this when we should be harvesting so we better get going finally.