Halfway There

After forty-eight noncontiguous hours of regulation spring, July arrived in Minnesota. Three weeks ago at the farm, hypothermia was a real possibility.

There are few reliabilities in farming, but this is one: nothing will invite the wind to kick up like spending an afternoon wrestling large aerodynamic objects into place. Which was the case last Sunday. Half of this year’s bean field is now covered with 150’ sections of heavy landscape tarps that I use for preseason weed control. Getting there, however, required gripping one corner of a tarp while the rest of it tried to flap its way to freedom.

There was some question whether the afternoon would involve parasailing.

A wind-caught tarp doesn’t just move out of position, it twists up on itself. You can achieve a similar effect by tearing off a long piece of Saran wrap and rolling it between your hands. (Bonus points if you can pick it apart.)

It’s worth the effort because this method all but eliminates annual weeds. The black fabric warms the underlying soil, encouraging weed seeds to sprout. They do, and then they die for lack of light.

Fair warning: if your weekend plans involve the out of doors, I’m returning to the farm on Sunday to again tempt the winds of fate.

Speaking of Sunday, consider staying up to catch the Super Flower Blood Moon total lunar eclipse. That’s really its name. Super refers to the apparent larger size of the moon because it’s especially close to the Earth, blood is for the reddish hue the moon takes on at totality, and flower is for May. The show begins around 9:30 p.m.

Have a marvelous week.