MUDDY DAY!!!

It is 49 degrees out right now and I believe it has been 49 all day. But it is very damp and it feels much colder.

John and I worked outside from 9:45am to 4:45pm without a break. The temp was great to work outside but it is very muddy and damp. (ok truthfully I didn't start working outside until after noon)

John dug up the two horrible looking rose bushes out of the orchard.

He pulled out the posts that held up the horrible looking wire fence in the back yard and then he and I dug up the small wild plums. This wire fence has been collecting blowing leaves and keeping me from mowing for a year and a half. Now the wire is down, the scrub trees are gone.

Before:

After:

And for the first time since I have been here, I got to mow there!!! Ok I have many odd ball qualities. One is that I hate mud. Another is that I hate long grass. I don't play golf but I love the grass. So this area of my yard has always bothered me. Any area that has long grass does. (as you can see there is a little pink left on the bottom. I will replace the underpinning this year)



We also cut a large branch from the side tree. This branch prevents easy mowing. So it is now on the burn pile. We used a hand saw and after 5 minutes I got a charlie horse in my tricep. So John took over.

I also found an interesting blog. Prodigal Gardens had some practical information for gathering and using cattails. I knew from reading so many survival sites that having a cattail patch around means you won't starve. But I tried to dig the roots last fall and just found it too labor intensive. So when she talked about the shoots being edible and tasting like cucumber, I decided to see for myself. Since I already had my mud boots on what the heck.

So John and I went down to the pond and the shoots are just about a foot high. They pull straight up out of a pocket. The bottom part is light green or almost white and that part does taste like cucmber but John says it tastes like lettuce.



I cut off the lower portion of each leaf and put it in a box in the frig. Tomorrow I am going to steam these and serve them with dinner with an herb butter sauce.



John worked very hard and although I believe he is beginning to hate mud too, he never lost his smile while he was working. I am lucky to have such a willing worker.