Both my wife and I are in a bit of a lull period for the next month and a bit... no crazy amounts of music to learn and no travelling for me. That will all pick up again from mid November. That means that we both have a good amount of time during the day to devote to our garden! We still have bits and pieces of work throughout the week still, but we can both do several hours each day in the yard... which means that we can try and get on top of it before the horrible weeds take over!
So first up was a quick trip to the garden supply store to stock up on a few bags of things... mostly more gypsum and soil improve for me to stir into the clay... and several bags of clean mulch to use on the areas nearer to the house. Our giant pile of mulch is all used on the outer areas of the garden... and so, we will have to wait until we have another tree or two taken out before we can start on that again!
Some of the weeds have definitely gotten a head start on us... with the recent heavy rainfalls and the following sunny weather, it has been a great time for everything to grow. So, we see that our herbs and recent plantings have started to sprout quite a bit... but it also does mean that all the weeds have taken the opportunity to start growing whilst we were distracted with music work.
Of particular annoyance is this stickyweed... and it lives up to its name, and it sticks to all your clothing! It grows fast, and shoots runners out all over the place... it starts choking all the other plants nearby as well. It has an extensive root network, so I think that we will be tackling this little bastard for quite a few years to come! Next year, we will try to get on top of it before it starts to grow so strongly... and this coming few months through the summer I'm going to make sure to try to disrupt the root network as soon as it pops up. This feels like it is going to be like the blackberry struggle all over again!
Meanwhile, I finally destroyed one of my garden tools... a second hand pitchfork that I was using to turn the clay and rock soil. Sadly, I tried to lever out one heavy rock too many... and the outermost tine bent backwards. Unfortunately, this does mean that it is essentially unusable for digging into the ground, as that backwards bend does interfere and hit the ground before the other tines.
Still, with a little help from a next door neighbour, we were able to bend the tine back into line.. but it is still weaker than before. So, I have a new pitchfork, and this will be used for lighter jobs like moving mulch. No more clay earths for this one!
I'm still astounded by the amount of life that lies both in the ground litter and the earth itself... most of it is really quite little insects that run and scatter as soon as they are uncovered. Lots of worms as well... and the birds are constantly in the garden feeding as soon as we have turned the earth! I think that they have come to realise that they are in for a feast when there are people out in the garden! This large grub was an unusual one though... it was deep in the ground, and I do wonder if it is either a witchety grub... or a woodworm. Hoepfully the former...
I have started to accumulate quite a nice collection of regular hand tools... but augmented by a few power tools. This whipper-snipper is a nice addition that I picked up recently... this handles that long grass that has grown up in the back quite easily... and I've come to really enjoy using this little thing! Lots more fun than just using a lawn mower!
... ha ha! Slash grass! I have a friend and colleague who uses a scythe though... perhaps that would be EVEN MORE FUN!
I can also be found cross-posting at:
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Handy Crypto Tools
Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
GMX.io: Decentralised perpetual futures trading on Arbitrum!
Kucoin: My second choice in exchanges, many tokens listed here that you can't get on Binance!
FTX: Regulated US-based exchange with some pretty interesting and useful discounts on trading and withdrawal fees for FTT holders. Decent fiat on-ramp as well!
MXC: Listings of lots of interesting tokens that are usually only available on DEXs. Avoid high gas prices!
Huobi: One of the largest exchanges in the world, some very interesting listings and early access sales through Primelist.
Gate.io: If you are after some of the weirdest and strangest tokens, this is one of the easiest off-chain places to get them!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.
Poloniex: One of the older regulated exchanges that has come into new ownership. I used to use it quite a lot, but have since stopped.
Bitfinex: Ahhh... another oldie, but a goodie exchange. Most noted for the close affiliation with USDT and the Basic "no-KYC" tier!
