Sunday, it was hot
Mar. 23rd, 2026 08:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickWe do not normally see 80F (26.67 in C) in March. That's not typical March weather. Today, today is typical March weather: overcast, somewhat damp, 51F (11C). That's March. But on Sunday, mid-June came for a brief visit.
I did some barberry abatement (newer readers may not be aware of my hatred for Japanese Barberry, so here is an illustrated discussion of the barberry problem) on Sunday, 400+ smol barberry removed from the section pictured in the link at the very bottom of that page. Most were 1 or 2 year plants coming up from the seed bank in the soil. I took all the large plants out during Covid for, basically, something to do.
Barberry is an early spring project.
In early spring, barberry is green before almost everything else. This makes it very easy to see.
In early spring, the ground is soft and wet. The crown-rooted barberry pulls out of the ground fairly easily this time of year.
In early spring, it is not too hot to wear the layers of clothing and glubs needed to protect you from the needle sharp spines of the barberry.
In early spring, nothing is happening in the garden and the grass does not need to be cut and the horse is covered in a layer of 1" thick hair and cannot work very hard. There's not a lot else to do this time of year, so there is time for barberry.
In early spring, it's light after work and so one can go out and abate barberry and thereby work on spring fitness in a go at your own pace speed while doing something productive.
I also went over and shed out some of the winter fur off my horse. He hadn't been dropping much hair until this past week but he does seem to be on board with the program now. He still has more than half his winter coat to go, but at least he's underway with the shed now. Finnegan doesn't get as much of a winter coat as Bird does, but he also dropped handsfull of fur.
I also (during the heat of the day) finished watching the Netflix-available Grantchester (vicar solving murders and being unhappy, kinda) while spinning and knitting. In spinning, I filled up a bobbin of brown single, need to make two bobbins of white single to go with it. In knitting, I managed about 2/3 of another square.
I did some barberry abatement (newer readers may not be aware of my hatred for Japanese Barberry, so here is an illustrated discussion of the barberry problem) on Sunday, 400+ smol barberry removed from the section pictured in the link at the very bottom of that page. Most were 1 or 2 year plants coming up from the seed bank in the soil. I took all the large plants out during Covid for, basically, something to do.
Barberry is an early spring project.
In early spring, barberry is green before almost everything else. This makes it very easy to see.
In early spring, the ground is soft and wet. The crown-rooted barberry pulls out of the ground fairly easily this time of year.
In early spring, it is not too hot to wear the layers of clothing and glubs needed to protect you from the needle sharp spines of the barberry.
In early spring, nothing is happening in the garden and the grass does not need to be cut and the horse is covered in a layer of 1" thick hair and cannot work very hard. There's not a lot else to do this time of year, so there is time for barberry.
In early spring, it's light after work and so one can go out and abate barberry and thereby work on spring fitness in a go at your own pace speed while doing something productive.
I also went over and shed out some of the winter fur off my horse. He hadn't been dropping much hair until this past week but he does seem to be on board with the program now. He still has more than half his winter coat to go, but at least he's underway with the shed now. Finnegan doesn't get as much of a winter coat as Bird does, but he also dropped handsfull of fur.
I also (during the heat of the day) finished watching the Netflix-available Grantchester (vicar solving murders and being unhappy, kinda) while spinning and knitting. In spinning, I filled up a bobbin of brown single, need to make two bobbins of white single to go with it. In knitting, I managed about 2/3 of another square.
