What started this afternoon's adventure in the overgrown garden was knowing that the raspberries are ripe. A parishioner gave me this raspberry bush two years ago and now it is quite happy, despite the tropical-seeming weeds that have sprung up around it. So I took my macheté out with me so I could clear some of the weeds in order to find the berries. I now have a bowl full of fat, lucious raspberries to enjoy with my fruit tomorrow morning.
As for the huerto or jardin potager, it's a bit weedy. The lavender in the foreground is blooming away so every day I go out and cut some more to dry. I love it so; oddly Young Guy doesn't get as excited over it as I thought he might. Behind the lavender are the pepper plants, graciously planted by another parishioner while I was in Spain. And behind them are the exhuberent potato plants (growing so high this year!), and behind them, my beans. Oddly, only one sunflower plant came up even though I used new seeds this year.
These are the gardening implements everyone should have: an old-fashioned scythe and a good macheté. I've been scything overgrown grass for at least twenty years and find it rather relaxing in the rhythm I find as I swing the scythe. It's most satisfying to see the wheat-like grass fall. And the macheté also gives a satisfying 'ping' as I swing it at the grass. It used to be in Latin parts that every country varon/muchacho/boy would get a scythe at puberty as a sign of maturity. I am pleased to report that two weeks ago I saw women out in the fields with their machetés, wielding them just as skillfully as the men. Bravo.
5 comments:
A scythe and a macheté? Okay, those would definitely scare me! I'd be afraid to hack off a foot or arm!
Nah. Given that I have already smashed a finger with a sledge hammer chopping wood (long story) and got nicked with a chain saw bucking wood, I am not as scared about the scythe or macheté. Besides, their blades are a bit dull right now. Famous last words?
Okay, you're definitely more the outdoorsy person than I am!
When I took gardening in Bermuda (my Navy dad was stationed there) 50 years ago, they issued me a machete to help keep the banana trees free of the weeds and vines that grow so fast. Quickly, I learned that no one watched while I did this so I could wander off into the "jungle" outside the school and cut paths with my machete. I've never tried a scythe, but it looks like fun, and the motion would be good exercise and prayer.
"I've never tried a scythe, but it looks like fun, and the motion would be good exercise and prayer"
Precisely, which is why I like scything. I always think of Ghandi's prayer wheel when I do it.
Post a Comment