Weeding 1/3 of our new GHGP plot: before and after pix

R and I drove over to our new garden plot in the UCSB Greenhouse and Garden Project area to commence weeding. Recall in an earlier post how I mentioned that our plot choices were limited, and we ended up taking the larger but more riddled with weeds plot.


GHGP plot before weeding, left

Bermuda grass and other ugly invasive plants were running ramping throughout the plot, and the ragweeds were as tall as we were. We did find a weed that we think may have been a native morning glory, so we left that alone.


GHGP plot before weeding, center

There was also an abandoned pipe, black plastic sheets, and a beer can strewn around the plot, along with weeds that appeared to have been ripped out and thrown in our plot.

Due to the enormity of the task ahead of us, we decided to only weed the first 1/3 of the plot. So we first soaked the area to weed with water.


GHGP plot before weeding, right

Then, we knelt down to rip out the weeds, roots and all. There were all sorts of insects and pests in the plot. R was enchanted with an evil looking fuzzy grey and orange caterpillar.

Update: R found out this is a Saltmarsh Caterpillar, related to the Woolly Bear Caterpillar.


GHGP plot: caterpillar unearthed during weeding, top view

She allowed it to crawl all over her gloved hands. Blech!


GHGP plot: caterpillar unearthed, inching over R's gloved hand

R even worried about where she should put it. She didn't want to set it in someone's garden plot and have it decimate his prized plants, so she walked a distance before setting it in some weedy growth.


GHGP plot: another lovely caterpillar pic

I hope that that caterpillar doesn't come back as a moth that lays tons and tons of eggs in the GHGP area.


GHGP plot: far pic of caterpillar

After nearly 1.5 hours of weeding by hand, we had mostly cleared out the front 1/3 of the plot. We knew that this would only be the first bout of weeding, since we were unable to rip out all the roots, but we felt we had made significant progress.


GHGP plot: plot after hand weeding, left

Next, we went to get shovels to remove weeds who had been too deeply rooted for us tear out of the soil, to turn over the earth, and to break up packed clods of soil.


GHGP plot: plot after weeding, center

As we weeded, we saw some youngish guys, likely UCSB undergraduates, stop by their garden plot and rave about their sunflowers, tomatoes, etc. It was disconcerting, to say the least.


GHGP plot: plot after weeding, right

But then I remembered hearing about a class crosslisted under several departments, such as sociology and environmental science, that required students to maintain a garden plot of their own and keep a journal of their progress.


GHGP plot: plot after hoeing / shoveling, left

It took us an additional half hour to finish turning the earth and removing our weeds. Look how much cleaner our plot is now.


GHGP plot: plot after hoeing/shoveling, center

By this time, there were more ladies coming in to work on their own garden plots. We put away the shovels in the locked toolshed, then washed up a bit.


GHGP plot: plot after hoeing / shoveling, right

Since we were feeling peckish, R and I drove to the nearby Chili's in Camino Real Marketplace for lunch. Then, R dropped me off at my place and sailed away into the sunset in the Rusty Barnacle.

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GHGP plot: long pic of plot before weeding

I am including these three pictures to compare how different the first 1/3 of our GHGP plot looks.


GHGP plot: long pic of plot after hand-weeding

Although it looks like we made little real progress, let me assure you this was all certifiably exhausting work. R and I think this plot has been left unworked for more than a year.


GHGP plot: long pic of plot after hoeing/shoveling

Certainly none of the other plots looked as bad or were as overgrown, but we think it has potential. We look forward to planting our seed potatoes once they arrive and we finish weeding!