in September 2018. Note the date as we will be having another “party”.  But we are doing prep work now. Ron has plans for 6 rows of 25 juneberry bushes.  This time we are doing what we can to get rid of the weeds before hand.  Hoping that it will make it easier when actual planting time comes.   We are not planning any more rock picking parties in the near future.

Once again we got busy with the brush hog, cutting down a strip of  the wheat.  Ron then got out the string, the measuring tape and more rebar.  He ran the tape out 200 feet and then we laid out the first row of landscape cloth.   We used more wood blocks and spikes to tar the row down.  Next we measured 10 feet sideways from the middle of each row, hammering the rebar in it at beginning and end and then ran the string along the middle of the next row.  Ron had hopes of leaving it growing between the rows, but that did not work out.  In order for us to lay the rows out with the plants being 10 feet apart, all of the wheat had to come down.

Jo and I were in charge of rolling out the cloth and it was an adventure of its own.  The wind had picked up and the cloth was just not staying nicely on the ground.  We were trying to keep the middle line lined with the string as we unrolled he cloth.  Not an easy task.  And it was hard on the backs.

After we had unrolled not only two rows on this project, but uncounted rows for the elderberries, pawpaws, pussy willows and lavender, Ron finally had a brain storm.  To run a double length of the string through the roll which would allow Jo and me to pull the roll instead of pushing it.

Of course, I came up with brilliant idea of  tying string to piece of rebar and then dropping it through the tube.

So much easier on our backs, and easier to keep it lined up.

Ron kept mowing as we went while Jo ran the string along the 200 foot length.  I tried to find some larger rocks to toss along each strip to help hold it in place .  Surprisingly, not have much luck.  Lots of little ones though.  They won’t do much good.

We ran out of steam and long enough pieces of cloth at same time.   Three rows done but the next row will have to be done piecemeal (I am not about to waste anything in this project) and then we will have to order some more.

So much for our stakes and rocks.  The wind just twisted the cloth into knots.  It was a job and a half to get it laid back out correctly and then we had to get more stakes hammered in.  Those staples that are supposedly designed for use with landscape cloth are less than useful. They either refuse to go into our rocky ground or simply pull out when the wind get under the cloth.

We got the fourth row set up and we are done for now.  Ron has to order more cloth and buy more stakes and then drill out more holes in his blocks of wood.  Did I mention that those blocks are the same ones that he and brother in law Doug spent hours cutting out so he could use them a “mulch” for a ginseng growing attempt.  That did not work out so well but luckily he has found another use for them.  I am rubbing off on the man.  Frugal is the best way to go.