Plucking Thistles

One great way to hunker in place is not letting the yard thistles do the same. Apparently they grow very very well down here. Taking out the pine tree a couple years back and disturbing the soil to level it back out, plus spreading the rocks around which expose more soil to sun and seeds, all have initiated cycles of weed crops. The spreading spurges we were used to. Their tiny flowers are attractive, tending to dissuade one from killing them until it's too late to prevent them reseeding their plot and four-fold more. So, oops, none of that please. We even know to wear good gloves to discourage the irate ants who lose their shade canopies when you pluck out the spurges and who manage a painful pinch.

Those same gloves work well on the thistles. Up to a point. After twenty minutes, I guarantee one will work its way to your skin. I also guarantee you'll never find it to remove it. But the issues come together, since it seems that the thistles and spurges may have a symbiotic arrangement of some sort. Or maybe it's just coincidence that the thistles seem to always grow out of a spurge plant. Who knows? I'm not bothering to research it. Not that stir crazy yet. Just because saguaros only grow in the shade of a tree doesn't mean it works with these two.

With recent rains, 2 1/2 inches in 4 days, the soil is loose and the thistles come up reasonably well. You have to be careful to dig the stones out from around them with your gloved fingers so you can grab their base all the way at the bottom, or they simply break.

Did that. Several times.

Fortunately, thistles finally succumb to the charms of Round Up. Unfortunately, they still need to be removed, and in their dead/rotting state, that's pretty impossible. All in all, 20 minutes of that kind of yard work is my limit. Two day's of it (aka 40 minutes) fairly well cleans the thistles (only) out of the yard, making space for the newest babies to follow. But hey, there will be more to do before hunkering ends.

Rain is expected again tomorrow.