84-Lancastar Farming, Saturday, Octobar 12, 1991
On being
a farm wife ,'
-And other
hazards
Joyce Bupp
Each time, I wonder the same
thing.
“Will this be the last?”
Then a couple of sunny, warm
days combine with the cool, damp
evenings - and a quick glance out
across the lawn says it wasn’t the
last time at all.
The lawn needs mowed. Again.
Actually, mowing the lawn has
become a pleasure once more.
Recent rains and nearly-ideal
grass-growing conditions have
resurrected the stunted greenery,
after four months of bake-oven
heat and drought.
Gone are the scruffy weeds.
Rapidly vanishing are the once
widening patches of dead brown.
Laid-to-rest are the mower-blade
induced dust storms that dirtied
my contact lenses with every pass
over the grass - er, weed tops.
Even the dusting-bed holes
scratched out by Mama, Papa and
baby chickens (down to five) are
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shrinking as aggressive root sys
tems fill formerly grassless voids.
Mother Nature is reclaiming her
turf - and green, lush and velvety
it is. Tall, too, since our backyard
is one of the lowest-lying parts of
the farmstead and holds moisture
well.
So mowing takes a while, a
flawless excuse to flee the desk
and soak up a perfect October
afternoon. Because the cuttings
lay thick and must be removed, I
mow the most dense growth first.
It dries a bit while I finish the rest
and can be blown into “windrows”
like hay, cutting the raking and
gathering labor.
Some lawn mowers are
equipped with baggers for such
jobs. We have a bagger. She also
runs the mower, the rake, the
wheelbarrow
While some folks get their
bending and stretching exercise at
the health spa, we keep our bagger
fit with lawn care aerobics.
Reeaach out with the rake,
strettccchhh those muscles pulling
the grass, beennnnddddd and pick
it up.
A perfect accompaniment to the
aerobics is jogging, behind a
wheelbarrow piled with soft frag
ant clippings, to mulch the roses
or the vegetable garden. Bend and
stretch, pile and gather, rake and
push.
On this recent afternoon, the
sun’s warmth and a soft breeze
make mowing most pleasurable.
Puffy white clouds gather in
bunches in the blue sky, and slow
ly drift toward the eastern horizon.
Splotches of reddish and golden
tints among the fencerows hint at
the impending flashy foliage of
fall.
The roses struggle to make a
drought comeback, pushing out a
scattering of late but lovely blos
soms of yellow, scarlet and pink.
Fat, brown cattail heads wave
gently in a circle around the little
pond, a few already disintegrating
to seed-laden fluff drifting off
toward the meadow.
Just a few more passes and the
lawn will, at least for a day or two,
be level and low, at least passably
manicured.
Earlier, I’d thrown out of the
mower’s way a plastic truck can
vas borrowed from the bam to
cover my potted tomato plants
against overnight frost threats. As
the mower sweeps around that
comer of the lawn, the whirling
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blades snatch up a stray length of
baler twine fastened to the canvas
as a tiedown.
And in a split second the blades
suck in a big comer of the blue
plastic, stalling the machine
before I can even hit the off
switch.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid!,” taunts
a little voice in my head. Not only
is the lawn decorated with colorful
bits of blue canvas shreds, but all
that thick grass is still spread over
every inch of turf.
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Raking three times the normal
square yardage of turf helps dis
perse my frustration with me.
On an overall scale of equip
ment incidents we deal with daily,
it ranks a mere minor irritation. By
day’s end, the lawn is clean, the
canvas mess untangled and the
mower returned intact to the shed.
But, anyone need a slightly
used truck canvas? Aeration
devices already installed.
Will sell cheap.
resource management and protec
tion are encouraged to attend the
conference on Saturday, Novem
ber 2, 9 a.m.-3:15 p.m., at the
Chester County Hospital School of
Nursing, Rhoads Educational
Building, 701 E. Marshall Street,
West Chester. The registration fee
of $ 15.00 includes lunch and is due
by October 21.
For registration information and
program brochure, contact the
Chester County Cooperative
Extension at (215) 696-3500.
740 E Lincoln Av*.
Myerstown, PA 17067
(717) 866 7555
Along Rto. 422
Union County, PA
Martin Beachy, Jr.
717-966-1191
Virginia
Ron Mellinger 703-879-9958