Pretty, But it Must Go

So there I was yesterday, preparing Chap 1 of Silent Keeper for emailing to my critique partner when the little guy runs in and shouts, ‘Dad’s taking down the fence by the garden!”

“What? Why?”

“He wants to get the Kubota in there!” Slam.

Ever the reporter, I grabbed my camera and rushed outside. I knew what he was doing – he was clearing the ridiculous amount of big yellow … weeds that took over our garden this year when we didn’t use it.

Since I’ve been concentrating on writing, I let Nelson and the boys take care of the outside work including the garden and…well...

These pics show Nelson tackling the yellow…stuff. I’m not sure what the weed is but I can find out if anyone wants to know. Anyway at one point, Nelson got off the Kubota and started looking digging around.

He finally emerged with one of the tractor seat stool. Isn't it amazing what you can find growing in a garden these days? Actually, I bought 2 of these stools at an auction for 2 bucks a piece years ago. The ‘fitted’ seats are very comfy.

Now that he's got the weeds cleared off, Nelson will rototill it. Then, the little guy and I are going to start hauling compost from the huge pile that's been sitting out back for about 5 yrs. Water drains through the garden soil so fast, we're hoping the compost will slow it down enough to benefit the plants. So by the time next spring rolls around, the garden will be ready to try again.

Has your garden or lawn ever looked like this? Have you needed equipment 'bigger' than an lawnmower or rototiller to clear it out? What was the end result?


Update:
My efriend, Katherine commented that she thought the yellow stuff might be canola - LOL - This is the view from my living room and porch windows. It's the view I see whenever I open my door and step outside. The view is 104 acres of canola growing on the organic land we rent out to a friend. And yes, people do pay money for canola (used to be called rape or rapeseed). It's an important oilseed sold around the world. I'm not sure in other parts of Canada or the US, but here on the prairies, canola oil outsells any other vegetable oil on the market for cooking and baking purposes.

Thank you Kay, for letting me brag on the qualities of this important prairie grain. And I have to admit, I actually thought it was canola as I passed the fence on a daily basis. But when I watched Nelson cut it down, I saw that instead of the leaves beeing like a large radish, they were fine and silky like dill. But that's an awful good guess, Kay.

Actually, I have a new book (so many books I even ordered one twice) that I'll give away to the first person who correctly guesses what the yellow stuff is.

Photos on a close up of the yellow stuff and a photo on the book giveaway will be up soon.

You have until the end of July (July 31st) to guess.

Update: I have a winner - Lynne over on my eHarlequin blog guessed wild mustard and she's absolutely correct.