It’s BAAACCKKKKKKK!!

ARGGHHHHH! The bermuda is sprouting again! It’s been SIX weeks since I last sprayed and subsequently tilled up the grass, scrapped off the top 3 inches of soil and grass – AND IT IS GROWING BACK!

I have been watering the dirt to keep down the dust and because one of the border gardens is on the same valve. The sprinkler heads are in the same location they were when there was grass. That’s OK as the cover crop will need watering.

But the grass is coming back ALREADY! It is a little different this time. They must be sprouting from seed, because when I pull them up they are not deeply rooted or attached to the stolen. They have fine hair-like roots. And there are probably two dozen blades of grass, a small enough amount I can easily pluck them out of the ground.

But the gall of that grass to even think about growing back – SO SOON! The purslane and spurge are also growing pretty wild. But I think that is all because the dirt was just perfect for seed germinating – it was clear – nothing to get in the way of the seed from making contact with the soil, settling in, and getting a nice shower ever few days. The weather is still HOT – over 100 degrees, perfect for bermuda grass! And it is ALL sun!! No shade – yet.

I am glad I have taken the time to think about what I want to do next. I am in the Permaculture Design Course (32 of 72 hours under my belt or my butt since we sit a lot) and we just had a session on rain water harvesting in the soil using a concept called Earthworks. It is the use of grading, building berms and swales to route and hold the water so it can soak in instead of running off the lot. Much more complex than that but I think you get the picture.

I was going to plant my cover crop in a few weeks, but after consulting with a few ‘permies’ (Permaculturists), I decided to get the yard graded and the Earthworks in prior to doing all of my soil remediation.

Once I have the soil amendments and microorganisms in the soil, I do not want to disturb their environment least I kill them off! Essentially that means not tilling or turn the soil over and moving it around with a shovel AFTER the cover crop has grown and been removed.

So we will be creating the Earthworks mid-October and maybe getting the seeds in – we’ll see. The more help I have doing this, the quicker I can get the seed in. I still have time on the planting calendar, so it is all good.

If you want to be part of creating the rain water harvesting Earthworks, please let me know and I will fill you in on the details!

Happy Digging,

Doreen Pollack aka THE Garden Goddess