| Current mood: |  content |
| Entry tags: | garden |
I got yer stimulus package right here....
Man, I wish I had a dirtier post to go with that title.
I decided to do some yard work today. The lawn needed serious mowing. Well, not so much in the front, the moss has pretty much destroyed my front yard, but the back was horribly long.
So I dug out my ancient mower, which probably has about 1 of its original 3.5 horsepower left in it now, removed the blade and sharpened it, then reinstalled it. I really should have balanced the blade, because man does that mower shake....
In any case, I managed to get it all cut, taking an extra half tank of gas to deal with the overgrowth in the back. I definitely got a bit of sun, as my reddening noggin tells me. I didn't feel like getting out the blower to push all the clippings into the blackberries. I'll probably do that tomorrow.
Then I decided to pay a little attention to the garden plot. I really need to get it ready for planting. The seedlings are getting a bit too big to keep indoors any more. I've been dithering about whether to buy more steer manure and rent the big rototiller again. I just don't like the whole rental business and the timelines associated with returning the gear. Still, it would have been cheaper than what I did next.
So there I was, raking the end of the bed where the carrots were, trying to smooth it out, and realizing just how hard-packed the path from last season was, and pulling out a lot of rocks. I decided that I did need a tiller. I decided to go look at what the stores had in the way of a Mantis or something. I didn't want to spend too much.
Well, they're all a lot more expensive than I thought. Even the smallest dedicated tiller was almost $300. But then I was looking at the gas-powered trimmers, and all the accessories you can get for them. And I started doing a little math, and then I remembered I had a coupon at home for $25 off a purchase of $250 or more. I did take the time to comparison shop at Wal-Mart, but Lowes had the advantage with the coupon, and they had a special on the low-end Troy-Built trimmer (They're all the same 31cc motor, but the trimmer heads are different). I managed to JUST hit $250 with the trimmer, the tiller attachment, and an edger, plus a new gas can for the two-cycle mix. (Okay, and another $2 for some 2-cycle oil). The coupon basically covered the sales tax.
The tiller and edger are not actually "Troy-Built" but they fit. In fact, apparently ALL the manufacturers adhere to the same standard. And there must be some association, since the manual for the tiller had some of the same illustrations as the manual for the trimmer....
As it turns out, I could justify all this, since I DID need to do some trimming, and my ancient little electric string trimmer is certainly not up to the job (I bought that back when I got the Vancouver house, along with my mower). I tell you, It was a real Tim Allen moment when I got the thing started and saw what it could do. And the less said about my manual push-edger, the better. It was reasonable in Vancouver, where I had no sidewalks, just a short driveway that needed the occasional trim, but it doesn't work so well here.
Anyway, with the four hundred and some-odd dollars that I should be getting this week, the expense is more than covered.
And tomorrow I'll be edging the sidewalks and driveway and getting the bed ready to plant. And I'll be wearing a hat this time.
Unless it rains.
(Man, I'm getting so mundane lately)
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mauser) wrote,
