an unpleasant wilderness

an unpleasant wilderness, originally uploaded by jocelynb.

A pioneer woman update.

I’ve been pleasantly adrift from the Internet this week as I immerse myself in a giant yard project. The largest looming thing on my to do list for the past two years has been the approximately 180 square foot area between my garage and the edge of my yard. This photo shows the area as it appeared in July of last year. The house’s previous owners had dumped all kinds of crap back there — garbage, plywood, pruned branches from trees, etc. There is a huge compost bin built of rotting wood in the back left hand corner of the picture, which you can’t see because the weeds are so high they cover it completely. ALSO SHOWN! About a dozen weed trees (at the back, against and indeed growing THROUGH the fence), which completely block the sun and drop thousands of new potential weed tree seeds on my yard every summer. AND! Invasive thistles. Which are called Canada Thistle even though they are not in fact a native species. So the place is really mired in a lack of semantic organization as well as a lack of actual organization.

So this week my mom has been here, and we’ve been tackling the wilderness. We have sawed down trees, built garden beds, and carted out wheelbarrows-full of garbage and dirt full of quackgrass. A partial list of other items uncovered in the pile: drinking straws, pop can tops, McDonald’s ketchup packets; a child’s sock; 4 rubber/tennis balls; 2 strands of Christmas tinsel and one piece of rope; a Hot Wheels car; and my favourite, the winner of the garbage-pile sweepstakes, a leaf from a fake plant. SO META. Oh, and a nest full of mice. Gheeegh.

So that is where I have been. Taming the wilderness, like a pioneer woman. “After” pictures to come shortly.