Plants or Weeds, Friends or Foes, It’s A Fine Line

Returning to Indiana always means work, work, and more work at the ol’ homestead.  It might seem that we live in the middle of no-where, but actually the house sits on a half-acre lot in a “popcorn” subdivision with 200+ homes.   And yet, we have a cornfield across the street and a variety of beasts who visit the yard. 

The joy of living behind the corncob curtain also includes varied and plentiful plant life.  While easily not the same threat as the animals, plants around our house seem to be taking over.  They’re just more subtle about it.  I also think that the plants are in cahoots with the beasts, although I’m not sure what benefits the plants get from these relationships, other than the occasional “fertilizer”.  However, from the growth I’ve seen, the plants hardly need anything from the beasts.   

Each year, we do battle with an area I’ve come to call “Grey Gardens”.  We have a large square area (approximately 20x20) that John and Matt developed as a little wildlife area with a pond.  What were we thinking?  Talk about an engraved invitation to every four-legged beast as well as no-legged ones (i.e. snakes) in west central Indiana!!  In our absence the plants, weeds, etc. grow to about seven feet.  The growth also includes what might be a super-nova strain of poison ivy.  The job of clearing out Grey Gardens amounts to one dressing up in a haz-mat suit and firing up the chainsaw to chop it to the ground.  The area is then christened with copious amounts of Roundup but it’s all for naught.  We must have super soil or “franken-plants” since each year the plants enjoy a re-birth and grow just as tall as in previous years.   It’s so ironic, given that I can’t get grass to grow on several bald spots in the yard, despite repeated plantings!  

There is always bushes to trim, branches to clip, gutters to clean (yes, I’m still getting up on the roof to do this).   “I’ll bet the leaves are just beautiful during the fall”.  Ah, yes, but too bad they don’t stay on the trees!  Leaves are a BIG job made worse by the fact that we can’t burn them and no city/county service will remove them.  I haven’t heard of leaves being used in pies or other Indiana food favorites that I’m still learning about.  So, we hire a service to pick up the leaves and haul them away.  If only I could burn them; perhaps I could turn “Grey Gardens” into a burn pit!!  If only…    

Meanwhile, as I took my walk along the perimeter, I spotted a newcomer to the yard.  Right next to the house, could this be CORN???