Our task today was to clear the overgrown weeds from the row of taro we planted in last week. As in, hack at this shit with a pick ax.
Lucky for me there were only 3 axes so I took a hand pick to the more managable weeds surrounding the plants, which is challenging in it's own right because of how small and hidden some of these plants were among the weeds. Long beans and okra are also growing intermittenly throughout the taro and can be viney.... JUST LIKE SOME OF THE WEEDS WE'RE PULLING. Arghgmanmnamn.
I am learning more and more to be conscious of the time and energy it takes for a farmer to manage and educate volunteers. Despite having the best intentions we can sometimes plant a seed too deep or too shallow resulting in no sprouting, or we can pull out the very plant we are trying to save from the weeds. Does the good balance out with the mistakes if some tasks get done 7 x as fast than it would have without the volunteers?? Well, Ted hasn't asked us not to come back yet!