Life on the Farm: Pulling up poison ivy is a blast!
It was raining Tuesday while I worked in the mess of the greenhouse and spent the next three days in there. I am sheet mulching two-thirds of the east side of the greenhouse to try to control the Bermuda grass that has crept in.
I got access to some real, heavy-duty cardboard about 3/4 inch thick in 8-by-12-foot sheets, so it goes pretty fast. Also removing poison ivy that has crept under the greenhouse frame in the back quarter of the greenhouse on the northwest side.
Now that is a lot of fun! Rubber boots up to my knees, rubber gloves up past my elbows, and a long-sleeve shirt. Even though it was nice outside, it was in the 80s in the greenhouse even with both big fans running.
I am going through and clipping all the upright vines with a hedge trimmer, raking them into an area to be sheet mulched, then pulling up the vines anchored to the landscape fabric and dragging them out to the edge of the woods. It’s a hoot!
Dean Mullis writes from Laughing Owl Farm in Richfield.
This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Life on the Farm: Pulling up poison ivy is a blast!."