Poppies among the vines

Grape growers around us, and around the nation, are using a lot less herbicide in their vineyards these days. I can really see the difference between now and when we first arrived in 2003. Some growers are moving toward organic growing methods, others are just using less as the government bans certain herbicides (at least from public use; I don't know what restrictions apply to agriculture). The result is more mowing and more plowing to reduce weeds. Right now, out back, there isn't much of either going on. The grasses and weeds are growing tall and I spotted these isolated poppies the other day.

A late spring morning in the vineyards.

While I'm not at all complaining, the tall grasses make it difficult for us to walk off-road with Tasha. First, the grasses get wet with morning dew or rain and our legs get soaked very quickly. So does Tahsa. Second, the tall grasses are where the ticks hang out and we need to be very careful about that, especially during warm weather when we're wearing shorts. At leash Tasha takes a flea and tick preventative. We don't have that option.

I had a successful trip to the garden center on Tuesday and found pretty much everything I went for. I arrived just after it opened and there weren't many customers yet.