During the summer, Joe and I took about a week to clean up the grape/blackberry mess we had growing in the back yard. We would get up early in the morning and work until it got too hot. Sometimes, even though Joe didn't really care for it, we would go back once the weather cooled off.
This was really hard work! We bought leather gloves, long, sharp clippers, and pads to sit on. We decided at the beginning to call it our "war". We had daily battles. Sometime we would win,and other times we would loose. The blackberry stickers were mean and revengeful. We would start out by cutting a "cave" into the branches and working from underneath the vines.
Soon what seemed hopeless began to seem hopeful!
Joe was my "mercenary soldier." He would get paid in hamburgers and Cafe Rio lunches. I had the determination in the project and Joe added the muscle. Between the two of us, the grapes and blackberries didn't stand a chance.
We took about 4 truck loads of brush to the city dump before we could really declare that we had won the war.
Next year, I plan on planting some vegetables and some perennial flowers or herbs up here.
Battling the blackberries and grapes will be a continuous effort every year. My plan is to not let it go for 10 years like I did last time.
The picture below is the "after" picture.
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