The Portland weed scene (s1e02)

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So there's water falling from the sky, but don't worry.

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My weather app says it's not raining.

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So must be something else.

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The rain is actually one of the reasons I was so excited to move

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to Portland every time it rains.

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I just picture all the plants just freaking out like, yes.

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Ooh.

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Yeah, this is awesome.

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Like they just look like they're having the best time.

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So what I didn't anticipate is that the plants you put in the ground are

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not the only ones who love the rain.

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The weeds love it to.

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And they are making a very aggressive play for basically my entire garden.

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So that's what we're going to address today.

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We are weeding.

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It's not always the most glamorous part of gardening, but I have some

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strategies to make the most of it.

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So come on, let's get outside.

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getting wet, but it's not rain.

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okay.

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So let's get some existential weeding conversations out of the

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way pretty quickly first, you know, most people hate weeding.

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I hear ya.

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I think the reason people hate it is because it's an

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endless task and we hate those.

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Like it's so much better to have something that is just like great.

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That's done.

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Weeding has never finished I'll talk about about some of the strategies I personally

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have to make reading more enjoyable.

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Um, hint, it's mostly psychological sort of slight of hand,

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basically fooling yourself.

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Um, and then.

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Second thing, like really what is weeding?

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You're getting rid of plants that you don't want to be there.

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like there's no real actual scientific definition of weeds

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because they're all just plants.

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. So it's going to, up to you about what you want to get rid of and what you don't to.

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First trick for me.

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And weeding is like, just start with the most obvious thing.

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Like as soon as you step outside, just look around and be like, what needs to go.

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Uh, and so for me, the first thing that leaps to my eye is, um, almost

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these waist high nettle looking things with sweet little yellow flowers that

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have sprung up underneath my makeup.

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So we're going to start there.

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and.

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As soon as you start the task, we'll just kind of like take, take you away with it.

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say, like, okay, for the next 45 minutes, I'm just going to hang out in my garden.

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I'm going to enjoy the sunshine and.

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Just take out all the plants that are kind of ruining my plan or making it

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inhospitable for the plants that I've invited to the party to live peacefully.

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a lot of times I like to.

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Call somebody, uh, when I'm waiting and then, because this is not an

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intellectual enterprise by any stretch.

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So you can be running your mouth while you're lifting plates for the ground.

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Um, and it's kinda nice cause it's, you know, you're outside, you're pretty

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relaxed, but your hands are busy.

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So it makes for good chatting.

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So that chatting tip actually brings up something for me that I've been meaning

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to talk with you guys about, which is that I'm going to put my mom on the show.

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Um, my mom and I talk about lots of stuff, but we will always start

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or in conversations with two things what's going on in the garden.

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And what are you eating?

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. Um, the earliest memories I have of gardening are all connected to my mom.

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So, uh, I actually talked with her about it recently just about

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like, Hey, I'm doing this thing.

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Would you join on the podcast?

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So I thought I'd share some of that here.

Mom: 00:06:33

All right.

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So tell me

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what.

Mom: 00:06:39

What is your, what are you looking for from

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me?

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It's funny because I don't really even listen to podcasts.

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I used to listen to wait, wait, don't tell me which that was hilarious,

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but then it was harder during COVID, you know, cause people were closeted.

Mom: 00:07:04

Literally it didn't have this.

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I was gonna ask, uh, we're enjoying spring and the weeds are

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enjoying spring quite a bit over here.

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So I'm going to do a lot of weeding this week.

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And I wanted to ask for weeding tips.

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So is

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this like, are we in it now?

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Yeah,

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cause I was just going to tell you,

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I do

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tend to be a lazy Wieder I'll tell you though.

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One thing that I have figured out, uh, it is to me, it's kind of that old

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kitchen time saves nine kind of thing.

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Because anything that you don't, that you don't take care of now then

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tend to have lots of little babies.

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I find myself, despite my laziness, I find myself working pretty good.

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Uh, seriously during this time of year, because it makes a huge difference.

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there's that.

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And there is also the fact that one minute weed is another man's really

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pretty flower, like dandelion.

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A lot of people absolutely hate dandelions, but they make

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good soup and they sure send up some pretty flowers, you know.

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Have you made dandelion

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soup before?

Mom: 00:08:49

Oh, heck yeah.

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When, when I was living in Germany, there were so many, um, dandelions

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sat on the playground that I made.

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All my kids pick dandelions.

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Yeah.

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How do you make that?

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What's in dandy land?

Mom: 00:09:07

Not tremendously pleased with it.

Mom: 00:09:09

I have to be because it's kind of bitter, you know, but it's

Topher: 00:09:15

been Tricia.

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What did you just make them boil weeds and water and drink?

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It sounds very punitive.

Mom: 00:09:22

I had the mom spring green, hot plates in and yeah.

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And then they came.

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Hey, Brian, good German bread and butter.

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All of those things, the desserts, the bread and butter went a lot

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faster than the dandelion soup I do,

Topher: 00:09:57

well, isn't she just the gym.

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I'm so excited.

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Have her as part of this podcast, sometimes I think

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we'll be asking her for advice.

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Like, I don't know how to do something or what her perspective, sometimes

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just chilling out, talking about gardening, seeing what's going on

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and her garden and Albuquerque.

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Um, so yeah, I don't, I've been racking my brain to think of like

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a more cogent way to talk about how we're bringing mom into the picture,

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but I couldn't figure anything out.

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So now you've met her.

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You're acquainted.

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You'll be hearing more from her.

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So heads up

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so this mysterious sprinkles I was complaining about

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earlier, pretty much dried up.

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We're getting some occasional sun shower stuff, but overall it's

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turned into a pretty nice day.

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Uh, there is actually a reason why I'm at.

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Well, it's reading besides the fact that it's raining a lot and

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probably I couldn't avoid it.

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Um, it's actually easier to weed when the ground is wet.

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Uh, cause this stuff just kind of comes out easier.

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Um, I hate waiting and dry soil cause the soccer's just kind of dig in there

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and it's much harder to get them out.

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Okay here.

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This is case in point for the dangers of weeding.

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Uh, I mean, it's basically a gardening gateway drug because I'm waiting, then

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I'm getting rid of the monster Clover kind of blocking some area of my garden bed.

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And then all of a sudden, now I'm holding a bag of micro Clover seed.

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And all of a sudden I'm planting that wasn't in the plan.

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It's a dangerous slippery.

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Give a mouse, a cookie type of situation where now suddenly I'm

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planting seeds in the ground.

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I've gone off the rails, but I things in my hand already fell.

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Let's just get this done.

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Finding Clover is great because you just sprinkle it and then

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that's kind of the end of it.

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You're not even really gardening.

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It's more like you're seasoning something pinch of Clover season with Clover today.

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Next thing, you know, I'm going to be getting in the car and go

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into home Depot or the nursery

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I'll wake up from a fugue state in Boise, Idaho, volunteering for

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some sort of utopian plant commune.

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oh, well, bless it repeated.

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I can't possibly do any more because I ran into a seat and I'm

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not going to make a shopping trip.

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So let's just call an end and, and, uh, I've got a big pile of weeds.

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Now it's going to go in the compost and it starting to look like it's

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getting serious about rain again.

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And even if that weren't the case, I'd just pretend it was the reason I'm ready

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to be done with weeding for the day.

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They hope that.

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Some of the stuff helps you guys, but also like, I dunno, let the weeds grow.

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It's up to you.

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What's your garden?

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Alright, I see a few more stragglers.

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So I'm going to pick these up while we're saying goodbye,

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because reading is never done.

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Um, but yeah, if you haven't, uh, followed us on Instagram, we're fresh clippings.

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I'll post a picture of the weed pile cause wow.

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Never seen one of those before.

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Right.

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Um, it's been a pleasure as well.

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Thank you so much for joining me on planet time.

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Look forward to seeing you in the garden.

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Again, soon,

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all this one's roots are wow.

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It's like one of those zits that they pop just keeps.