Musings from a novice gardener, 8 months in

Do you know my first year has been really hard and it boils down to one thing (apart from the flooding) and that was not knowing how to use a hoe correctly.

I have been stabbing the weeds with it, thinking I was supposed to chop the tops off. I couldn't understand why they were coming back so quickly. I just couldn't keep up and I think we were on the verge of getting a 'letter'.

A couple of weeks ago the site sec noticed my odd chopping attempts and came over to show me what to do. Gawd it is so easy. I hoe'd all day (    ) and now my plot looks soooo much better.