I am fond of weeding. Not just any weeding, mind you. My vegetable garden has raised beds to accommodate poor drainage and less than perfect soil. The paths between the beds are a bit wider than my 18-inch bamboo rake. A small stool fits perfectly in the path. Well, actually I use two stools. I don’t even bother to get up and move the stool, but scoot along moving one around me as I progress down the bed. It is the perfect end-of-the-week task for me. I’m usually too worn out for anything more strenuous. I prefer early mornings or late in the day as I am not a sun worshipper. I wish I were some sort of inventor as I would design a stool with wheels and a huge umbrella so I could work in the shade always. A modified golf cart perhaps?

I simply can’t keep up with the weeds. It is remarkable how much faster and better they grow than the vegetables that went into the ground as carefully-tended, greenhouse-grown seedlings. The weeds are actually holding up the weakened, leggy plants. I fear for their demise when free. They want to fall over. They are like those poor women in Thailand with all the rings around their necks. If removed, they may not be able to hold their heads up.

If you are looking for a safe, natural herbicide, you can use household strength vinegar. It is usually five per cent. Try to use it when the plants are small, as established weeds will resprout after a vinegar bath. Keep it up, though, and you will succeed. This method can work on driveways to avoid the hideous Roundup, a.k.a. Agent Orange. The vinegar will stick better to the leaves if you add one teaspoon dish detergent and two tablespoons canola oil per gallon of vinegar. This remedy is most effective on a sunny day over 70 degrees. Use this method weekly and you should get a handle on those pesky grasses in patio cracks and paths. Generic brands of vinegar are way less expensive than petroleum-based chemicals.

Speaking of petroleum, I cracked up on Monday. I stopped at Mermaid Farm to see what Caitlyn was selling at the farm stand. I had to buy a pint of sun gold tomatoes and eat half immediately. She had painted a little sign on Alan’s truck which read “This truck is complicit in the Gulf Oil Spill.” I may have to copy that onto my vehicle as I want to remind myself daily that I am responsible for this big mess as well. I do love my truck. I wish President Obama would pull another Jimmy Carter and remind the American people that conservation is a huge first step in energy reduction.

Growing a home vegetable garden is one way to save oil. Most of the food items in the average fridge travelled a minimum of 1,500 hundred miles. Buying local is good for you, the local economy and the world. Emily is selling produce in the parking lot of Scottish Bakehouse. Check it out and then enjoy a treat inside.

I picked quite a few Ronde de Nice zucchini. They are perfectly round and delicious. About the size of golf balls, they can be cooked whole. I did them with some garlic scapes, the curly tops of the garlic bulbs. They are flavorful additions to sautées and need to be removed from the plant anyway. They will stunt the growth of the bulb, which should be ripe for harvest in a month.

I never went to landscape architecture school but I know what I like. I have a mixed border at one of my jobs that I need to describe. Words cannot do it justice. It features the Endless Summer Hydrangea. This shrub, a relative newcomer, is worth growing. It is the mophead type but blooms on new growth, so those irritating late frosts won’t kill the buds. It can be trimmed at will with no sacrifice of flowering.

Towering above the two-year-old hydrangeas is a magnificent stand of candle astilbe. They are easily four feet tall with the ‘candle’ approaching a foot in length.

Then, the blue mist calamintha, a sweetly fragrant deer resistant cousin of nepeta and the Blue Queen salvia. She can be cut back several times over the summer to produce new blooms.

Finally the border is a ring of Queen of the Seas hosta (a small blue-leaf variety), Blue Danube ageratum and the adorable Easter Bonnet alyssum.

I can’t wait to hear the reports from the Elena Kagan Supreme Court confirmation hearings. The Republicans are already whining that she’s from the Northeast and went to a good school. Is that all you got? Oh! Maybe she’s an Arab sympathizer even though she’s Jewish. Honestly, people, give it up. I know you need to play to the base but some substance?