I'm taking a ma-sha-tay

That's right, I'm using a machete for yard work. It's designed to hack through thick vegetation and that's exactly what I'm using it for. Here's the big pile of weeds in the back yard. It's so big that the shade from it has completely killed the grass that was in the area previously.

It's actually 2-3 big clusters all in the same area. Once I did a little of this:

I got it cleared out enough that the stems were pretty much all that was left. This thing was beefy, and even more dense than I originally thought. Some friends have suggested that it might be some kind of wild rhubarb, and there was certainly a little bit of red in the stems down near the base. Regardless of what it is, it had to go.

Chopped down to the ground. Now I have to take out a shovel and dig out the roots as best I can. There are rocks and a metal divider right in the middle of this thing, so it isn't easy to get down very far. I'm also trying to use a square shovel and a couple hand tools to do it, so it's tougher than it would be with appropriate tools.

Yes, I think that gardening makes me a badass. No, nothing you say to the contrary will convince me otherwise.

All clear! The grass under the weeds was completely dead, so dirt is all that's left. I raked up a lot of dead grass from this area, too. I also dug out some of the larger dandelions from the area. There are holes in the turf now, but I can seed them once I get the grass mowed down to a decent level. This weekend is going to be a lot of work back here and a lot out front as well.

This is the pile of debris I pulled out of just this relatively small area of the lawn. I tried to thatch a bit, but the long grass makes it tough. I'll be mowing a lot and then raking out all the excess. No exactly sure what all to do with it, but it may end up in some big trash bags on the side of the house until trash day or until I can get my dad to help me haul it to the dump. There still enough crap back there that another dump trip is going to be necessary anyway.