Digging out the thistles

Tuesday 2nd May
Having recovered from my tummy upset I had on Sunday, I came down to deal with some of the weeds. I was going to stay clear of my shed until I'm sure I have totally recovered so I started on the thistles I had sprayed with glyphosate a couple of weeks ago.
The tops had died off completely but I knew the roots would go down deep. However before I started on them I saw that my neighbour had removed the weeds on his side of the fence so I began digging them out on my side. He came to help when I found nettle roots over an inch thick tangled into the chicken wire mesh. I have never seen nettle roots so thick. However, with his help we dealt with the roots along the fence right to the front of the plot.
I then returned to the thistles. The soil was nice and friable so I was able to tease out the roots easily. I managed to dig deep enough to get out at least some of the deeper run of roots that had produced the rash of surface growth. Hopefully the weedkiller has weakened the system so they cannot grow again.

A tub of nettle and thistle roots for the tip and a pile of weeds for the compost heap
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After raking the soil back level I unloaded the bags of horse compost into the greenhouse ready for my tomatoes and pulled some sticks of rhubarb before going home for lunch.