I've been trying to rid my gardens and property (88 acres) of the thousands of thorny vines that infest my trees. Where I've got grass I keep it mowed and after a decade I only have a few popping up in the grass. Once I have cut the vines and pulled that part of the plant out of the tree, I go underground for the tubers. The first part requires gloves and the second works best without. Fingers are so much more sensitive without gloves and I can feel if I have left any part behind. Occasionally I run into vines that have thorny runners underground at which point I return to the gloves. I am slowly making progress but I probably have a century or more of work left to do. The oddest thing I found while doing this is a large truffle, actually two. I threw the first one in the wagon with all the tubers and burned it. When I came in, I went to the internet and found that it was a truffle. I felt so bad about burning it. The next day I found another one at the base of a different tree and just recovered it. How cool was that.

Barb