Penny, it sounds like you should have guarded your garden with a sharpened spade fork or hefty shovel, and knocked those loons upside the head (if not given them a sharp poke in the backside!) for their mess.

I took it a bit easier today, no mattock and chopping out weeds, instead I mowed the back (a large job by itself, but less strenuous overall) and made a couple of bags of mulch. I have an electric wood chipper and did it in a couple of steps - I trimmed a bunch of branches from a pile near the compost to the right size and length for the chipper, then ran them through said chipper into a bag. They were spread around the existing plants in the newly-revealed garden. I made a good dent in the pile of branches and the mulch is the best sort, from trees in this yard. Tomorrow I'll buy some commercial mulch for the garden paths and buy more bedding plants and get these newly cleared areas planted for a fall crop. I have seeds in also and this time of year they should sprout almost overnight, but I want to get a head start on some of this stuff. I need peppers, in particular, to be happy. Lots of hot peppers.