My Garden #4

I am blessed with a large yard, so our gardens are large. But I think we took on too much. I have a bumper crop of weeds and very little harvest to show for all our work. I seem to be weeding a lot, even 15 minutes a day I have become over whelmed. The weeds are alien & they are taking over! Of course I am counting the flower beds too. One of which is 90% natural so I can't fabric & mulch it. The other needed this season to gather some more organic matter, why we used the straw for mulch. I have planted some perennials there but most of it was annuals. So next season I will till in the organics, fabric and mulch it around the perennials.

I was inspired by I've Paid for this Twice Already...'s shopping bag challenge to think of a creative use for my horde. So I bought a couple bags of ceder mulch on sale (love end of season) and I'm going to edge my "natural" bed with long pieces cut from plastic shopping bags & cover it with the mulch. I think I'll hold it in place with flat rocks & just cover everything. I'll share pics when it's done. I was just going to use landscape fabric, but this way it's practically free!


Today's harvest netted 3 ears on corn & a bunch of green beans. Now that the bushes have finally started producing more than a handful at a time I am going to have to restrain myself into leaving pods to collect seeds from.



Things I am noting for next year

• Study - Newspaper, Pennies, Cardboard, and Eggs--For Growing a Better Garden: More than 400 New, Fun, and Ingenious Ideas to Keep Your Garden Growing Great All Season Long
• Sprout my difficult seeds before planting in seed starter, I had too few actually become seedlings
  
• Use Willow branches as a "rooting" hormone to take cuttings off of my lilacs, wisteria & roses and pot them.
  
• The pumpkin garden can't have other vine plants in it. I'm thinking next year we stick with corn & sunflowers along the outside.
• Cucumbers should be on a trellis
• watermelon is hard to grow
  
• I am going to use landscape fabric, or start saving my pizza boxes now (and the neighbors)
• Plant 2x as many plants as I think I need, except for tomatoes.
• Save seeds from your harvest, the pumpkins we saved last year are doing great!
• I may have our soil tested next year
• I am not going to plant perennial fruits here, but I am going to put some in at my Mom's
• The kids I babysit cannot be trusted in areas of the yard where plants are. Or animals, or toys...
• The compost bin has been neglected & needs some TLC.
  

I have orange tomatoes! Maybe some day I'll be able to pick some, even can some.









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