Weird (to us) Looking Gardens

Ever since we've lived here (ten years this January), we've used the no-till gardening method- using lots of straw, leaves and grass clippings to keep weeds down and moisture in.  We had several very successful years using this method.  Our gardens thrived and were a pleasure to walk around in since our shoes never got muddy!  But the past couple summers life has gotten busier and we slacked on making sure there was enough mulch put down.  When you don't lay a thick enough layer of mulch the weeds NOTICE and they take full advantage of your full schedule, lack of mulch, and they. take. over.

So this year, we decided to till and hoe.  Because of this we have strange-looking gardens because...well, of the tilling and hoeing.  This may not be weird to you, but it sure looks weird to us.

The gardens still aren't perfect.  There are still a few weeds and other garden-relating things hanging about but to us, they look rather neat and tidy...in a dirty sort of way.

The pros are that we don't have to go hunting for mulch and hoeing out small weeds is a breeze.  The cons are that moisture isn't readily available under the (nonexistent) mulch (although we've had a wet spring which has helped) and our shoes get muddy when we walk the rows after it rains.

sunflowers (which we never mulched)

It's been a welcome change of pace and our gardens look more "normal" to others.  We occasionally mulch with grass clippings as we have them but I'm still not used to our gardens' new look.  Don't get me wrong- I like it. I just have to remind myself that you can't judge a garden by its naked paths...or something like that.

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Garden Plans!!

Yesterday afternoon Jamey and I finally got around to sitting down and planning this year's garden.  It only takes us about 20 minutes or so.  I have my canning journal in hand and he has his garden notebook.  His notebook contains garden maps, lists of varieties and how many rows/plants he planted the previous year.  We run down the list of food we grew the year before (vegetable by vegetable), make adjustments based on how much we harvested/put up, add new items, take away items, discuss which garden gets what, and talk about other projects that we have interest in.  This conversation doesn't take long, but for us it's the trigger point for the whole gardening season.

Reflections
Usually the meetings start out with us making overall impressions of what we liked and didn't like about how things worked the year before.  Last year, I didn't enjoy the gardening season nearly as much as other years. I had been working on my cookbook and therefore had little motivation to actually do much with non-cookbook-related food in general, so canning and freezing was a real chore.  Never once did I wish the garden away, mind you, but it felt like more of a burden.

Mid-summer the garden got away from us.  We didn't lay on enough hay (and we knew it, duh) so weeds came up with a vengeance.  And we didn't do much about it.  Because it got so out of hand, the thought of tackling even a small portion of it overwhelmed me, so I avoided it all the more.  We still put up a lot last summer and have been enjoying it all winter.  Life has mellowed out after a busy fall and we're really looking forward to the garden again this year.  We're planning on involving our kids (especially Sam, 10, and Sadie, 7) a lot more this year, maybe even giving them zones in the garden to keep weeded and be responsible for and they'll be helping a lot more with stringing peas, snapping beans and the like.

The Tiller
As many of you know, up to this point (8 years into our gardening journey), we have not used a tiller in our garden.  Instead we have used the heavy mulching method.  You can read past posts about it here.  To summarize, there are many benefits to mulching (we use mostly hay): the ground retains moisture, if you mulch think enough (8 inches pressed, at least) it keeps weeds down well, the paths stay clean- no mud on your boots, the hay decomposes adding organic matter to your soil, and it leaves all those precious earthworms intact.

That said, we have fairly clay-y soil, especially at one end of the garden.  We haven't had the best luck with growing decent-looking (and therefore decent-storing) sweet potatoes and carrots.  Using a wheel hoe for the sunflowers is time consuming and we'd like to work more organic matter into our gardens.  SO.  This winter Jamey bought a tiller (Craftsmen, 17-inch, rear tine, 8-years-old- specs courtesy of Jamey).

The plan is to use the tiller to mix in organic matter (the mulch, chicken poop, leaves, etc.) that have laid on our garden all winter and prepare the soil for planting.  We will also use it to prepare the sunflower bed.  In the fenced-in garden, we will still use the hay/mulch method.  In the un-fenced garden, we are going to try planting a cover crop of clover once the plants are established instead of mulching it.  So, there you have it.  We're going to use both!

What We Already Have
Red raspberries- Just this past weekend Jamey tore out our main row and planted new shoots.  Hopefully, we'll get a few berries when this new row bears the second time, in late summer.  Our other row should still produce well this year.

Strawberries- Last year was the first year for our new plants, so we're hoping to get plenty of strawberries this year.

Asparagus- This will be the third year for our newest asparagus bed (in the garden) and we're so excited to have a nice bed to start gleaning from.

Blueberries- We're planting 10 small 2-year old bushes (maybe more) at one end of our sunflower patch.  I am SO excited about having blueberries.  I'll post more about this once we get them in the ground- they're sitting outside in pots right now.

Sweet cherry trees- We planted two (3-year-old) trees at the end of our sunflower patch this past fall.  We have no idea when we'll see cherries.

Sour cherry tree and pear tree- In the bad wind storm last summer, both trees were partially crushed.  We have no idea how they will do this year.

Peach trees (3)-  Last year they didn't yield due to a late frost, but the year before we got about 50 peaches.  If everything goes well this year, we should have a nice little crop to eat and maybe a few to can.

Apple trees (8)- Four years ago we planted very small, one-year-old apple trees (three varieties).  We have yet to get an apple.  We're hoping that this year will prove to be the turning point.  If not, we may have to reevaluate things.

Nectarine tree (1)- Last summer we planted one and are crossing our fingers that it stays healthy and will produce in a year or two.

Mushrooms- You can read about them here.  We've gotten two mushrooms so far.  I think this is hilarious.  We're not too worried, though.  The same spawns may produce mushrooms yet this year, so we have to wait until it gets warm for awhile and then do the dunking routine.  We only tried dunking them once last summer.  Sometimes it takes several tries to trigger them.

What We're Going to Plant
Un-fenced Garden (rows are ~40 feet long)
corn: 8-10 rows.  Last year we ate quite a bit fresh but didn't freeze any and have missed it terribly.
zucchini: 6-8 plants
butternut squash: 6 plants
cucumbers: 6 plants

Fenced-in Garden (rows are ~25 feet long)
snow peas: 4 rows (same as last year, our first).  We've loved the frozen snow peas!  We're not planting any garden/English peas this year because even though the snow peas need to be de-stringed and therefore require the same time commitment for prepping and freezing as garden peas, snow peas leave you with much more vegetable to put up!
lettuce and spinach- in two 6x4 foot cold frames
New Zealand spinach (new for us!): we're trying this instead of Swiss chard this year.  Friends shared some of theirs with us and, supposedly, this hearty spinach grows all summer like chard, but is more like spinach.  We shall see!
red bell peppers: 16 plants
green bell peppers: 6 plants
garlic: (planted this past fall)
tomatoes: 30 romas, 12 slicers.  We're going back to the Florida weave method (from two years ago) after trying the cages again (last year) because the weave held the plants up better and made for easier picking.
green beans: 2 rows
potatoes: 2 rows (Yukon and red)
basil: 10 plants
oregano: 3 plants
parsley: 6 plants
carrots: 3-foot-wide row/bed
watermelon: 12 plants (3 varieties)
cantaloupe: 3 plants
beets: one half row
sweet potatoes: 1 row
onions: 3 pounds of sets
zinnias: along inner fence facing the house- I love zinnias!
ground cherries: (new for us!) I grew up on ground cherry pie.  My Grandma grew these in her garden and I miss them.  If you're not familiar with them, stay tuned.

chickens: We hope to order a slew of chicks this spring since our ladies are aging out and we've gotten very few eggs this winter despite the artificial light.  They won't start laying until late summer, so hopefully our older ladies will start up again and lay us a few eggs this spring and summer to hold us over.
bees: Jamey has a hive built and *I* think we should order a swarm this spring.  He's hoping a swarm will just find us (or one of our trees).  We'll see how that goes.

A Note to You
If you're new to gardening, please take it slow and small.  Start a gardening and canning journal (even if you only start with a couple entries this year).  My first canning journal entry (2003) only listed applesauce.  You have to start somewhere!  Feel free to use our Vegetable Gardening Tutorial to help get yourself started.

Also, as you may have noticed, we don't specify varieties.  This is because the varieties we grow may vary from year to year.  Some years we save seeds.  Some years we buy them from reputable garden catalogs.  Some years we buy seeds at the store.  Sometimes we start plants indoors from seed.  Some years we mostly buy plants.  We've learned to be flexible because life flexes.  And we're okay with that :-).

Happy garden planning and planting, friends!

Love,
Jane

A couple of our ladies when they were young

"You jump first." "No, I'm not jumping.  You jump."  "I'm not jumping.  You're crazy."  "Fine.  Me either." "Hey.  Why'd we jump up here in the first place?  They left the gate open this time."  "Sure enough, they did...."

{Please forgive me.  I'm writing this at bedtime.}

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I Keep Forgetting to Tell You...

We grew two shitake mushrooms this year.  Hey, it's two more than we grew last year!  There were a couple things we could have done differently.  When we figure out if doing them works, then I'll tell you about them.

Jamey has slowed up a bit on his wood hoarding.  The pictures below show less than half of it.  We're managing just fine without a truck.  Some we've had delivered, some has come from our own property and some Jamey has gleaned here and there, using the trunk of his 1995 Saturn (making several trips).  We're learning that there is a science to this wood-burning thing and we love everything about it.  We're also learning that most pharmacists think it's weird to be driving a 17 year old car.  And at least one pharmacist doesn't:-).

I don't think I told you how he cleaned out the chimney, did I?  He bought a contraption that attaches to the end of his electric drill.  The drill spins a wire brush around that is sent down the chimney, knocking off the creosote.  Jamey really wanted to know how effective this system was, so what did he do?  He put his smart phone in a ziplock bag, tied it to a string, turned the video camera on and sent it down the chimney before and after.  There were some tense moments as it got a tad stuck around some elbows, but it worked and so does the wire brush spin-y thing.

Jamey burned our dead tomato plants because of the blight that ruined any promise of fall tomatoes.  We're considering buying a tiller for next year.  We really prefer the mulch method, but we could just not stay on top of it this year (you have to mulch super-heavily for it to work well) so they weeds took over big-time.

We picked a bunch of concord grapes from our neighbor's arbor to make jam.  I made a very large batch (which I know is cautioned against when it comes to jams, but I've done it before and really wanted to save time).  Did it work?  Nope.  I ended up canning 25 pints of grape syrup because it didn't set.  I even used the recipe that is supposed to re-set your jam if it doesn't set (it's worked before) and it still didn't work.  We drizzled it on top of waffles and it was delicious.  I figured we wouldn't have to buy maple syrup for YEARS and tried to look on that bright side.  Then, what did that silly jam/syrup do several days later?  It set.  Go figure.

When we were up at my in-laws making applesauce, we picked up 10 big heads of broccoli from an Amish farm stand to freeze.  I love having it on hand and since we're not-so-good terrible at growing it, we're happy to support the Amish, even if we have to ingest some of their pesticides (there was not one worm).

We bought and planted two sweet cherry trees.  When our big black walnut tree came down, it partially landed on our sour cherry tree.  While it still may produce some, we wanted to get a couple more going in the meantime and opted for sweet cherries this time.  I wanted them planted outside my kitchen window at the edge of the sunflower patch so I see their lovely blossoms each spring and holler out at the birds if they get too close to the ripening cherries.  Listen carefully, Marie, and you might be able to hear me.  Marie is our wonderful neighbor.

The pullets and cockerels are almost ready to move in with the grown chickens (although the cockerels likely won't make it in- I'm not sure what we're waiting for, but they're still hanging around).  We moved the tractor down to the sunflower bed to help eat up the gazillions of grass hoppers that moved into that yard this summer.  They also get to enjoy some old sunflower heads lying about.  They'll help us mow down the weeds and will help fertilize for next year.

See my weeds?  If not, just keep looking at the lovely fall pumpkins instead.  One of the kids was preparing to plant grass seed, of all things.

Below is our poplar tree. Jamey and the kids spend hours providing a perfect example of "human dispersal" (we're studying botany this year, remember?).  Jamey kicks a soccer ball up into the tree and the kids try to catch as many "samaras" (a.k.a. "twirlies" or "helicopters") as they can in containers.  Or they just run through them squealing.

Happy fall, lovies. Pin It

Getting Serious

I think it's been this mild winter that has made me feel as if I'm in an uncomfortable limbo.  (Please just act as if this makes sense to you.)  It's been unseasonably warm- daffodils and snow drops are blooming.  My miniature hyacinths are up, our pussy willow tree is in full-fluff and it just feels like we should be busy in the garden.  But it's still a bit too early.  While it's tempting to jump in and while it looks like it will stay mild (and therefore okay to do so), we're trying to hold off just a little.

In the meantime, there are a few things to be done.  We did have our garden planning meeting, but seeds still need to be ordered and bought.  We could plant lettuce and spinach in our cold frames anytime.  The red raspberries need pruning.

 

Jamey did pick up 7 bales of hay so we could start mulching the garden (if done heavily, it should be enough to kill the oats that the lack of heavy freezes left standing).

There are plans to increase the height of the chicken run fence to keep those little buggers where they should be.  They've been kicked out of the garden and given a stern talking-to (by me) to stay out of said garden and our yard.  Who wants to step in chicken poop while hunting Easter eggs?  We do have one broody hen.  Now, chicks at Easter?  What could be more perfect?

Our garden shed has been reorganized.  You might think that because of all the gardening we do, we have a stellar garden shed with all the latest and greatest tools.  Let me correct that assumption this very minute.  Our "garden shed" has a dirt floor, ramshackle shelves and lacks a window.  The view out the lacking-window is quite lovely, though.  A fancy shed and fancy tools do not make vegetables taste any better- I promise.

 

So.  Part of me is screaming, "Get outside!  You have work to do!".  The other part is crooning, "It's too early.  You still have months of school left- focus on all you have to do inside!"  Jamey is also feeling the pull.  The past four years he has been in school which allowed for plenty of garden-prepping and planting time.  This year, he's working full-time and school-time has stepped up for me.  This spring will be different.

 

As you can see, the garden looks, well... kind of hideous.  But, don't worry.  We'll get our act together.   Man oh man.  Asparagus, fresh greens and strawberries are just around the corner.

I can almost taste them. Pin It

Leaves: Trash or Treasure?

I know a number of people who really dislike leaf removal- to put it mildly.  We have a good number of mature trees but either their leaves are small (in the case of our black walnut and mimosa) or they get blown away because we often have a nice breeze blowing where we live.  The poplar and the chestnut require some minimal raking, but it's an easy job and the kids have fun jumping in the medium-sized pile.

Jamey decided that this year, instead of driving around or to the city leaf disposal area to pick up leaves, he would just ask for them.

He's as happy as a clam because in just two days, this is what arrived.

 This pile came in the back of a small dump truck.

One man's trash is certainly another man's treasure in this case.  As you know, we use leaves and straw to mulch our garden.  This year, we've also incorporated oats (planted in the fall knowing that they will grow and die before going to seed) into the equation.  Once the oats are dead, he'll layer on the leaves and in the spring, top everything off with straw.

The lush green oats are in the background.

Our soil tends toward the clumpy and dry, so mulching the dickens out of it helps add organic matter and holds in moisture.  Good soil is crucial to a good crop.

Next time you want something, consider a sign at the end of your driveway.  Just prepare to talk through your back door to the nice people who bring it by.  Do not open your door to a stranger.

*********************

Open Fields winner will be announced this afternoon.  If you haven't entered yet, feel free to do so here.

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Weeds. Weeds. Weeds.

A lovely reader named Leigh suggested I post about weeds.  Weeds do occupy quite a bit of every gardener's thoughts and time.  If I say something, do you promise you won't hate me or never come back and read me again?

I like to weed.

There.  I said it.  I'm not crazy.  I promise.  It's for the same reason I love vacuuming.  You start out with something visibly messy and you make it clean and pleasing to the eye (and bare foot).  My favorite time of the day to weed is in the evening after I've put Miriam to bed.  Jamey is playing with and putting the other two kids to sleep.  It's quiet outside.  The day is cooling off, the sun is sinking.  I'm alone with my thoughts.  I'm alone!  Maybe that's another reason why I like it.  Can I say something else?

It's okay to have weeds in your garden.

There.  I said that, too.  Of course, you don't want so many weeds that they are choking out your plants and you don't want to let the weeds get so big that they go to seed, scattering baby weeds all over your garden, but some weeds are okay.  I repeat.  Some weeds are okay.  Please don't think your garden has to look perfect for you to be a good gardener.  For most of us, there is more to life than our garden.  Our garden has never been weed free (photos can be deceiving) and we manage to grow plenty of good food.

Now that I've possibly caused you to fall out of your chair (twice?), I'd like to talk about how we deal with weeds.  As I'm sure you've noticed, we use straw, grass clippings and shredded leaves to mulch our garden.  The bulk of the mulch is straw.  In order for straw to help with weeds, you must put it on THICK.  It should be 3-4 inches thick when you're standing on it.  A light coating of straw will look nice and keep your paths from getting too muddy, but it will not deter weeds.

When you use straw for mulch, you cannot hoe.  When you use straw for mulch, some weeds still come through.  This means, you have to get down on your hands and knees and pull weeds.  Thankfully, the straw also keeps the ground moist, so many weeds slip out easier than they would otherwise.  If you prefer hoeing, straw for mulch may not be for you.

As far as killing weeds (safely for those animals, vegetables and people about), the only way I know of that actually works is to use boiling water.  I do not lug vats of boiling water to the gardens to kill weeds.  Instead I use woman-power there, but for around the back of the house, in a few flower beds and between the cracks of our old, brick patio, I use boiling water.  It works.  You can boil water in your teapot for spot-killing.  Usually, after I've canned or blanched something, I very carefully carry my canner or pot outside and pour boiling water over the weeds.  Be so careful you do not pour water on your toes or legs!!  Also, be careful not to pour boiling water on your flowers or vegetables.  It can't tell the difference.  The weeds will be obviously on their way out by the next day.  If they come back, hit them again when they're small.  By doing so, you've stressed that weed out twice in close succession and there is a good chance it's not coming back.

Here's the part of this post I've been looking forward to...your turn.

Tell me about your relationship with weeds- do you chase them around in your dreams with a blow torch or do you respect them as part of creation?  What methods have you found to be successful when it comes to killing weeds?  Let's keep sharing our wealth of information, folks.  I bet we'll all learn something. Pin It

Mulch on the Brain

For much of the year, Jamey has mulch on the brain.

We mulch our gardens pretty heavily, pulling the mulch aside to plant and then bringing it around the base of the plants once they are established. This technique helps keep moisture in during the dry days and weeks of summer and helps keep weeds down, especially if we mulch thickly enough. The weeds that do their darnedest to get up through the mulch are relatively easy to pull out since the ground is kept moist because of the mulch. The mulch also provides clean paths on which to walk so our feet don't get stuck in the mud after a few rainy days.

All that said, mulching is not free from it's problems. Depending what the mulch is or where it comes from, it may carry seeds that can sprout into unwanted plants and weeds. And then there is the task of getting all that mulch. You'd be surprised how much mulch breaks down and becomes mixed into the soil (the chickens help with this during the winter) in just one year. In the past two seasons, we have used seven large round hay bales. So, finding mulch is something we're always thinking about.

Ok, ok. It's something Jamey is always thinking about. I know that he's thinking about it, so that frees me up to not think about it. Kind of like how I spend a lot of time thinking about what's for dinner and how and when to prepare it. Thanks to me and because of this, Jamey is free to just sit down and eat.

Hmm. Meal preparation every day...finding mulching sources several times a year.... I'll stop there. Only because he's in school. Full time. Studying things so foreign to me that I don't even ask him about his classes anymore, just his day. Is that wrong?

Mulch. Yes, mulch. We usually mulch our gardens with hay or straw that can no longer be sold or fed to animals because it is old or has gotten wet. It is always cheap and sometimes even free if we're able to find someone who has some to get rid of. Those seven large round bales? We got them for $5 a bale instead of $30 a bale for hay of good quality. We have a minivan and a trailer, so Jamey has to transport the bales on the trailer, often having to make repeated trips. We also use leaves and grass clippings. The neighbors donate their mulched leaves and clippings and we add in ours, but none of us have tons of leaves thanks to the hefty breezes that sweep over our hill in the fall.


This year, we are trying something new. You know how most cities provide leaf curb side pick-up in the fall? Well, Jamey discovered that in town you can load up a trailer full of these smelly, albeit fabulous, decomposing leaves and haul them away. For FREE- if you pitchfork them yourself. For $4 they'll load them for you. Jamey chose the pitchfork method. Last week, he got our first load.


Look at that lovely stuff. The last benefit to mulching your garden that I will mention is that all this decomposing organic matter does wonders for your soil. We can attest to this. Our main garden was half the size it is now at one time. That original side, which has been mulched heavily for four years, yields us much better produce (both quantity and quality). We tend to have high concentrations of clay in our ground and the organic matter has helped to build more workable soil.

So, there you have it. A solution to our (Ok, Jamey's) yearly mulch question? We will see. Pin It

Winter Chickens

It's been a long time since I've talked about our chickens. Our current count is 31. Our flock is made up of Golden-Laced Wyandottes (brown and black), Silver-Laced Wyandottes (white and black), Ameraucanas (lighter shades of brown), one lone meat bird (she was on the small side when we harvested so still remains) and several crosses (Wyandotte x Ameraucana) bred by our own birds.

Marv (the rooster in charge) has allowed our 'multi-colored' rooster (a Wyandotte and Ameraucana cross) to exist with the flock. Marv doesn't let him get too close to his favorite girls, but he does get a little action now and again. We're happy for him.

Marv, rooster in charge

'Multi-colored' rooster (He really needs a name, any suggestions?)

Winter can mean less eggs because there is less day light. Hens lay less when they are exposed to less light. Last year we had great success adding a light to their roost area on a timer to extend their day light at both ends of the day. This past fall, we were not quick enough in getting that lamp set up and their egg production came to a screeching halt.

That got our attention. As did having to buy three dozen eggs for the first time in almost three years. Ouch.

In went the light, but it took the girls a couple weeks to adjust and finally they started laying again. Then came the cold. We got two feet of snow followed by several weeks of frigid temperatures. Those poor birds rarely got off their roost. (Click here to see where our birds live.) Most of the day and night, they stayed huddled together for warmth. Egg production slowed again. Then the bulb burnt out. Heavens.

A new bulb went in, the temperatures crawled back up slowly and our pullets ("teenage" or less than a year old hens) finally started giving us some eggs (it takes about 5 months for a chick turned pullet to start laying). Our latest batch of bought laying hen chicks arrived this summer and are of the Silver-Laced Wyandotte variety. Their little pullet eggs are precious, so small they don't stand up very well in the cartons.

Regular-sized eggs on the left. Pullet eggs on the right.

The past week or so, we've been collecting 15 eggs a day. We have two families that currently buy eggs from us. If more start laying, we may be looking to add another.

Our chickens were plumb afraid of all that snow and didn't venture out until they could see patches of earth. During the winter months, they are allowed in the garden. They scratch up the ground, mixing the decomposing straw and leaves (our mulch) into the dirt and eating grubs. This stirring of the ground and their droppings add wonderful organic matter to our garden soil.

Our garden entrance

Three ladies in the garden

Can you find this hen? They love climbing/flying up on our hay bales- next year's garden mulch.

It's so nice to see them exploring their yard once again. I'm almost as excited for them as I am for myself to see those green shoots popping up everywhere. In the meantime, they scratch in the dirt and leaves, find things to climb on and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.

Winter view of back garden and red raspberry canes.

It's so nice to know that the eggs we eat are products of this happy flock. We're so glad we have them. Pin It

July Garden

It occurred to me that it's been awhile since I've posted garden pictures. Some of you could probably care less, so if you are one of those people, come back tomorrow. So sorry to disappoint.

Our first successful attempt at broccoli

We had great rain this spring and early summer, but it's been pretty dry lately. We haven't had water in our back (near the garden) cistern in awhile. It's times like these that we are glad we mulch heavily with straw/hay/grass clippings. Mulching this way isn't without it's flaws. Sometimes seeds sneak in with the hay and introduce new weeds. Sometimes it's a bit of a pain to plant in (because you have to move it all aside to get to the soil).

basil and some of the onions

Overall, though, it has worked well for us- keeping moisture in, weeds down (or at least in moister soil, so they can be pulled easier), providing non-muddy paths for walking and breaking down into organic matter that adds to the richness of our soil. Once the chickens are allowed in the garden in the fall, they scratch the decaying mulch into the soil along with their gifts of fertilizer, assisting in the process. To me, the pros win out over the cons big time.

one of the carrot beds, a lone chard plant and sunflowers in the back

It does look different. And, at least to Jamey, who grew up in Amish country, it takes a bit of getting used to. You can't see those lush rows of rich soil in between your plants. They're all covered up when you mulch. But, they are under there none the less. And so, we mulch.

tomato plants and some sad looking peppers (on the right)

the back garden (potatoes, corn, green beans, dry beans, etc.)

By the way, if you live close by and would like some basil, beets or green beans please give me a call.

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