Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The weeding never ends

With all the rain we had, working six days a week and being sick for about week the weeds got the best of me this year...But I'm slowly making a dent...


Weeded


Tomatoes, beans, peppers and eggplant




Not weeded


Potatoes and Swiss Chard



Partially weeded,


Cucumbers and volunteer potatoes from last year






Totally not weeded.


Broad beans and the now empty bed where my broccoli was eaten by cabbage maggots









Where oh where is my little weeding fairy?

I've done some research, talked to some other gardeners and it seems the best way to stay on top of the weeds is to mulch. I think I'll put down some of the grass clippings around the weeded beds and see how that works but I have been cautioned to leave space around the plant because water will often not penetrate through the grass clippings to the roots.

I'll report back on the effectiveness of mulching with grass clippings.

5 comments:

Yillie said...

How do you do it and where do you find the energy. I'd like to buy a bottle.

iol

Linda said...

What a wonderful neat garden you have. The mulching really keeps the weeds at bay and if any come up they are so easy to pull out.

I'm waiting for straw from the cut fields to put around my tomatoes. So until then pulling weeds.

Your two chairs on your lawn look so inviting. Good book and ice tea time or just watching nature and your garden grow : ).

Have a great weekend
tc linda

Anonymous said...

We are using straw - I read that it can cut down your weeding by 70-80%. I will be very happy if this is true.

Geek+Nerd said...

Oh wow - weeds or not I am totally jealous of your beds! I dream of having that much space! For now I just have my wee apartment porch...Kudos to you for caring for all of that!

Powell River Books said...

I mulched everything last year with torn newspaper and leaves when we went on vacation for two weeks. It helped keep moisture in, but when I pulled it off at the end of the season I found lots of creepy crawlies (such as sow bugs) underneath. I guess they liked the moisture as well as the plants. I can't say they hurt anything, but they were sure all ugly when they hit the light of day. - Margy