Garden Redux

Having been away from home for the majority of the summer, I have a great deal of catch-up work to do in my gardens.

Many plants have died and even more weeds have taken over.

I decided to tackle the right side of my front-yard garden first because it is the smaller side and, well, I was just feeling unbelievably overwhelmed at the sheer abundance of work that lay before me.

There has been copious weed-pulling, pruning, mulching and composting happening at my house…not terribly fun, but spending time in the sun and with my hands in the dirt is essential for my sanity.

Working a garden is immeasurably therapeutic.

The garden plot directly to the right of my driveway includes avocado, fig and plum trees:

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I also have several bell pepper and pineapple plants.

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I first pulled out my dead plants and weeds, then to prevent further weed growth, I mulched with plastic ground cover, wood mulch and pine straw.

Pine straw is an excellent choice for natural mulch:

  • The cover inhibits weed growth by shielding the sun
  • The insulated layer regulates the soil temperature for the plants you do want to keep.
  • Moisture and nutrients are better retained in garden beds with the help of that pine straw layer.
  •  It gives the garden beds a more attractive, streamlined appearance.
  • Depending on where you live, pine straw can be both free and plentiful (as is the case for myself).

My plum trees have done very well and grown considerably.

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 Earlier this season, they were just tiny little sticks with no leaves whatsoever.

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Plum, Fig, Plum (Garden Gnome also pictured) :-).


I have also been pleasantly surprised at the hardiness of my pineapple plants.  These were originally pineapple tops cut from the fruit and then planted with fingers crossed.

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I have several in the front, side and back yards.  They were really just kind of an experiment, but they seem to be thriving, so I will just wait and see what happens with them!

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The sprouting of avocado pits is another experiment that seems to be producing positive results.

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I can’t believe how strong and healthy some of the avocado trees are looking! They were just pits a few months ago.

The bell pepper plants are the only plant that is currently yielding right now.

I have 5 strong plants and each one has flowers, buds and/or peppers growing.

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Now that I have the right side under control, I am tackling the left side, which is much larger.  I am feeling good about the progress I have made so far.

A great resource for weed control methods can be found at this excellent homesteading blog: http://littlemountainhaven.com/weed-invasion-10-things-can-weeds-taken-garden/

Enjoy!


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