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:
I also have several bell pepper and pineapple plants.
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.
Earlier this season, they were just tiny little sticks with no leaves whatsoever.
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.
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!
The sprouting of avocado pits is another experiment that seems to be producing positive results.
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.
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!