Weeds Be Gone!

I had high hopes after I moved my grape vines from our field where they'd been planted for the past few years to their new spot in my garden. They hadn't shown much growth in their previous spot, probably because they lacked regular watering and nutrients in the soil. They've done much better already in their new location, they've received regular water (mostly because it's been so rainy, but I did set up my sprinklers so the vines would be watered at the same time as my raised beds). But all that watering and rain combined with the bits of sun we've had has not only made my vines grow (better than I've ever seen them!), but weeds and grasses have also been growing in. Even a thorough spraying with the organic vinegar weed spray was only temporarily effective. It was pretty frustrating to think that after the work of transplanting the vines, they could end up being choked out again by grass and weeds. Sooooo, I got to work and started weeding. The picture below shows what my little vineyard looked like after the first day I spent weeding, it was raining and the work was pretty tiring - I initially hand picked every weed, so I only got through one row.

The next day I changed my strategy and used a hoe to loosen the weeds out of the soil. It was still hard work, but it seemed to go more quickly. While I worked I devised a plan to mulch the area so that the weeds wouldn't have a chance at returning. I checked around online to clarify the plan a bit and decided to try a newspaper mulch for my first layer. Although we aren't a newspaper buying household, my in-laws are regular newspaper readers. My mother-in-law was kind enough to bring over her stacks of used papers. I also ended up using my own huge stash of paper grocery bags. The weather outside was perfect while I laid down the papers, constant light rain but no wind. I didn't have to hose down the papers at all because it ended up raining pretty much steadily for the next day. The next step in my anti-weed campaign was straw. It's important to say that it was straw and not hay that went down because hay can re-seed itself (resulting in a crop of hay - not what I'm going for when the idea is to be weed/grass free), while straw is seed-free, so it will decompose without re-seeding. The husband was nice enough to pick up a bale of hay for me at the farm-supply while I was at work on Saturday, so it was ready and waiting for me to spread on Sunday morning. It was sunny and pleasant during the morning, which meant turning on the sprinkler to give the straw layer a nice soaking so it won't blow away [too much] if it gets windy. I may add another layer later on this week. I'm thinking either wood chips or compost, we'll see. Hopefully all this work will pay off and my vines will be weed free for a long time. I certainly don't want to do the weeding work again anytime soon.

It's Been A While...

...since I've been around here. I guess I needed a bit of a break. Between work, trips, chores around the house and in the garden, and general busyness, time has been short lately. So while I've been quiet in this space, life has been anything but quiet lately. I am excited to have a few things to share in the next couple of weeks. Today I thought I'd finally introduce "The Pod", the name I have given to my new Solar Green greenhouse. The day it was delivered the husband and I shoveled a yard and a half of pea gravel into the Pod and then moved in the four benches that came with it. Since then I have been busy sealing the wood benches with water sealant and buying plastic trays in which to place the six and nine pack plastic starting containers. I wasn't going to go through the trouble initially (lazy!), but I decided it was worth it. So in between the trips we've been on, I've been trying to get those little chores squared away. Soon I will be starting tomatoes, pumpkins, eggplant, broccoli, summer squash, basil, and probably a few other goodies in my new workspace. Around the time that the Pod was delivered, the decision was also made to move my pathetic little vineyard from the field that the back of our house looks out at, over to our fenced in garden. In addition to the eleven grape vines I moved over, 11 more were planted. They were given to us by a friend of the husband's. I'm hoping that the new location will give my vines a better shot, they did not do too well in their last location with hardly any growth. It was important for me to get them moved soon because they weren't going to be in their dormant stage much longer. I am proud that my new strawberry shoots are taking very well. This summer should be full of delicious strawberries from our garden. The radish seeds I put in the ground have germinated and are growing nicely - I should have home-grown radishes in just a couple of weeks! This will be the first of many rounds of radishes this season!