Yesterday Isaac and I spent a couple hours weeding the garden and digging a trench around it to prevent grass from creeping in. I know weeding isn’t a one-and-done thing, but for now the garden looks very tidy.
Most of the weeds were grasses, yarrow, plantain, clover, and volunteers from last year’s garden. We have used free arborist wood chips for the past couple years to reduce weeds–and it works! As long as we keep the woods chips on the surface, they don’t affect the nitrogen level in the soil.
We’re also experimenting this year with amending our soil with home grown rabbit manure. It isn’t a strong fertilizer, but it’s also safe to use without “aging” or composting.
In years past I (Heather) haven’t contributed much to maintaining the garden. But, as I’ve said before, the food shortages and disrupted supply chain of 2020 and 2021 have motivated me to be a more active participant in my literal survival. We’re slowly replacing things we used to buy at the store with home grown items.
Also, everything about growing your own food is good. It’s seasonal, organic, ultra-local, fresh, produced with natural fertilizers, and it just feels nice to watch something grow that started as a little seed.
Update: Apparently the dirt I dug from the trench landed on Josh’s freshly planted row of corn.