My wife does the best she can, but with 3 kids, a job and all that other stuff, she didn't have time to do much weeding. So, when I got home, it was readily apparent that something HAD to be done. Apparently it rained every single day I was gone, and the weeds were everywhere! If you didn't know, having weeds around your veggies will not only stunt their growth, but possibly choke them out and kill them! Plus, it looks bad and other gardeners will judge you....
You have a few options: you can weed every day (ugh) or you can cover the mound and ground around your precious plants(anyone else catch the string of rhymes?). The light deprivation will keep the weeds from growing. Last year, I utilized the latter (to some extent), but I didn't do it until late in the process. It certainly helped, but I sure wish that I would have done it from the beginning. I used a couple of rolls of landscaping cloth.
Pros: it's very hardy. It's easy to cover and weight down.
Cons: expensive. impossible to removed.
Which means I am constantly finding left over bits with my lawnmower.
So, this time around, we decided to use newspaper. Only one problem: we don't get the newspaper.
Luckily, my trip to Utah proved to be fruitful, as the hotel provided me a free copy of USA Today. Also, they had stacks upon stacks of the local paper, which I also yanked. I bet TSA was pretty confused by what they saw in my bag! So, the first thing I did Saturday morning upon my return was to start laying paper down.
Like anything, news paper has its pros and cons as well.
Pros: It's free. It's easy to cut into shape. It's biodegradable.
Cons: It blows away easily. It isn't very hardy.
So, you have to keep it watered down. A lot. But, it does the job.
Here is how it looks now. Looks like I need a LOT more paper!
Okra is coming in strong!
I will have plenty of cucumbers!
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