The Mower's Garden

We got green. The garden is growing well and everything is in bloom. The cucumbers have bright yellow flowers, the squash a yellow-orange bloom that should open in a few days. Today, Luci picked one radish, a few dragon beans and a big pile of Mustard greens. Normally I wouldn't touch mustard greens with a ten-foot pole, but the way she cooks them and the fact that they're fresh from the garden...I have to admit, they were pretty good.

As you can see from the photo we have tons growing in the garden, including a fair crop of weeds and grass. Since this area was covered in thick grass when we started, I am not surprised. When I tilled, I went back over and over the same area. Each time I would try to rake and pick out more big thick grass roots and leave the rest drying out in the hot sun to die. We removed tons, but I don't think we got nearly enough.

As Luci planted each row she gave the dirt a final picking over. Now we have a lot more growing from seed than from root. The grass growing from seed is small and easy to pull out. I think that if we make the garden constantly in the same spot we can reduce the amount of grass growing by tilling several times a year. I also plan on chucking the chickens into the garden right before and right after I till to munch on the weeds that are in there.Trying to weed the garden is probably the hardest part of the process. It is just so hot here. You step outside and are instantly covered in sweat. I will try again in the morning after I take the kids to school.

I posted a layout of our garden for this year. We think putting the sunflowers at the bottom of the slope was good idea because they get tons of water. Next year if we don't have a separate patch for corn, then the corn will go at the bottom next time.