I wanted to make my vegetable garden easier to maintain. I have 3000 sq ft of space and keeping up with the weeds was not fun. I have read Ruth Stout's book and than this spring watched The documentary "Back to Eden". I Loved the way they used mulch and wood chips.
I thought I would give it a try. So far so good. It has been a very hot spring in my area. Here is a pic of my finished garden after laying the mulch. The vegetable are starting to come up.
Has anyone tried this method? How is it working at keeping in moisture?
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- Super Green Thumb
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My garden is just under 4000sqft. 54ft x 72ft. Last year was the first time I tried to keep all beds / aisle covered in heavy mulch. Mostly grass clippings. Several truck loads from my own property and several from the neighbors.
For extra insurance, I reccommend cardboard under the mulch in the aisle
If you have the resources just keep packing it in. Everytime a weed raises it's ugly head, cover with more mulch.
It not only helps with more even watering, it keeps the fruit clean and diseases down.
It's a lot work initially, but I believe its less work in the end. Your building soil, no longer rototill and conserving water.
Eric
My garden is just under 4000sqft. 54ft x 72ft. Last year was the first time I tried to keep all beds / aisle covered in heavy mulch. Mostly grass clippings. Several truck loads from my own property and several from the neighbors.
For extra insurance, I reccommend cardboard under the mulch in the aisle
If you have the resources just keep packing it in. Everytime a weed raises it's ugly head, cover with more mulch.
It not only helps with more even watering, it keeps the fruit clean and diseases down.
It's a lot work initially, but I believe its less work in the end. Your building soil, no longer rototill and conserving water.
Eric
- rainbowgardener
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Just wanted to note that the Back to Eden folks did not invent that kind of gardening. It's not Back to Eden style of gardening. Here's an article from 2003 by Scott the Helpful Gardener about Bark Mulch and here is a long list discussions about wood chips in mulch found on HelpfulGardener.com.
I agree it has been around along time. I just had not seen it in action in my area. We have lots of trees so I will be saving all the fall leaves in the future.
I love your pictures. Thanks
I have already noticed a big difference in my garden. I take a stroll and pick a weed here and there and then I am done. When a bunch of weeds break through I throw some more mulch on top. I am looking forward to seeing my garden mature.
I love your pictures. Thanks
I have already noticed a big difference in my garden. I take a stroll and pick a weed here and there and then I am done. When a bunch of weeds break through I throw some more mulch on top. I am looking forward to seeing my garden mature.
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Don't sprinkle! Water the ground. In my climate, in non- bad drought years, I don't really have to water very much, especially with the mulch conserving water. In my small garden I do a lot of watering with watering can, carrying water from my rainbarrels to my gardens. You should have a small circle around the plants clear of mulch anyway, you don't want the mulch touching plant stems. So I just pour the water into that circle. You can do the same thing with a hose.