September 23, 2019
I brought my weed eater down to the garden to clear out some overgrown areas and found three watermelons. What a jungle. I might be carrying this "back to nature" thing a bit too far. I can't seem to get motivated to clear out areas that are not going to get planted. Nature hates a vacuum so maybe I should let it have the areas I'm not using..
When the rains come, and everything gets wet, I'll hate walking through it and getting wet also, so I'll be more motivated to clean it up. When the plants start to die and look ugly I'll also want to remove them. For right now it's time to sit and enjoy the assorted stages of birth and death that is represented this time of year. Unfolding and decaying are cycles of life that can give us pause and connect us to a feeling of transcendence..
September 24, 2019
Occulting is on the horizon for this year's fall cleanup. It's the easiest way to dispose of garden waste while killing weeds. I piled up zucchini plants and tomato vines into a row on top of a weedy area last fall, covered it with a tarp held down by boards, and by spring planting time it was a weed free, dark soiled, tilthy, rich patch of ground, aching for the gardeners touch. Burmuda grass runners had stretched out two feet along the ground, but like nut sedge, it takes more than a winter of darkness to kill..
Every weedy area will be under consideration for occulting this winter, even the pathways, because I have found no downside to it. If I have a problem with the aestetic of the tarp I'll cover it with straw, and walk on it..
September 25, 2019
I discovered four kale plants hiding in the weeds on the side of a walkway in the garden. I was on my knees using the hula hoe or I might have missed them. I stopped and scraped circles around them so I wouldn't step on them, and then applied an inch of compost. I also doused them with fish emulsion because they will be able to overwinter if I can get them sufficiently advanced..
Foot tall plants seem to do well, but I've never attempted smaller ones. The volunteer chard that I've let remain throughout the garden is contributing to it's dischevelment, but I'll leave them until everything else comes out, and see how they change the structure of the garden. My garden may not be so barren this winter if I have chard plants throughout..
