War Of The Weeds

I took some time off last week because I was so convinced that Emma was going to have a baby.  Foolish me.  While no babies made an appearance, I did get some projects done that I have been wanting to do for a while.  It's amazing how much work I can do when I don't have to go to work. 

One of my main projects was fixing the are around my raised garden beds so that I have some slim hope of staying ahead of the weeds, which is a constant battle.  I had the local sawmill bring me a whole dump truck load of pine-bark mulch.  They are a relatively small outfit about ten miles down the road.  I buy most of the lumber I use around here from them.  One of their by-products is this nice mulch that they sell relatively cheap.  I have high hopes it will be a great weapon in my War-of-the-Weeds.  See that weedy mess in the background...the invasion has already begun.... 

This time around, I put black plastic down under the mulch to keep the weeds from coming up through it.  And of course, it all had to be thoroughly inspected....

By several inspectors....

I also used the old, dead round-bale to extend the garden area where I'll put the squash and cukes...the things that like to sprawl out.  That darned round-bale has been sitting there for about 2 years, waiting for the moment when I actually had time to deal with it. 

No babies showed up last week, but I do feel like I made progress in my little farm battle.  Of course, I probably just created the world's greatest mole habitat, but I can only fight on so many fronts at one time.  The moles will have to wait their turn.

I really like this mulch stuff.  It is very satisfying to work with.  It instantly turns a big, weedy mess into a nice, neat garden.  Maybe I should just take up growing mulch.  Sooo much easier than actually growing a garden:)