…That is the question.  Shakespearian cliché, I know, but gardening brings out the drama in me.  Oh, whoa is me, doth that weeds?  Crap.  I thought I just killed thy evil heads a fortnight ago.

I mulched the potatoes as I placed hills over them, keeping their little round orbs out of sunlight.  Green potatoes not being the most appealing, or healthiest, and covered them with straw.  I haven’t had to weed them a bit.  They keep snug in their golden carpet.

I looked at the carrots and didn’t want to mulch between every single feathery stem.  I didn’t know if all the seeds had come up yet in other beds and didn’t want to smother new seedlings.  However, as you can see, I have lost the row to the pumpkins as the purslane and everything else has decided that compost and daily waterings are divine and they have taken up the property.  Mulching around pumpkins would be very smart indeed.

Combined with the trenching technique I told you I was going to try, I think I have a fine idea for next year’s garden.  (I know, I know, it’s September, why on earth am I planning next year’s garden?….It’s just what I do, can’t help it.  My heart doth lie in the beauty of the flower’s face, in its tines of leafy elegance, and in its delicious enslavement of promises of food.  I think on it all year.)

The trenching technique works great.  I planted some things in a two inch trench.  It is incredibly dry here and we are not at risk of fungal diseases or overwatering.  I simply fill the trench with water in two seconds to the top, and it soaks down into the roots, no run off.  The wind just hits its tops as the plants try to grow and they are strong by time they get out of the trench.  The roots are kept in a bit of shelter and are so easily watered.  Now, if I mulch around the trenches, I will cut down on work, water, and weeds (my nemesis).

Tis beautiful to plan, and so beautiful to behold, the garden’s ever changing beauty and demure, as well as its challenge and careful planning.  I say mulch!