So one of the goals this past weekend was to start taming the out of control weeds and grass growing around some of the raised beds.
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| Raised beds surrounded by grass and weeds |
Above is what it looked like before. This was around several of the beds, and of course on all four sides of each bed.
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| Pulling up grass around raised bed |
It took quite a bit of bending and digging and good old fashioned pulling, but this is what it looked like afterward.
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| Weed free raised beds |
Oddly, some of the newer beds at the back of the garden are free and clear of weeds both inside and outside. The mulch looks almost as new as when I put it all down a few months ago. I think it's because these beds were built after the weed block cloth was put down and then they were put on top of the cloth. It really made a difference in the grass coming up around them. Lesson learned!
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| Mostly weed free mulch |
The hard part after pulling the weeds and grass is dealing with all the stray pieces of grass and weeds that drop onto the mulch. After picking up as much as I could, I gave up. The rest will either have to blow away or just decompose into the mulch. Do they make a mulch vacuum?
It was about this time the gunshots rang out so I at least got it mostly finished. This coming weekend, I hope to get the beds cleaned up and start getting them prepared for Fall. Hopefully all of these stray grasses blow away during the week, LOL. It may also be the end of the garden trial for this Summer season. It's just SO hot the garden is fizzling. The weather down here just isn't conducive to a Summer garden, though I'm sure there are some heat tolerant veggies that I should try next year.
great job....now can you weed mine? plant okra....it would grow like a weed for you! i bet corn would grow too.
ReplyDeleteI am SO planting okra next year. Weather just got out of control here too quickly and I wasn't ready but I'll be ready then. Never thought about corn, might have to research that. We love okra, not sure why I didm''t think of that this year, sigh.
DeleteThat weeding is a lot of work and hard on the back, but it sure looks nice once it done.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if you have enough room in the raised beds, but blackeye, purple hull peas....anything in the cowpeas family will do well in this Texas heat. Might try trellis over the beds as they like to climb. In our 2012 garden we had 6 rows about 25 ft. long of Crowder peas. We still have them in the freezer and canned quarts in the pantry. If you keep picking them they keep making. I told my husband JUST STOP PICKING THEM, no joke; though its funny now but not then.
To late for this year, but our Butternut Squash does well in this heat. Makes pumpkin pies, bread, cookies, and pancakes. The best thing is the squash bugs don't like it much.
Oh it sure does. Makes it 'almost' worth the work, ha.
DeleteI had no idea bout the cowpeas family. I will check that out. It is too late this season but I will add that to the list. And butternut squash, we LOVE that. thanks for the info!!! I'm going to need to start thinking about how to change our plans for next season.
Looks great all weeded. The hard work is always worth it in the end.
ReplyDeleteThis might be a dumb question, but is there anything that you can grow in Texas over the winter?
No dumb questions at all, heck we're learning as we go too, ha. There are some veggies that look to be good Fall and/or cool weather crops. We're trying to decide what to do for this Fall. Stay tuned! :-)
DeleteIf you haven't already, you should look into the rain gutter growing system and/or using the kiddie pool with grow bags and a float and you wouldn't have to worry about the watering during the week. The success of this kind of growing is going leaps and bounds. Worth taking a look at. It is on facebook.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend. We might get rain AGAIN!
I have never heard of that? Hmm, I will have to check that out. I'll try anything that makes it easier or should I say at least makes it in our Summer heat, ha. Thanks!!!
DeleteLooking good!! Lots of hard work - AND under the threat of gunfire! Now that's dedication!!
ReplyDeleteYou have it all ready for a great fall garden full of lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and all the other great fall-winter vegetables.
LOL! Never thought about it that way, ha.
DeleteI need to see when it's best to plant those. I'm putting the garden to 'sleep' for the rest of this summer but need to see when it's a good time to plant those fall/winter veggies.
Thanks!!