I've had to be in Iowa this week, so last week when there was a nice day, I cleared off all the last of the winter dead from the garden and re-mulched the paths.
Several of the tatsoi plants I had loosely covered were still green and growing.
A little purple lettuce made it through December and January, but a cold, cold snap in February did it in.
After I pulled up all the okra skeletons and cut back the dead tops of the hardy herbs, I had a virtually blank space, as I hadn't put down any mulch on the paths during this past growing season. I'd thought I would change up the paths, so I let what was there break down. In the end, though, I laid the same paths and added an extra circle to the east end.
When I laid out the first garden, my sister and mother helped mulch paths. I measured them off and had my sister lay wet newspapers down that we mulched over top. Since I've been able to keep the weeds down rather easily the last couple of years, I didn't mess with the newspaper base. Instead, I got some Rust-Oleum landscape marking "paint" and sprayed the lines. (Available with the spray paints at any Walmart or box home improvement store.) Much easier!
I used Scotts red bark mulch this year, which I bought on the year end sale last fall. It took me four hours and sixteen 2-cubic feet bags to mulch it all.
I have some seedlings growing that I've had underway for a few weeks, and when I get back home in a couple of days, I'll start some more.
'Kent Beauty' oregano and 'Holstein' red rhubarb
Let the gardening begin!
