Mulch Madness

We finally broke down and bought a load of much needed mulch. This mulch mountain is what 8 cubic yards looks like, after having probably 20 wheelbarrow-loads already toted away.

Our mulching projects went in order of urgency - first, the apple and hazelnut trees we planted in the fall, then the much-neglected blueberry bushes we planted two falls ago, and then our perennial beds containing our hops vines, chicory, blackberries, mint, rhubarb, and our newly-planted strawberry crowns. Here you can see the hops bed, with some daffodil bulbs strewn in, and with plenty of room for the chives, lavender, sage, rosemary, and thyme I'll be planting soon.

With Sprout being born right at the time when this work should have been done last year, it just didn't get done, which meant that later in the season the weeds got pretty unmanageable. This year, all the heavy lifting should pay off with healthier plants (and happier neighbors too, I'm sure). Our next project is to put down a layer of cardboard and then mulch the walkways between our vegetable beds to cut down on mowing and trimming, and to get us a step closer to the colonial-kitchen-garden inspired and more suburban-friendly design we have in mind.