Back To Eden Project (What We Think Of It After Our First Season)

Two weeks ago I had a post on this subject drafted, almost ready to be published. I got too busy to finish the post, and then the information became obsolete. Had to start over.
I will say right off that if we had any problems with the woodchip mulch they all came from one problem. That is, the mulch kept the soil too cold this June and July. June was cold and rainy and everyone's garden looked cold and wet. July came in all her lovely, hot glory and the gardens took off. Except ours didn't. While others were harvesting green beans, ours were just blossoming. While others were harvesting cucumbers and zucchini, our plants were dropping unpollinated fruit right and left. Needless to say, I was sad. But then the beans began to look like this about the beginning of August. And they're still at it.
By the end of August, the potatoes finally perked up. This spring they were taking so long to emerge through the mulch that Jay thought maybe they were buried too deeply. So he scraped away some of the mulch for about half the plants. Ironically, when they did come up, it was the plants that he didn't help that thrived. The rest were stunted. In August, the stunted plants either died off, or took off. At least some of them look like this. The carrots were planted late. They're doing fine. They are so good; there is nothing like a fresh garden carrot.
I had sadly given up on the winter squash, the pumpkins, and the ornamental squash. They got big and spread out, but they seemed to just not pollinate. They say that they don't pollinate in hot weather. Sure enough, when it cooled off they began to set fruit. Sad, because I think they're out of time. If only they'd been ready to set fruit before it got hot. If I cover them at night maybe I'll get some....
Conclusion? I think we started out too cold this spring. We put the mulch down while it was cold and wet, and it stayed cold and wet for awhile after it was laid. I hope that this next year the soil and mulch will warm up a little more quickly. Maybe the soil won't get as cold this winter? Or maybe we can pull the mulch back from ths rows to warm the soil sooner. But really, I do believe that soil temperature seemed to be the only problem. I absolutely love the absence of weeds! We did have to do some watering. Every summer we have 4-6 weeks of sunshine without rain. The mulch helped us through that time for sure. We watered, but very little in comparison to most years.
Jay also has a row of baby trees, some blueberry plants, and I have flower beds that benefited from the mulch. It was so nice to see these things thrive instead of just "hang in there". And the herb garden? It went from a dusty weed patch to a bonafide overgrown mass of herbs.
And now for my true love: these too, waited until the last minute to do what they were meant to do, but oh the joy! :) :) :)

Saturday Morning Small Pleasures

Olivia used up my soap. Shilah gave us some homemade bar soap this spring. I liked it of course. Jay didn't like the tea tree oil in it, but he liked the way it made his skin feel. So the lady at Farmers Market gained a customer with her patchouli scented handmade soap. Well actually she gained three customers. I'm always up for a little pampering, so if Jay is approving I won't have qualms about $5.00 -a -bar barsoap. And little Miss Olivia jumped on the bandwagon too. My bar of soap disappeared very quickly this time because I couldn't seem to keep that bar out of her little hands. This morning's fun was a beautiful fall sunshine and blue sky. (Yes, some people did get frost last night.) The soap, and a yogurt smoothie, and six locally grown tulip bulbs, all purchased at ths Farmers Market.

A Morning's Harvest

Don't worry, Susan. Real update coming soon. :)

I don't think I can complain about these sunflowers. They're making me happy.

Trying Out A New Blogging App

So unhappy with how my pictures are coming through. So I'm experimenting.

Camping at Boulder Creek

     We went camping last weekend. We left Saturday about 11:00 or so and got home on Sunday about 1:00.
     It can be good to leave your house and habits. When we go camping we go where there are no bathrooms or kitchens. It is good for me to get that basic because I become so grateful. I have thoughts about my ancestors being tougher than me. About how they might have seen six loads of laundry on my floor as a chance to see my washer do a days work in, well, a day. But hardly any effort on my part. And as much as I sometimes resent my tiny, unhandy kitchen, really, what can I say? When I go camping, I ask Jay questions such as, "If I were exiled to the woods, how long would it be until I didn't live on a dirt floor?"
     Well anyway, we had a nice time camping. We cooked good food, played in the river, and watched shooting stars. Of course, everything has a special delight when you're introducing your children to it.

Garden Update

It's time to update on the garden.
By now I was hoping for huge plants and lots of produce. Reality check. The plants are growing and we will most likely get crops. But due to the fact that we planted late, the cold spring, and the soil and woodchips getting to know each other, things actually seem delayed.
Jay planted the potatoes in the mulch early in the summer. They seemed to be coming up slowly, so he pulled some of the mulch back a bit to help them along. Well, the ones he didn't help are the tall ones. The plants he helped are apparently stunted.
The green beans are in different stages of growth because, even though they were planted at the same time, they came up in stages. Also, the mulch was laid pretty thickly where the beans were planted, so they ended up being planted in trenches.
All of our squash, pumpkin, and cucumber plants were extremely delayed. I think their roots were too cold.
So, those are the not so great things about the mulch. We're still excited about the absence of weeds and the moisture retention. I think as the mulch breaks down and becomes new soil, that the other problems will go away too. So at this point we aren't discouraged; we're just in the learning curve of making it work.
Next, I'd like to do a post of some of the fun we've had this summer.