Getting Rid Of Weeds

There was a surprising frost last night. It was very light, but there none the less! The tent I constructed around my tomatoes did the trick. They are just fine.

Here is a view of my garden. Byron asked me what I wanted for Christmas. "New beds for my garden!", I automatically replied. So today he promised to begin working on them....we'll see. I know he'll get around to it eventually.

It looks really untidy right now, but I'm working on suppressing the weeds. I've been saving cardboard boxes and the bags that the chicken feed comes in. My children are so used to it that they automatically place cereal boxes or any other cardboard box by the front door when they are finished with them instead of depositing them in the trash.

This is the box Byron made for me to use as a cold frame. So far, I haven't found much use for a cold frame. The extreme humidity we have here in New Orleans promptly rotted the old window frame I was using to top it and the glass panes fell out. It's now a small raised bed in the center of the main path of my garden. Every little square foot of space can be used to grow something useful.

I place all the cardboard and paper bags I have saved on the paths of the garden. Next pine straw mulch will be place on top. This works really well in killing the grass and weeds. It then breaks down and forms wonderful soil.

This is the same method I used in my front garden. Look how well it's doing. There are very little weeds penetrating the layers, and those that do are very easy to pull up. I recommend this layering method. This works so much better than the typical black landscaping plastic, which is a pain, expensive and doesn't work very well.

Check out La Gringa's Blogicita. She has a really interesting way of recycling plastic bags.