To Weed or not to Weed?

In Permaculture - the goal is to get to a place where the plants all exist together with minimal interference from us...

I have my tomato garden and the weeds of course are coming back - Dan said to leave them.  They cover the rocks and help keep things cool.  I tried - but part of me still believes that too many weeds will steal the nutrients from my plants.

So I pull the weeds and stick them in my compost which will eventually add nutrients back after they break down.  Now I need to find a mulch to cover the soil again and hold in the water.  By the time I finished the whole garden, I was thinking that Dan was right - it took a lot of work!

the garden does look so pretty without weeds...

 My Santa Fe Peppers are turning red and I have started picking a few.

Frog explosion - too many to count but they are kind of cute

I did some research and this weed is called Purslane - in India it is considered an herb.  It is very healthy and tasty - so I have reconsidered.  I  believe I will weed less and maybe even try this in our salad this week.  In the meantime when it grows back - it will be covering the rock and helping to keep the moisture in the garden - win win! 

 I haven't told Isabella yet, but the cherry tomatoes are starting to turn red.  Once she finds out - they will be gone!

My next dilemma is the sugar beet field.  The tomato plants are coming back to life so I will continue to water it; however, the rag weed is growing much faster than the vegetables!  At first I didn't mind leaving them - I know there are white flies in this area and they are staying on the ragweed and leaving the squash and tomatoes alone. Again, Daniel was right - the part of the field we cleared by just cutting down the weeds is not filling in as fast as the part we actually tried pulling up the roots...

But as you can see from the picture - the back portion is out of control.  So I hit the Internet again and I have a plan.  I may have mentioned sheet mulching before and the big ragweed bushes will fit right in...  Sheet mulching is a easy way to build wonderful, healthy gardens without having to till.  You put down cardboard,  compost, green manure (ragweed in this case), kitchen scraps and then top with a heavy layer of straw.  You then leave it be - the worms do the rest of the work.  I plan on using this technique to prepare some gardens for the spring.  In fact, we will be working on the front yard shade garden this weekend.  Next spring it will be ready to plant and I won't have to till or turn the soil!

I found others who have used the ragweed in this manner and it worked out well.  It decomposes pretty quickly and we won't have to worry about it seeding because it will be beneath a big layer of mulch.  Since we won't till, the seeds will not make their way to the surface and the sun to sprout.  

I guess the real test will be next summer - will I have a garden of ragweed or perennials?  
As for the sugar beet field - we will see if the tomatoes have time to produce.  I will ask J to mow the smaller weeds and I will get to work chopping down the big ones.

Is there a Support Group for when your trees have been butchered?

So today has been very traumatic for me.  I know I am over reacting, I know I am too emotional about this but I can't help it.  I came home today to a mess.  We had our Maple trees trimmed today.  My beautiful trees that shaded our home and created a perfect outside living area are now gone.  I am being told their lives are being extended and that they will fill in again - healthier.   But it is still so hard!  At least I got 6 weeks with my beautiful ideal trees...

I came home to this

This is what is used to be

 Looking up from our patio and Daniel hanging out his first time on the farm...

I am looking at the pictures and thinking it won't seem as drastic to others as it is to me - but I stood on my patio in full sun when it used to be  peaceful shade and I am sad.

Next year this will all be a memory - but for now I will have another glass of wine.

Never Ending Projects

Every day is a busy day! 

Since moving in we have had plenty of visitors and with those visitors - more projects have popped up.  

The latest project is close to wrapping up.  The living room floors were re-done.  Remember on the first day we pulled up all the existing Berber carpet and found beautiful wood floors underneath.  

They are now finished and the room is fantastic!  Since the floors looked so good - I was motivated to paint the walls.  Below are the before and after pictures.

Before

After

The furniture is back in place and we have started putting our book bins up on the walls.  Once it is all put together - I will share another picture.

We also got a new fridge - the other one was too small for us.  J and Pop worked on getting that installed and the water line to the ice set up.  The doorway is small so the fridge doors had to come off.  You can see the it in pieces.

Once the older one was removed we saw the original built in and decided to enlarge that area so the fridge could be pushed all the way back.  It only gave an additional 4 inches or so - but the result is very nice.  

Currently we have our stove built into an island in the middle of the kitchen.  So if I am cooking and someone needs to get something out of the fridge - it is a juggling act.  The addition 4 inches help until we can move the stove.  That will be a mighty project and will probably take a while to get started. (I will add some kitchen pictures next time.)

The gardens are coming along well (minus the sugar beet field) and I have started getting peppers already.  

Can't wait for the tomatoes!