Helloooooo!

I’m not sure where to start this story, so I will start at the beginning, I think.

Three years ago, I decided to use my approximately 1,000 sq ft fenced dog kennel for growing vegetables. I mean, well shoot, it’s not like my dogs ever used it. Foxtails and weeds were really the only inhabitants.

I started growing some veggies. Not bad! I even learned how to make homemade tomato sauce. Best sauce ever! Although I don’t eat sliced tomatoes, I grow a lot of tomatoes for that sauce and, of course, salsa.

The second year I put in a raised garden because I didn’t want to pull a lot of weeds. My back yard is enormous so I have plenty of yard work to do every day of the year. I experimented with other vegetables that I thought we would eat. I put in another raised bed.

Then……..

The gophers moved in. Yes, they ate my entire fall garden, including my onions and garlic.

Well then, it was time to dig up the beds, lay down some gopher wire (I’m sure there is a more technical name) and then rebuild my beds. So that’s what I did. But wait up…..I still have weeds. Why are the gophers NOT eating these weeds?

As winter turned to spring, I did not ‘spring’ into action. Yes, you guessed it, MORE WEEDS!

I was listening to a you tube channel, Acre homestead, and the young lady, Becky, mentioned chipdrop.com. A place to get free wood chips to use as mulch in and around your garden.

I then did some research and found out that it will kill off and suppress weeds and, as it breaks down and composts, it will also enrich the soil. I also learned it was free or you can offer to pay $20 that the arborist is charged.

I placed my order, expecting it to take a couple of months. It was delivered 2 weeks later. It was a very large load. Again, I assumed I get a bit of help to move it out to the veggie garden here on my little farmette and I would slowly spread it to all the places I wanted it.

I invited friends and family to my chip moving party. As we were surveying this enormous pile of mulch and wood chips, we realized it was smoldering. Oh yes, that happens, so now we need to get it moved and spread as quickly as we can.

I have to give a big shout out to Kyle, Scott, Lorna, Kim, Tom and Tony for all the hard work they did in helping me get it done in one day.

We spread the chips in the veggie area, on the sides of my house, and the gardens in the front yard.

Now to let you in on some secrets of this highly successful chip movement. My wheelbarrow has a flat tire, so we used 2 of our garbage cans instead. Here where I live we are required to have 3, regular garbage, recyclables, and garden trash.

I have one shovel and I have a second shovel that the handle is broken, so it’s only about 3 feet high. While Lorna, Kim and I shared 3 different rakes and a pair of gloves.

Because of the last-minute changes, I was not prepared to have to spread it all in one day. But my friends and family came through and I’m so excited because it looks great.

If you haven’t started using your land and water to grow your own food, give it a thought or more. START!

If you want more information about wood chips in your garden, check out you tube channels
Acre Homestead
Epic Gardening

Or go to chipdrop.com and be sure to read all the information on their site.

And of course don’t forget to check out my you tube channel: The Girl in The Garden, subscribe and drop me some ‘likes’.

Categories: Family

Tagged as: chips Family friends garden gardening grow your food mulch

reichtina

I retired from my traditional job to explore, practice, and create stories for people of all ages.