Little Bit

My recycling spot is a large bin in my neighborhood. It's at the local fire station. The walk lets me get to know all of the people and animals, and that is where I met Little Bit. He was a brown terrier mix breed that lived near the mailbox with his owners. Little bit is small. When his owner couldn't get to mowing his lawn, Little bit would disappear. His companion is a grey terrier mix named Rosie. Little bit and Rosie would hear someone at the mailboxes, and charge out, barking at anyone who would dare trespass, protecting the territory. I'm sure in Little bit's mind, he was a wolf running on the tundra of Alaska, chasing after predators.

What about gardening? Well, the walk lets me be a sort of gardening peeping-tom. I walk past multiple houses, and I like to look at what's growing in people's yard. I see many types of gardens. Conventional vegetable patches, roto-tilled on the ground. Raised beds. English gardens. Fruit trees. Redwood trees. Weeds.

I get to see the beauty of the gardens through the seasons, and, the native plants in all their glory. In spring, the huckleberry plants have fantastic burgundy clusters of leaves that glow against the green leaves. The house with the fruit trees were pruned in winter. The trees are the right sizes. I see what is being done right.

The vegetable patch will have weeds, but some people like to be out in the garden with weed pulling therapy. If you don't like to pull weeds, any type of barrier is a start.

The first idea, is to lay down cardboard or paper, and cover with a thick layer of compost as the growing medium. Plant directly in the soil. A second idea is to lay down a layer of heavy weed fabric on top of prepared soil, burn a small hole with a torch for the seedling, and lay drip tape on top of the fabric. I still am not sure how to do carrots in the fabric. The main idea of all is to gain control of weeds.

I like to spend an hour every two to three days grooming my garden, and this keeps most of it in control. Three summers ago, my truck broke down on a road trip. After 4 weeks on the road, we made it home, and weeds were everywhere. As I ripped out weeds, some vegetables came out. Not all, but enough to make the loss of food make me think.

One of my garden tools is the weed burner that is available from Territorial Seeds, in Oregon. It works great on most grassy weeds, without much of a taproot. The best control is on the new small growth, with so-so control on small dandelions and the sort. It also is best to use it early in the season, when it is wet out, so I don't set my yard on fire! This year I plan to be on top of the weed population. I'll let you know how it turns out

Spring will be here, so plant, water, fertilize, and keep growing.

It was a shock to found out he is gone, I do miss Little Bit.