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| The renewed bed is at the top-right -- covered in fresh compost. |
So I've been avoiding sharing with you all photos of the right side of my community plot. The left side is in pretty good shape and I've been keeping up weeding and chipping the middle aisle and surrounding pathways. But half of the right side had become an unruly mess. This was mostly due to the introduction of a few plants that are fast spreaders - yarrow, chives, and wild strawberry runners. NONE of these three were deliberately planted by me. They all came in from other plots or as "extras" in pots with things that I did plant.
And when I say "fast spreader" I mean turn your back and they will take you out at the knees! To make matters worse, two invasive plants -- mulberry tree saplings and morning glory vines are also getting a foothold. I beat them back weekly, but all the good rain and mild weather that we've been having this year have made them much more prolific than ever.
This past week, I took up an offer from a fellow member of the Silver Spring Timebank who was negative in his hours balance to help me weed out a section of the plot. In 1.5 hours, we tackled one discrete 3x6 bed and I finished it up with a layer of compost. In it, I planted dahlia tubers that had sprouted in storage and were far past needing to be in the ground. I also added a short trellis and planted a cucamelon vine at its base.
Mid-summer is not the ideal time to do a total bed refresh, but like a lot of gardening (and life) you tackle things when you have the energy and availability rather than what is ideal for the plants themselves.
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