I wasn't always like this - I used to be crazy

2008 Wall o'Wet Weeds

I wasn't always this tidy and well organized.  I used to be a bit of a wild mess.  Today is a rainy Saturday.  Not much can be done in the garden.  No serious work anyway.  I could do small chores dodging raindrops.  I could even go out there in good shoes.  But it wasn't always like that.  People visit our garden and look at us like we're nuts for investing this much time, effort and material into fencing and walkways.  But I think it was crazier to try to garden in a traditional tilled garden.  The garden today takes so much less time and effort. 

The same view 2008 and today

This morning when I looked out the window at the soggy garden I was inspired to go back to the days before the raised beds and look at photos of my earlier gardens.  There were a lot of weeds.  And mud.  It was a jungle out there.  There was a lot of foliage and not all of it was welcome.  To make it look pretty you had to spend a lot of time tilling and hoeing and pulling weeds.  And you couldn't do that in wet soil.  You would come out of there with five pounds of mud on each boot.  

Welcome to the jungle - 2008

I remember the last two years of the tilled garden well.  2007 was an almost perfect year.  It rained gently several nights a week.  The days were warm and sunny.  My garden was dry and orderly.  The walkways were softly tilled.  I kept up with the weeds.

2007

 I was beginning to switch from rows to intensive planted squares. 

A row is not as easy to weed as a square is.  

2007

2007 went so well that I jumped into 2008 enthusiastically and expanded.  And it was wet.  The garden never looked tidy.  It was a jungle.

A Wide Wet Jungle

I panted squash and beans outside of the fence.  I battled mildew.  You can see the neighbor's squash in the background immersed in weeds.  The perfect set up for powdery mildew.  

2008

I don't know where you would even start to weed this mess.

 It had gotten ahead of me for sure.

2008

Bush pickling cucumbers last weekend and today.

But I don't have to figure out how to keep up with that anymore.  The weeds are licked.  The walkways are clean and neat.  If I need to work in the rain, it isn't all that bad.

I need to get these apples bagged to protect from insects.  

I'd like to do that on a dry day.

That will not be today.

The buckwheat is elbow high and in full bloom.

But there are few pollinators.  I expected to see dozens of bumble bees and at least some honey bees but all there are is a few little sweat bees.

The radicchio is enjoying the mild weather.

I have a lot of tomatoes set on all varieties.

It's so nice to go out there between rainstorms and poke around.  I even filled a few pots and planned some work for tomorrow.  I set out watering cans with fertilizer ready to feed the annuals, but that will have to wait a day or two.  I'm just glad I don't have a million weeds to pull.  That mess was crazy!