Been pretty busy in the garden and with life in general, but the monthly newsletter reminded me to check in here.
In response to Rick, I keep the garden heavily mulched, and it has really become a great habitat for the worms and other soil organisms. They really help with compaction as they move through the soil and their castings provide fertilizer for the plants. It's hard not find a worm if you pull the mulch back.
An added benefit is less work, no tilling or weeding. Only garden work I do is continuously mulch (got to put leaves and grass somewhere, so no extra work), plant, and harvest. I have also started using coffee grounds from a local shop, I usually get about 10 gallons per week, it's a great source of nitrogen, free, and on my way to work.
And finally the mulch keeps the soil very moist, I only watered 3 times last year. I used very little fertilizer, just a handful of worm casting when I planted and a side dressing around heavy feeders mid season. Here's a pic of some of my veggies, and a late season pic of the very lush garden.
