Wow, the winter was harsh on my garden. I honestly did not walk back to the garden in months. We closed it down in the winter, and I never looked back.
Today, April 6th, I finally made some time to go out to the garden and begin the cleanup. The number of weeds was crazy. I should have taken a before and after picture. It took about 2 hours for my daughter and me to weed the garden beds and weed in the rocks around the garden beds. We still have a couple more hours of weeding to go on the far side of the space. Hopefully, we can get to that this next week.
We decided to have three additional garden beds built this year. Two new beds were built in the garden area and one bed was built closer to the house. The one closer to the house will be for herbs only. It is a lot of work to take care of a garden, but I genuinely enjoy it, especially when I see all of my labor paying off with beautiful, flavorful food.
My nemesis in one garden bed is the mint. If you have ever planted mint, you will understand my pain. Last year I ripped all of it out, roots and all. But it came back with a vengeance and completely took over the bed. My daughter pulled it all out again today. But, I know it will raise its beautiful self again very soon. I love to use mint. The first year I even cut it all back and dried it so I could use it in teas and smoothies if I didn’t have fresh mint around. However, it grows so fast I could never get through it all. My recommendation if you ever want to plant mint is to plant in a pot and hope their seeds don’t blow around and create a baby mint in a place you don’t want it to multiply.
I will continue to keep you up to date on the garden adventures during the weeks and months ahead. I will also be posting recipes that go along with what I am picking at the time. If you have any suggestions on how to get rid of mint I would love to hear from you. I challenge each of you to find a small space, a pot, something, and grow at least one thing this summer. Plant an herb you like, a tomato plant, or even a flowering plant. Plant something to nurture and enjoy.
