Fifteen manalucie seeds were put between two dampened paper towels on 3-26-12. Early this morning they were found to be, as yet, ungerminated. Such lies outside my previous year's experience. Impatience and fear of inventory shrinkage got the better of me so 12 of those presprouted some time ago were planted out this morning. The bed as laid out will accommodate twenty-four. Twelve seeds will be planted in situ to round out this year's experiment.
Laying out the bed also gave impetus to be in the garden and an opportunity to take the above picture. Last fall, Youngblood delivered two round bales of old hay. Per Ruth Stout, one of them was spread about ~8" deep. In one spot, we spread oak leaves to a similar depth so a comparison could be made. Seems the Bermuda grass had no problem coming through the old hay and in other places, other things such as rye grass, some volunteer squash, etc. are growing thickly. NOTHING came up through the leaves.
Half of the tomato bed was positioned in the leaf mulch and half in the hay mulch. Digging under the leaves was MUCH easier than digging under the hay, the ground was more moist, the earth worms more frequent. Seems that the leaves were better than the hay in every respect.
Thankfully, there was a large pile of leaves deposited in the corner of the garden which will be used to top dress the area around those tomatoes planted in the hay.
"Solve world hunger, tell no one." "The, the, the . . . The Grinch!"
"If you can't beat them, bite them."