Inside, east side, hoophouse

This is our third year growing vegetables here. When we moved to this location the hoophouse was overgrown with trees, weeds and trash. The weeds are a constant and never ending cycle..and lots of progress has been made. Not much poison ivy anymore. The mile a minute has been slowed to a mile an hour. The big grass clumps continue to be broken up and removed.

Homer has a vision of beds that have a wood border around each one. It must be the woodworker in him. As chicken pens are updated with newer, lighter models, the parts are being reused around each vegetable plot. This definition makes it easier to run hoses and define where walking should and should not happen. And it does look better.

The wood is not pressure treated, so over time it will disintegrate and become part of the soil. The saw mill just around the corner now provides us with most of our wood, and is lower priced than the big box stores, so allowing wood to compost is ok with us.

Lots growing, lots planted, lots more to plant. We have been locating and bringing into the garden area the praying mantis pods, and have also discovered many lady bugs. The wasps the size of a pencil point? We guess they are there too, because the aphids appear to be gone. Looks like time to pull weeds in this bed.