Why mulch?

Hello everyone.  Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!  We had so much fun in the garden on Saturday and wanted to share some of our experiences. To this point, mulching has taken a back seat to tasks like preparing the soil, composting and planting but as we travel further into our gardening adventure we are quickly realizing how important it could be. While we are discovering the many benefits of weeding (a time for great conversation and an undeniable "zen-like" experience just being in the moment), we are realizing that a little careful planning can probably save quite a bit of work on the gardening front.  (We also found out that a place in the shade to retreat from the sun for a cool drink comes in handy in a garden!). ;)

Until now, we've mostly used straw to mulch around all of the plants we've put in the ground and that seems to be working beautifully. However, we are finding that the remaining unplanted spaces and the garden paths are quickly seeding and sprouting on their own.  (I've read that you can easily see growth of 2-3 inches per week from happy weeds and we've got 'em!).  As a result, our garden think-tank is turning it's efforts to finding the best options for mulch.  Cocoa mulch would be wonderful (fragrant, attractive and local!) but pine needles, wood chips or garden netting might be more cost-saving options. We'll let you know what works best for us as we experiment!

Here are some pictures from last weekend:

We love to read your comments so if you have anything you'd like to share (including your experience with great mulch materials) please leave a comment at the link below.  Have a great week!

~Marykaye