The Method To My Madness..

Ok.. so we left off with this picture.
It looks scraggly and overgrown.
Well.. I used to scrape down the paths
about once a week etc..
and found that I was creating a problem.
The paths were exposed clay and would leach
all of the water out of the beds.
So I began to let the grass and clover
(and weeds) stay.
Now I only have to hit it every once in a while
with my electric weedeater
instead of scraping and scraping with the hoe.

And I have found that my overall garden health has gone up!
I have more moisture in the soil
and more pollinators
and good bugs
and happier toads
and more earthworms.

And you may notice the mess
under my pepper plants.
It looks just dreadful and as if
I don't ever spend time cleaning
my garden.
I have let it do that on purpose, I swear.
That tangle has nasturtiums, petunias,
wood sorrel and French sorrel.
It has some of my dandelions that I let grow and spread
everywhere for medicinal uses.
There is also white clover and lots of
red clover.
The red clover I harvest and dry for
medicinal teas and tonics all winter
and both clovers are wonderful for the soil.
I have red and white clover growing wild everywhere
in the whole garden.
The tangled mess also helps to cool the soil from
the cooking sun, retain moisture under the plants
and they provide hiding places for my toads
and draw in more pollinators.
I swear! My peppers have never looked better.

And this is what is going on
with the end of each tomato row...
a riotous tangle of growth.
I have petunias and nasturtiums,
marigolds and basils.
My Lime Basil reseeded itself like nothing
I have ever seen before!
They are everywhere!
I must have pulled a million of them
before I bothered to take a sniff.
I promptly stopped pulling them up.

This is the end of one tomato row.
It is a massive catnip.
Is it in the way?
Sure.
But it smells so divine
and draws so many happy pollinators
that I am more than happy to let it sprawl around.

And this is the whole point to the madness..
happy butterflies and honeybees
and bumblebees etc..
The world is becoming a deadly place for insects.
I want to give them as much haven as I can.
They can come here and eat and be safe
from pesticides and I can have ultimate pollination!

Because this is the end result!
About 10 days to go!!
I can't wait!