Garden Prep 2015 - Ground Covers

[jasonvivier]

I've still got about 1/2 a foot of snow on the ground and our soil temperature is currently 22 degrees F. but I can still get a little work done for the garden.

I've started mixing my edible ground cover blend, with a little alteration from last year...

This blend gets sown all over the garden (and by garden I mean lawn because I don't have a lawn anymore) in the beginning of the season (zone 5). I put it everywhere. It functionally gives weeds nowhere to germinate. The few that generally pop up typically have some useful function otherwise so I typically leave them with rare exceptions when they instead become compost or mulch.

Mulch preparation takes a little time, but it isn't exactly work - I enjoy using the leaf blower with vacuum extension!

 

[baymule]

What is in your blend?

 

[jasonvivier]

What is in your blend?

1 tsp black seeded simpson
1/2 tsp red romaine
1/2 Radicchio Rosse Di Torta
1/4 Early scarlet rose radish
1/2 tsp French Sorrel
1/2 tsp Red Wing Lettuce Mix
1/2 tsp pink beauty radish
1/2 tsp China Rose radish
1/4 tsp China red meat radish
1/2 Extra dwarf Pak Choy
2 tsp Parisienne Carrot
4 tsp Rocky top Salad Mix
1/2 tsp Amarillo Carrot
3 tsp Corn Salad Dutch
1/2 tsp Burgandy Mordor Onion (Family Heirloom)
1/2 tsp fordhook chard
1/2 Detroit dark red beet (grown for greens)
1 tsp triple curled parsley
2 tsp bloomsdale spinach
1/2 Fennel
1/4 tsp purple basil
1/4 tsp dill

As I eat away smaller plants I make room for bush beans, cabbage, marigold, sunflowers, calendula, lupine, and other seed and plant starts. I eat while I plant things Though I generally leave the plants around carrots and let those plants bolt.

Last year I had dwarf blue scotch kale I decided to leave it out this year because last years plants will bolt and drop seed this summer. I'll let it self seed and pop back up in the fall. I'm likely to have second year parsley mixed in there as well - we never have enough so I'm cool with it.