Lightweight Eats

There are an abundance of reasons to mulch your plants. In California, where summers are hot and dry, moisture retention tops my list. Weed suppression is another big one.

Some plants don't do well with mulching, like radishes and beets. But other, like peas, trees and bushes, do. I knew it would help me out a lot to mulch as many plants as possible--I hate watering and I'm pretty inconsistent about it.

If you go to your local garden center and ask for mulch, they'll show you big bags of bark chips. That's a great permanent weed prevention solution for walkways and around trees. Less great for annuals, where you'll want to turn up the soil and amend between plantings.

Since I'm working with relatively uninspired soil, I wanted my mulch to also improve the soil conditions. Partially decomposed compost was definitely an option, but my supply is super limited, and I'd like to keep it for direct soil amendments. If we had a car, I might have considered picking up bags of finished compost as mulch.

Instead, I went with a free solution: shredded paper. Between recycled newspapers and foraged ahredder byproduct, I'm slowly working on mulching my most precious plants. To keep the paper from blowing away in the wind, just wet it thoroughly.

As the season progresses, the paper will begin to decompose. When my veggie plants have finished their growing cycle, I can simply work the paper bits into the soil, where they will as organic matter, and probably improve water retention in the soil.

The peas have already received the royal treatment. Up next are the cabbages, lettuces and raspberries.