Garden Prep- Yard to food :)

With this new home came about .79 of an acre which is a great place for me to start doing some natural "old-fashioned" gardening :) .. I hesitate to say Organic only because my neighbors have brought more of my attention to the fact that what I am doing is just good "old-fashioned" gardening.. a lost art to many who enjoy the pesticide world.. I however have enjoyed learning about companion planting and other ways to attract beneficial insects :).. Organic has become that many good folks don't understand or turn their heads at before understanding it's a fancy (expensive) way of labeling food products without chemicals.. yes there is more to it and I try to buy Organic when I am not growing my own food... Anyways.. I have been away from the blog again because I have a LOT of work with the home..

Task to prepare to grow :)

Kill the "yard" without the use of chemicals..sheet mulching.. some straw.. and probably a lot of tarp

What I am going to try is the tarp.. I have a lot of great things coming up but I also have quite a few big bushy Johnson Grass patches (which I will hand pull because my mom says that may be the best way)

I had hoped to do more of a sheet-mulching method early on.. but with money tight with all the other upgrades in the home, the tarp seems like It will do the job and I will sheet mulch in the fall.
I keep newspaper and cardboard for that purpose and then I will put organic matter and mulch on top.. the reason this has been halted is because I wanted to use Wood Chips as mulch but my significant other is HIGHLY allergic to Poison Ivy and I have heard tell that sometimes Poison Ivy gets chopped up into the woodchips..

Anyways this was a long ramble.. but I just wanted to fill in the missing blog days with what I've been doing and thinking about as I try to patiently wait to plant in the fall :) .. My side gardens however are looking great and are becoming quite inspirational.