If you don’t want to fight weeds on a daily basis, mulching your garden with cedar or wood mulch is a great idea. And with a huge pollinator garden that is more than 40 feet long, the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard volunteers gathered this weekend to get started!

City staff dropped off two yards of wood mulch for us to work with. After weeding the bed well, we applied the mulch 1-2 inches thick. This will help prevent weed seeds from sprouting. Mulch also helps keep moisture in the soil so that we don’t have to water as much.

As a bonus, the wood mulch will break down over time, adding organic matter to the soil that beneficial soil organisms can process and turn into plant available food. So wood chip mulching is great for people (less weeding!) for soil organisms (yummy organic matter!) and for plants (Yay! Plant available nutrients!).

This week’s team included Susan, Cliff, Gail, Annie, Eleanor, Jihane and a new volunteer called Naseer. Nas is a newcomer from Afghanistan and he, Cliff and Eleanor managed the wheelbarrow work like pros!

Nas sells beautiful handmade carpets, dresses and runners from Afghanistan in his Etsy store and you can learn more about him at his website (scroll down to see some photos of his carpets). Have a look and if you see something you like, grab it before someone else does!

It was a hugely successful day and we wrapped up with a selfie in front of our orchard shed. Annie, however, managed to hide behind my hat! But, as you can see above, I caught her in another shot. Annie, you can run, but you cannot hide!

Thanks everyone for a wonderful day! We will meet again next weekend on Sunday for more adventures. See you then!

PS…If are reading this and you want to join us in the park, send an email to growingforgreen (at) gmail.com and we’d love to have you join us!