I planted carrots last August and left them to over winter in the garden as a test. I pulled some up the other day and they were great! The biggest one I pulled was 5″. The the biggest carrot I’ve ever been able to grow in this Kentucky mud. (Don’t laugh at me! lol) The tasted so good, too! So much better than store bought carrots. I will definitely be planting more carrots this spring, as well as planting some for the winter.
We had another large garden spot a few years ago. We used it for several years before letting it go back to grass. Last May, I think it was, we covered it with cardboard to take it back for gardening. Here’s what it looked like today. You can see the older cardboard in comparison to a new piece of cardboard in the lower right front of the picture.
And when I pulled back some of the old cardboard, this is what I found. Nice soil just waiting to be planted. We’ll be planting sweet corn and green beans in this section.
I love using cardboard in the garden. It kills off the grass and weeds while retaining moisture. A few years ago while watching a gardening segment on a tv show, the owner of a landscaping and gardening company recommend using cardboard in the garden. She said that the cardboard breaks down into a protein that attracts worms. I tried researching that but couldn’t find anything about the protein. I even called my local extension agent and asked him. He didn’t know anything about the protein, either, but said that cardboard was good in the garden and that the moist environment under it would attract worms. We do have a lot of worms under ours. So I do recommend using cardboard. It also saves a lot of time weeding!
Here are the remaining carrots in the garden, with the cardboard pulled back from the row. You can see we have weeds started already in with the carrots, but look how nice the soil is where the cardboard was. The carrot tops in this picture are the same size as the ones in the carrot picture above, they look smaller because of the angle of the camera. I can’t wait to pick more of them to eat!
On my way back from the vegetable garden, I stopped at the Bible Garden to take a picture of the Hardy Cyclamen. This stays green all winter long. In the spring I get beautiful light purple flowers, then the plant dies off in the middle of summer, only to grow back in the fall. It’s nice to have something green sticking up from the snow. 🙂
Have you ever used cardboard in the garden? I’d love to hear how you use it!
Here are a few links I found interesting and helpful:
Carrot Tops – I did not know you could eat the carrot tops!
Guide to Growing Herbs
How to Grow Microgreens – I’ve never heard of microgreens before, I want to grow some now!
Raised Row Gardening
8 Aromatic Indoor Herbs Which Purify Air
Herbs You Should Plant This Year
For more Farm & Garden posts, please visit:
Bloomin’ Tuesday
Fertilizer Friday/ Flaunt Your Flowers
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