There are some cities that have garden share programs. They plant and maintain your garden and you get a portion of the produce.

Lloyd

Lloyd's idea of another gardener being able to use the space is a good one. But that obviously depends on the gardener. Maybe a friend or neighbor that you know their style of gardening would be a good bet ?

My next door neighbor has a large, very old garden plot that I used to use as that's where the sun is. Since I stopped when it became too much to care for, he has had a succession of people taking the spaces over the years. It's interesting to watch, and I'm amazed at how many people drive or bike out of their way to play in the dirt.

Very few have been as neat and tidy as I would be willing to have in my yard. The worst are the young gals that work like mad the first weekend of spring, then rarely return.
The majority do better but seem unaware the plants need water more than once every few weeks. I can't help myself sometimes and regularly put my hose nozzle on center, rather than shower, as I take pity on wilting tomato plants in my line of sight. Then there are the good gardeners too. It's great fun to chat and watch the as the seasons progress.

If you want to cover the beds, I would find a good garden store ( not a big box store with a garden area) and locate the high quality weed block fabric. It's the fabric commercial nurseries use between rows, and it's good, sturdy, long wearing stuff. It's designed to be driven on by their forklifts, so you know it's not the junk that's commonly sold to home gardeners. A good local garden store should have it for sale by the yard, so while it's an investment, you can reuse it for years and years. The parts of my work area I covered probably 20 years ago is still is good shape, though that is on the north side of the house. I have used, pulled up, stored, then reused several other pieces too, and while pulling up is tough if it's been down for years and roots are woven though it, I just set the chunk aside and let it age, and the roots eventually come loose. It would be a nice between rows foot path area later, or where ever you need a little cheat.

It's held down with ground staples ( cheap and sold where the ground cloth is) and will not disintegrate and look bad like plastic would.

I agree with you jolly, our priorities shift over the years, and time with a baby is always more important. The garden will be there when you return, just hopefully not with thug weeds. You have the right idea. :)

It might be too much work/time, but you could cover it with 6" or more of wood chips, that should stop almost all weeds and it would break down over a couple years for when you're ready again. You could also not cover the herbs, to let them grow.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood chip mulched garden

I agree with emgardener.
Don't cover with plastic or fabric, just organic material that will add to the soil.

Of the herbs, I would mulch around them and use them as much as you can. The mint, chives and sage don't need much maintenance so they should last til you get back into the swing of things. As for the others, use them as long as they last.
Best of luck.

Soil should never be left exposed to the ravages of the sun, wind, and rain and Ma Mature tries to prevent that by growing things we call "weeds". Fallow soils, those not in active production, should be planted with Green Manure, or Cover crops, but never with landscape fabric which according to an article that appeared in a recent Fine Gardening magazine article is a bad for soil as plastic.

There are a number of grains that can be seeded for a summer cover crop, Buckwheat is one, and they can be followed by a winter cover crop, such as Field, Winter, Cereal Rye to be cut or turned in in the spring. These will help keep the soil you have in place and stop the wind from blowing it away as well as adding more organic matter to that soil.

Having 3 children I understand how hard it can be to juggle everything. This too shall pass.

I would cover the beds with cardboard, add the leaves on top and call it good. You mentioned that you had made compost. You could also use the beds as compost bins. I'm thinking like a lasagna garden sort of thing.

If your herbs and other plants you want to keep are scattered about, you could dig them up in the fall when it cools off and consolidate them in one area. Maybe next to the asparagus - you'll probably want to keep that anyway since it takes years to get a patch going.

I'm having similar thoughts about the garden because of the horrible heat and drought. It's hardly worth the time, water and heartache. What I have been able to keep going so far this year - tomatoes, peppers and sweet potatoes - have just been mowed down by the deer. Apparently they were the only edible things left in the neighborhood. :-\

Kimmsr,

Quote:
never with landscape fabric which according to an article that appeared in a recent Fine Gardening magazine article is a bad for soil as plastic

Reply:
Their claim is that weed block stops water and air. So apparently some of the home improvement store type weed blocks must do that. I was very disappointed in that article. They totally missed the boat. They could have compare brands, or if that was a financial problem, they could easily have explained the different types of weed block and what types to avoid, and possible alternatives. But instead they made a only party true blanket statement. Quite misleading. They had the opportunity to do an interesting article there.

I think this is another of those things that's going to vary depending on each individuals garden. For me, piled leaves would blow directly south first storm. I also have tough, flat leaves that knit into solid, waterproof layers ( thus my interest in this forum long ago, and still looking for options).

For me, a layer of bark/wood chips would not only become a weed meadow, due to weed seeds blowing in and catching on the textured surface,plus the whole thing would become the neighborhood cat liter box. Cats very much prefer a lighter, well drained, thus dryer texture to dig in. Once they make a choice, they return..time after time.
... pee-ewww ...

Sigh.. Fine Gardening used to be a great publication. I took time off from gardening and see the magazine is now changed a lot! It seems to be written for a much less experienced readership. Sign of the times I guess.I noticed Horticulture has changed in a similar fashion. That's nice for garden beginners, but we old timers have nothing commonly available anymore. :(

My wife loves using the landscape fabric over our raised beds. 3 young kids (one 10 months) and a messy husband keeps her busy.

It keeps the weeding to a minimum, the veggies/herbs taste the same, and actually seems too lower overall insect pressure (we do organic).

It probably does matter what type of a landscape fabric is used though - ours lets in a small amount of moisture and does breathe.

Even in 100 degree heat/drought in MI recently the fabric didn't hurt the plants. We cut 5"-10" diameter holes (depending on the plant being put into it).

We've grown everything from Zucchini, Tomato, Herbs, Peppers, Eggplant, etc. this way in raised beds and it worked great.

Just make sure it isn't the real expensive weed barrier stuff that is similar to plastic and non-porous.

I was in the same situation two years ago. I buried two of my garden beds with mulch, one with shredded leaves, the other with leaves, grass clippings, straw and other. The results were very good.

It took a little work to rehabilitate the beds this year, but the soil is in the best shape I've ever seen it. I removed all the mulch and put it into the compost bins. The old mulch, now compost material, heated right up, even the shredded leaves, which had been through two heating cycles already.

Everything growing in those beds that had been mulched for two years is growing well; corn, beans, tomatoes, melons, peppers. The only significant weed that I deal with is bindweed/morning glory.

I say bury the beds in as much mulch as you can get, especially shredded leaves, if possible. I had about a very deep pile of shredded leaves on one bed, two to three feet. Plan on making a lot of compost when that mulch comes off.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will report back .... later!

You could simply plantis with a perennial cover.

I would use clover. Helps the soil and bees love it.

I agree with either the cover crop/green manure, or lasagna/mulching. I also have a neighborhood cat problem, they like to use my garden as their personal space. I found that laying chicken wire over mulch not only keeps it from blowing around, but the cats hate to put their paws on the chicken wire. It's cheap, reusable and effective for long term raised beds.
Oh, one more thing - in my experience, small kids never "help" in the garden. They eat the soil, bugs, and tools, and crawl away while you're on your knees. I gave them a digging space that was fairly enclosed, knowing they'd eat dirt, etc, or gardened when they were napping nearby. They pull out plants, eat the wrong leaves, you name it!! But don't despair, that's what dry baby wading pools are for.

You have to wait till they get a little older before they're very effective as forced labor. :-p

Sounds like you have a good garden & raising babies in the garden is a real treat.
I am with emgarden, wood clips or pine straw, which I use on tomatoes & sweet peppers..
Wish I lived near by, I have helped two friends to get beds going this year, it was great fun, NMO.
Onions & greens should be easy to grow in your zone, with a little much. Some weeds out side of bed, but not many in bed.
{{gwi:298497}}

Pine straw! I ran a bit of that through mychipper/shredder along with some Virginia creeper and other ramial material a week ago. I left it in a pile for a few hours. Sure enough, it was heating up by the time I got around to using it for mulching my raspberries. Good stuff.

I had used some chipped/shredded pine straw under my blueberries three years ago. That stuff is almost gone now. Only the wood chips are still recognizable.

Thanks for all the suggestions. We had a chance to spend a weekend in the garden, pulled everything out, replanted herbs in one section and mulched them.

Next we need to replant the hops to a better/sunnier spot.

Now on to the empty beds. I think I will do clover/compost cover crop since I have the seeds.

There is a guy in our are who does tree service - I have to inquire if he might be able to bring a large volume of wood chips in one load.