Plant some herbs - something you will use for cooking regularly, some Egyptian topsetting onions, etc. Because they are fragrant, the deer will leave them alone. Since you will be going out to get snips of sage, oregano, parsley, dill, cilantro, thyme, tarragon, etc. regularly, it gives you an opportunity to pull out the occasional grass or weeds. Most of the time they fend for themselves. Of course the oregano will try to take over the universe, but can be controlled to a set area. Dill and cilantro will reseed readily, but can usually be controlled by removing the seed heads before they spread everywhere (and since dill seed is useful in cooking, and cilantro seeds are coriander, not really a problem). Parsley can reseed as well after the second year, but safer to just plant new seed. Basil is tasty and useful, an annual, but in reality even it can reseed. The topsetting onions are virtually indestructible, but if the topsets are replanted regularly, will keep you in green onions most of the year. It gets to where every time you cook, you grab the colander and scissors to grab a few things to spice up your morning eggs, meats, vegetables, sandwich, etc.

No real advice, I'm just here to commiserate.

When I had #3 he was sitting but not crawling in the summer and I had this little fantasy that I could set him up on a blanket next to the garden on a blanket and get some work done.

What's that they say about the best laid plans??

Now Thing 4 (and THE LAST THING) is 3 and I have big hopes for the garden this year.

Every year, like so many of us, I start out enthusiastic and then when it gets hot the weeds take over and I give up, so my big focus is on weed prevention and control. I've put down cardboard and then straw as mulch and, while it's too early to make any grand pronouncements, it seems to be working really well.

Local MG's have a large vegetable garden and their cardinal rule is- no bare soil. Paths between beds are covered with cardboard and straw.

Herbs are planted edge-to-edge to completely blanket the bed; thyme, oregano, cilantro. and parsley are all great ground covers.

They also use cover crops-- in the warm season they plant buckwheat in unused beds and in the fall, red clover. The seeds come from the local farm store and are cheap. Garden catalogs offer cover mixes. They dig these cover crops in by hand when it's time to get ready to plant.

And one memorable year they planted a two foot wide row of zinnias down the middle of the garden! Anything but bare dirt, that's the rule!

I would be careful with the herbs! My first year gardening I didn't know what I was doing and planted a 3x3 raised bed with cute little herbs!

Within a couple of years, I didn't know what was what and I wrecked my back trying to pull them out!

Now, 17 years later there are still some lemon verbena creeping into the next bed! Nancy