Kimmrs is so right about the timing! Depending on where you live, there can be unwanted plants that surface year round whenever there is a mild sunny day. The other thing cardboard will do is decrease the light available...which hopefully discourages weed seeds from germinating. Sharon, I would encourage you to lay the cardboard & mulch now when the ground is the clearest you can get it. Even the wet parts if anything grows there. Yayy! Thanks to this thread, all of the cardboard is out of my house and on the ground with mulch on top. I waited until we had a good rain so the soil was moist and wet down the cardboard as I went along. WHAT A RELIEF! I'm loving seeing no green where I don't want it! The only part left is the one I dread the most: a big section where English ivy is rampant. I'm going back through this thread to see the approaches. I'd love to just cut it back enough to be able to lay cardboard instead of trying to dig it out first. But I doubt I'll be that lucky. Rightly or wrongly, I didn't till the compacted areas before laying the cardboard. It may be several years before many of the areas are planted, especially landscaping the borders surrounding the yard [$$$$$]. I'm going to till when & where I'm ready to plant and can work in the compost & other amendments the plants need.

I have a hill at the back of my lot, faces south toward the house, which had a dry dusty lawn on it. Mowing was a real chore, because it's a hill and the grass was kind of sparse and the mower kicked up lots of red clay dust. So last spring I turned it into a garden, with a path cutting across it diagonally. One third I dug up and amended with compost. Another third I spread a thick layer of wood mulch and attempted to grow vegetables (big headache, couldn't dress with enough compost and manure to overcome nitrogen shortage, but it's looking better for this year). For the section above the path I used lasagne method. I had a large pile of rotted leaves, and my other ingredient was grass cuttings the neighbors set out in brown paper yard waste bags. Spread the bags over the old lawn, and layered the leaves and clipping over them. Planted petunias and ageratum along the path, and tomatoes behind. One thing I worried about was that the whole mess would slide down the hill with the first heavy rain; never happened. I planted into the lasagne without adding any soil to the holes. This was very easy, the lasagne was thick enough that I don't remember seeing any paper when I made the holes, just make a hole drop the plant in and smush the lasagne around it. I was amazed that everything grew. Had to do a lot of watering, but it is a dry site and the whole garden was that way. I was expecting to see a lot of the paper turn up, but there was no sign of it in the Fall when I was cleaning up the vines, etc. What remains is a very dark, powdery soil several inches deep; when I planted bulbs I dug it in to the clay soil some and the clay was very mellow (it mixed nicely with the black stuff).

Everyone just laugh along with us. It's free & soooo good for you. I'm glad Shirley found a good use for the upcycled binder piece from a zippered binder from my son. It had frayed beyond repair again and was previous repaired by my daughter with duct tape, so two kids used it hauling a lot of places. Now it's a hanger for Shirley's things by her computer. Great idea by the way because there are lots of thin binders that get beat up here, too, but the rings weren't large enough for the garden tools like this one was. I didn't take any pics of what I made to send. Shirley, do you know how to upload pics to GWeb for Heidi to see? Description of how I made the book cover: I folded a brown paper sack to slide the ends of the front & back covers. I used hot glue to seal the sack to itself, but not to the book. I laid 2 scraps of upholstery samples side by side to cover the front. They already have pinked edges & I only cleaned up the side that was attached in the sample book. I placed another smaller piece overlapping both of the 1st pieces for the pocket or pouch gluing it in place on the sides & bottom. Next to it I attached another smaller rectangle for the pen & pencil. It's a bit tight, so hope it loosens up, but at least you won't lose the pen or pencil out of it. The denim blue & white color scheme looked nice on the brown paper, so that's how I picked them. I also selected one of the Sunset books that is the same size as the Ortho garden books, so if you have another thin volume you're using to carry around with you for reading in the garden or while waiting at dr's office you can slip that book inside the cover instead. Hope that helps, Corrine

One thing that everyone can begin looking at is this: Biofilms. Biofilms are these gnarly, sticky mats of congealed mucus where candida, bacteria, and other pathogens hide out. If you have reoccurring infections or infections that simply will not go away, then you likely have a biofilm in the infected area. Candida behaves much like a biofilm in this it is systemic and can spread all throughout your body. In order to get rid of biofilms in your nasal pasageways you need to be ready to go to war. The latest remedy, which people are swearing by that works, involves baby shampoo of all things. It's a 'surfactant' I believe is the word. And you use it in nasal irrigation: 1/2 table spoon of it in water, mix it with a neilmed rinse kit, use the saline packet that comes with it, and follow the normal directions. You can follow it with an allicin rinse as well. Allicin is the extract from garlic and has been shown to help breakdown and eliminate biofilms. You basically break open and pour one capsule (do not use the empty capsule) into the mix, add the saline packet, and use as directed. I believe that's it. In the meantime you'll want to think about fortifying your body from biofilms and candida (candida infections can be denoted by fungus growth in toenails, thrush on your tongue and throat, sinus infections, chronic fatigue, depression, dark circles under eyes, and many more). Grapefruit seed extract is really good for this. Buy somme Nutribiotics Grapeseed extract and pour a few drops in water in the AM and PM and drink it down. Also, any kind of citrus fruit extracts you can add to it. Agrisept L could be one of the greatest products of all time for breaking down biofilms in the body. This is just about an all in one anti fungul, bacteria, candida (yeast), and more. It's late and I'm getting choppy on the keyboard so be sure to google all of this stuff on your own to make sure I'm not missing steps, etc. Best!