Planting (amended)

I'm going to go ahead an start planting a few things today. More onions and some spinach. Also going to plant out corn. Would like it if the corn could reach a decent height in time to use it as trellises for pea plants.

Hoping for no repeats of last year. Last year we had a freak late snowstorm in April which wiped out many things I had planted which had grown to a decent size.

In any case I'm still going to have to build trellises this year. Not to mention some massive tomato cages. I can use some of the left over PVC piping for all of this. Some weeks back I had considered giving the piping away. Now I'm glad I didn't, since transportation is an issue. Can't exactly carry 10' boards on the bus. Plenty of time for that stuff, though and it doesn't have to be done today.

With the new knowledge about weeds and acidity, then the mulch given to me, a correlation came to mind. Much of how mulch protects a garden is actually not known. A theory I have in mind is that fresh wood chips help deter weeds due to the acidity factor. Last year I used bagged commercial wood mulch and it did not help deter weeds very well at all. Since it was dry and not acidic, that element was lost. Of course, it will be weeks or months before this theory is really tested.

One thing I do know- While I have used some weed killer in areas outside the garden, it never lasts for long. Previously, I saw so many weeds in parts of the yard that it remained green all winter. Since I've been using the vinegar enough to alter the soil pH, barely any weeds are growing at all. (So far.) I do know it's not the weather detering the weeds up to now because these weeds are very cold tolerant. For now I'll keep crossing my fingers and watching. And treat the unmulched (is that a word?) areas enough to change the soil pH.

A couple hours later-

Okay, I'm keeping a light workload today. Still a bit sore from yesterday.

Already planted four rows of onions where they'll eventually be coplanted with onions and peppers. Transplanted out the ornamental corn. That was just in time because the roots had become crowded and wrapped around in the containers. I was ready to give up on the sweet corn I have planted inside when I noted one sprout sticking up this morning. Give that a while longer before planting out. I will plant some spinach if I find the seeds. Had them the other day and now can't find them. Trying a different variety than last year, which had a low yield. Going to start more flower seeds inside today. Not nearly enough started yet but staggering planting will make continuous blooms more likely.

Have a shift for tonight. Makes me have even less urge to get too physical right now. But I do need to hang out laundry.