Last summer I was very pregnant and weeding the garden almost overwhelmed me. I was somehow able to stay on top of it, but goodness…it was a lot of work!
This year we are experimenting with different forms of mulch for weed control. We have both hay and grass clippings spread all around the plants. So far this method has made weeding much more manageable. I typically spend a few hours, spread out over a week’s time, picking weeds that have found their way through the mulch. I’ll take that over hoeing any day!
A tip that saved me from garden overwhelm last year was something I heard from Jill from The Prairie Homestead. She mentioned how she broke her gardening tasks up into a weekly schedule. So I tried it and it helped so very much! No longer was I looking at the weeds throughout the entire garden and wondering how I’d get it all done in one day, but rather tending to one section per day.
I’m definitely planning to implement this system into my garden again this year.
Here’s what my schedule looks like this year:
| Monday | Pumpkin patch | |
| Tuesday | Sweet corn | |
| Wednesday | Watermelons | Cucumbers |
| Thursday | Lima beans | Butternut squash |
| Friday | Tomatoes | Marigolds |
| Saturday | Empty section |
I’ve divided all of my garden work into these different sections, so I know exactly which one to focus on for the current day.
So on Wednesday, for example, I know that I will only tend to the watermelons and cucumbers. This includes weeding, harvesting as needed, propping up a toppled cucumber limb, and so on. I will care for the needs of those sections on that particular day.
Now there may be times that I can move to another section if one doesn’t take as long as another, but there is no pressure to get it all done at once.
Rather than spending 2 hours at a time frantically chopping down weeds here, there, and everywhere, my attention is focused for 30 or 45 minutes per day. And an amazing thing happens…my garden is managed so much better in little bits at a time each day than in one stressful day every other week!
More on Gardening
- 5 Tips for Transplanting Seedlings to the Garden
- How to Cage in Tomato Plants
- How to Harden Off Seedlings
- The Basics to Starting Seeds Indoors
- A Guide to Caring for Indoor Seedlings