We have have had a few warm days down here and it has started me thinking about our spring garden.  At the moment the garden here at the yardstead is just a big dirt rectangle with a green strip of onions sticking up in the middle.  It's been so cold since I last tilled it (for planting the onions) that very few weeds have grown.  I plan on doing very little tilling (or weeding) in the garden this year, so I have to get a plan finalized in the next few days to combat weeds.  The main component of the weed control plan this year ....

is mulch, and lots of it.  I plan on piling it on at least 8' deep.  Im not sure what size it is now, but the last time I measured the garden it was 20ft x 30ft.  I have added a few rows since then so I need to take a new measurement.  One of my neighbors had the guy who was trimming limbs on the right-of-way dump his load chipped up limbs in his yard.  He is a fellow yardsteader and told me I can take as much as I need for my garden.  The wood chips look a little rougher than store bought mulch and the pile has a lot of debris (small limbs and vines), but I think I can fill up my trailer using a shovel and pitch fork in less than one hour.  I will probably find out this weekend , as I plan to load (and unload) the mulch on Saturday.  I'm estimating it will take about 4 trailer loads to cover the garden in an 8 inch layer, but I am prepared to load more if necessary.  Four loads equals four hours loading and almost as much time to unload.  I don't think I'll schedule anything else for Saturday.  I will probably cover the garden with a layer of compost also, before the mulch, but I will cover that in another article.