The seeds of spring lead to the weeds of summer

I cannot believe that August has arrived along with the many weeds of summer.  The gardeners, in fact, have been particularly busy keeping up with their rapid growth – the weeds are rampant this year!  On Thursday of this week, there is a photo shoot scheduled at my property and Jodi and her crew busied themselves yesterday by weeding the cutting garden, hoping to get it in camera-ready form.  Come – take a look.

This is the cutting garden adjacent to the chicken coops.  Even though deer fencing surrounds the property, those hungry deer still manage to break in and it’s so important to keep the cutting and vegetable gardens protected with high fencing.

Remember the cat’s cradle dahlia blog?  Look how pretty this bloom is.

And this one, too!

I just love this multi-colored zinnia.

And look how happy this one is!

Chhiring needed to use a narrow shovel to dig this nasty weed up.  Look at those roots!

Dead-heading means removing the spent blooms to encourage new growth.

All the clippings are collected and taken to the compost mound.

This is a hand cultivator, used to aerate and disturb any weed seedlings from taking root.  Gardeners know that this practice is continual maintenance in order to keep weeds at bay.

Here’s Jodi using a long handled garden cultivator, which serves the same purpose as the hand held one – it’s just easier on the body.

I just love this tool!  I discovered this weeding knife years ago when visiting Japan.  It does an amazing job of removing weeds at soil level.  We even designed our own version, which has been sold at Kmart.

The sun is hot at this time of year and it’s so important to hydrate the body with water.  George and Erika take a break from their labors and, of course, laugh at a joke or two.

Harvesting garlic in my garden recently
Computer problems? Help desk to the rescue!
Let's hop on the MSLO shuttle bus!
The customer relations department behind the scenes!
Behind the scenes in the Everyday Food test kitchen

Comments

[Jan Erickson]

Hi Martha, These photos of your almost weed free garden are absolutely stunning. The dahlias are absolutely breathtaking. I love seeing your gardners hard at work and having a good time as well. They all look in great shape after doing all of that hard work. I'm glad to see that they use some of your K-Mart tools. I can no longer find any of your garden tools at the K-Mart in my area. Will you ever have any of those fantastic tools available anywhere again? I can only hope. I hope the photo shoot on Thursday goes well. Everything looks in fantastic shape already. Kudos to the garden crew! Jan

[Miriam Martin]

Hi Martha,

Thank you for bringing a bit of extra joy to my life. The arrival of my "Martha Stewart Living" subscription is a highlight of each month for me.

Sincerely,
Miriam, age 27
Vancouver, Canada

[Paula]

Very pretty gardens!!! Please post pictures of the photo shoot if you can!!!!!!!!!Have a great day! :)

[Julie]

Those Japanese weeding spades are so wonderful. I purchased one about 11 or 12 years ago at the Cincinnati Flower Show. You were actually one of the speakers that year, Martha. Thank you for sharing your garden with us. The flowers are absolutely beautiful.

[Blake]

Martha,
How lucky you are to have such a wonderful garden crew. I wish I had a crew that was so knowledgable and hard-working. They seem so happy at your garden, you must treat them oh, so well!
Blake

[Joan]

Hi Martha,
What a great blog!
I love seeing what your gardeners are up to. They are teaching me a lot about gardening.
Can't wait for more!
Joan

[Trish]

Hi Martha,

I don't do much dead-heading because I don't have the flowers you have but I do pull a lot of weeds in my foliage garden, especially after a few days of rain. It is back breaking work! Your Dahlias and Zinnias are gorgeous! It looks like you're ready for a nice photo shoot on Thursday. Will it be for the magazine? Trish

[A Farmer's Wife]

We have a terrible time with deer here! My sister-in-law's lettuce was completely destroyed by them! Someone suggested putting a radio out in the garden to scare the deer away. I think our dogs also do a great job of keeping them away! Your gardens are BEAUTIFUL!!!

[Debra Knowles]

Ah, those chicken coops! Please, please, please show us more of your chickens and turkeys and their houses. Thanks!

[Margie]

I guess I should congratulate myself for not having weeds this year. Ha. We are in a drought and the rabbits and other herbivori--are grasshoppers considered herbivore, I don't think so, took care of the deadheading--before there were dead heads.

[Julie W.]

I wish I had in the ground the zinnias that appear to be going to the compost there! I saw only one well-behaved weed in the whole series of photos. George and Erika appear to be posing for an ad extolling the delicious taste of your hose water. This is a fantasyland.
When I look at the pile of junk I currently need to get out of my driveway, but it's nearly too hot to think about doing it, I wonder if Martha has the pile of old stuff one usually sees on country properties?

[sohbet odaları]

Thanks a lot

[marie dellangelo]

Loved these photos - I would be so happy to weed in your garden. I was lucky enough to purchase and own that Japanese style weeder, so simple and so good to use. I enjoy your blog so much, thank you for your effort.

[Brittany]

Martha,

Your dahlias look great! Definitely worth the time to cat's cradle them. I love your zinnias! I'm growing a few this year, and they're one of my new favorite flowers, especially the multi-colored ones! Thanks for the inspiration :)

Brittany

[Sherey]

Interesting that you say the weeds are rampant this year...everyone here in Vancouver has been commenting over how much they have had to weed this year. Thankfully they are under control on my property and slowing down a little.

Love your cutting garden...the photo shoot will be fantastic.

Belated birthday wishes...hope you had a special celebration!

[Kathy :)]

Isn't that interesting about the weeds... we noticed that too, seems all we do is weed :(

Along that vein there seems to be alot of green/mildew too...me and my trusty spray bottle w/bleach have attacked all sorts of places...anyone else notice that ??

Sept 15 getting closer woo hoo

Kathy :)

[Sue Thometz]

Question on deadheading - do you just remove the flower head or cut further down the stem. Also just love your new hair cut-makes you look 10 years younger-love you too.

[Sherry]

I love those colorful flowers!!
The weeds sure do grow & root, it's quite a job to stay on top of it. I can't complain b/c we've had a great summer for growing. My plants love the heat & humidity much more than I do.

[Maureen]

Honestly, those flowers are just beautiful. What great photos of them!

[susieshomemade]

Well, now I don't feel so bad. It's nice to know that my garden is not the only one that is taken over at this time of the year with weeds:-)

[Kathy]

I love your Dahlias, Martha. I had some beauties a few years ago, but struggle with them in our heat in Tucson. Did that trailer contain the weeds that the gardeners pulled ? When I got a composter years ago, the instructions said to never put weeds in there. I would appreciate a clarification. Thanks

[Mary]

often I weed, leaving the volunteers that invariably pop up... tomatoes.... cukes... squash..... rarely flowers even!
Now... I'd like to build a portable chicken coop..... to move about the ranch.... free range, spread manure and safe chickens!

[Norbie K. of Las Vegas, NV]

Thanks for the cheery photos. I look forward for more. PS I went to Michaels and went crazy with your stuff. My friends from California are coming over and I'm thinking of "craft night". Everyone gets a lovely crafting paper box from your collection along with a variety of elegant and gorgeous crafting paper.

[Kathy]

Hi, Martha,
Your cutting garden with the beautiful dahlia and zinnia blooms is wonderful. Your photos are stunning. Chhiring, Jodi, and George certainly have weeded! Thanks for the tour.
Kathy

[Hardboiledegg]

Will the spent blooms that have been dead headed go to seed off the plant? it seems all those seeds going into the compost heap does --that make sense ? why not gather the seeds and then donate them to the local schools so they can plant a flower bed to use as a PTA project for the teachers and fresh bouquets for the class rooms??