Mom's No Mow Grass

No-mow grass is a fine fescue grass - an environmentally friendly alternative to water-hungy, gas guzzling laws.

According to Michelle M. Guilbeau-Sheppard on www.associatedcontent.com:

The fine fescue grass is a species of grass that has a characteristically thin appearance. It is a very slow growing grass and because the blades are so narrow, they tend to be flimsy and very flexible. After a period of growth, the grass will start to bend over and almost lay flat.

This no mowing grass is very easy to maintain, if a very manicured look is wanting to be achieved, once a month mowing should be efficient. However, once temperatures reach over 80 degrees, mowing the fescue grass is not a good idea. If a meadow type look is acceptable, then a Spring, early Summer and Fall mowing is all that is needed.

The no mow grass seed is more expensive in price than the traditional lawn seed, however the fescue grass tends to cost less to maintain in the long run plus it is ecology friendly. Since there is less mowing needed for the no mow grass, less gas will be used in the lawnmower, the fescue grass requires less water, chemicals are not necessary for the no mow grass and mulching can be reduced to every few years.

Here's Mom's grass that was planted last fall - It's looking great.

Looks like a trend worth following.

First Harvests

Dinners have included lots of kale, swiss chard, peas and beans. A few carrots here and there... Tomatoes, peppers and kholarabi aren't far away.

Blooming Broccoli

We left for a week-long vacation and came back to a jungle beast of a garden. A tangle of peas were ready to pick, the broccoli had bloomed (to my great disappointment), and the kale, oh so much kale! Little bell peppers are growing bigger by the day. Some of the tomato plants are more than 5 feet tall (with little tomatoes growing). I was surprised to find that the edible ball that becomes kohlrabi grows above ground, not below. The basil is big enough to pick from and my dill is blooming (although I've been snipping these blossoms off because I don't want the plant to go to seed). One additional asparagus plant came up from trenches, which I thought was a goner. The cucumbers I planted three weeks ago are still barely surfacing - only a few leaves have formed. The beans are now getting close to picking too. Oh, and the swiss chard - it's ready for picking too (just had some for dinner).

I've learned a few lessons, such as to pick the beautiful broccoli BEFORE it blooms. We won't need quite so much kale next year - we are overloaded. Lettuce was not so successful - I'll need to try again, but we did get a few salads from the garden. It's now melting in the sun. My purple basil never made it. The first batch died once a few leaves had formed and the second batch never even sprouted.

It's time to start thinking about any additional summer crops to replace the kale and chard spots in the next few weeks. Any suggestions?

We are finally eating from the garden! Now the challenge is what to cook.