Today my mother (Julie) continued to remove weeds that have sprung up in the paths thanks to the abundance of spring rain we had this year. Weeds truly do like to grow amongst the gravel - which brings to mind an old Native American planting method in dryland areas. A small berm would be built with one or more rocks (depending on size) and a crop seed would be planted on the uphill side of it. The rock berm would naturally capture water running down from higher ground as well as other debris such as soil and leaf litter, making a perfect microclimate for the seed to flourish. The ground under the rock would also stay moist longer than the bare dirt.

My father (David), dug and prepared another infiltration pit for melons - these will be my hot season ground covers in the front yard, shading the dirt below and using less water than the winter beds.

I prepared the trellises that used to support shelling peas for hyacinth bean vines. The dirt is really compacted in this bed and I'm not up to doing more than just a little tilling where the seeds will grow. This bed needs work, but I need the hyacinth bean vines to grow in this front bed so that they add a layer to the passive sun shade I have going in the front yard to sheild the house from the low setting sun.