Wow. January blew by! I try to post something once a month but just realized it's already February! So... Happy New Year and Kung Hei Fat Choi Happy Year of the Water Tiger 2022. Hope you and yours had a peaceful and pleasant holiday season. I haven't made any resolutions as mine tend to be forgotten by March.
It's sometimes difficult deciding whether I should pull weeds or clean/process lauhala. The weather often decides for me. Although winter is our dry season, we thankfully still get occasional rain. Just not every day like in the summer. Wet soil after a good rain makes for easier weed pulling.
Māʻona Community Garden had a baby citrus tree fundraiser in December. I got a Tangelo and as you can see in the background, the "ground cover" is a mix of weeds and perennial peanut. After a few days of weeding, the citrus tree "row" looks better. It's very time consuming to pick through, find, untangle, and pull the weeds out by the roots. I get maybe a linear foot (of 3-4 feet wide row) done in one hour, but I've found it very "zen."
Perennial peanut is a nitrogen fixer and I thought it would be good as a ground cover around the citrus trees. It doesn't grow as fast as the weeds so while it seems pretty hardy it is quickly over taken. Hopefully as the runners layer into a matted thatching it will choke out or at least hinder weed growth. I'm almost halfway through that row... and I am always supervised:
