This is my fourth year to have this little square foot garden.  The first year I had cucumbers by the middle of May but the last two years were hot and dry and my little garden did okay but nothing to brag about.  This year has been a different story.  I decided to add a lot more chicken manure from my chicken house this year.  I also decided added weed barrier cloth.  This combination has made an amazing difference in the plants growth.

I also have plants in our big garden.  You know, the big kind that you spend hours and hours in  hoeing and tilling.  Having two different types of garden has given me great insight on the difference the weed barrier cloth has made.  We have had a lot of rain this spring and each time it would rain, mud would splash onto the leaves of my little plants.  We tried to wash /dust them off after each rain but there was no way to get it completely off and it stunted their growth.

It’s hard to see the tomato plants in the square foot garden because they are so big and thick but the plants in the big garden are about 2 feet tall and the plants in the square foot garden are about 6 feet tall.  As you can see one is sickly looking and one is thick and lush.

If you had trouble with rain and mud on your plants, try adding the weed barrier cloth and see how it works for you.  It’s worth a try.

My eggplants are doing great.  I only planted three and I think I will have more eggplants than I can eat.

There are so many blooms on my cucumber vines.  I think I will be making a lot of pickles this year !

My cucumber plants grew up over my 6 foot fence and has grown back down the other side.  I have never had cucumber plants go crazy like this.  This is an 8 foot fence so that is A LOT of cucumbers so I guess I better start  scouting out my large canning jars