It's What's Up Wednesday!

Well, it’s unofficially official – summer is here! Sure, according to the calendar, summer doesn’t start until June 21, but traditionally, Memorial Day kicks off the start of summer for most of us here in the United States. Despite a cold and miserable holiday weekend here in Pennsylvania, we still managed to get out in the garden and get things done. The growing season has been off to a great start.

But I’m heading into summer with growing trepidation. 

(Heh, no pun intended.) We’re going to have a super El Niño summer. And that means intense heat waves, heavy rain when it comes, and downright tropical humidity out here in the Northeast. 

I’m so thankful my garden is locked down with the best mulch material out there – pine flake. 

This stuff is magical, and my garden is going to need it this year! 

After spending close to a decade fooling around with every mulch material known to man, this is the only thing I put on my garden anymore. It’s the cheapest (a big plus with the price of everything on the rise), it’s lightweight (another big plus for those of us who are slowing down), and it’s taken all the headaches out of mulching and even surprised me with a few unexpected benefits. 

I had a friend call me last week asking what mulch to use on his garden. 

After a fifteen-minute video call, in which I walked through my garden, extolling the virtues of pine flake, I thought, “Duh! Why haven’t I written all of this up for our readers yet?” 

So, I did. And once you read it, you’ll see why it gets my gardening stamp of approval (and also that I’m slightly passionate about using it.) But with the crazy summer that’s on its way, I’m doing everything I can to ensure a good growing season, and I want to help you do the same, my friends. 

I also found the coolest product recently that has completely changed my mind about seed tape.