Rhubarb Leaves as Mulch and Other Tips from the Franklin Farm

I went to see my friend Holly today at the Franklin Farm. We used to work together. I really miss her! I had forgotten what a kindred spirit she is. She saw that I wanted herbs on FaceBook and offered to give me some of hers that needed to be divided. So I stopped by and toured the Franklin Farm.

I think I mentioned her farm before. It’s an intentional community–she bought two duplexes next to each other, and she and her husband have turned the lawn into gardens. As you can see from the photo above, she recently got the idea to use rhubarb leaves as mulch since they don’t seem to compost very quickly (I checked online, it is safe to use them.)

You can also see that she is growing potatoes in tires. At first the city wasn’t too happy about her having tires in the yard, but apparently since they are being used for something they relented.

I’m so in awe of what they’ve been able to accomplish. While I am fairly certain DH would never let me turn our entire lawn into garden, I can always dream. Lately I’ve found myself walking around the lawn thinking “hmm, I’ll bet I could put rhubarb there,” or “I wonder if I could grow horseradish in that shady spot?”

For now, I’m content with our raised beds which will be planted in a couple of weeks and the perennial beds which are sorely overgrown and I’m rehabbing by hoeing and shoveling out all the grass and weeds which have overtaken it. I have one and a half of three beds cleaned out, enough to make room for the herbs that Holly gave me: sorrel, oregano, thyme, marjoram, chives and chocolate mint.

I never thought I’d get the gardening bug. However, I come from a long line of farmers, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. I also never thought I’d be able to grow anything in my shady yard. I guess it wasn’t as shady as I thought. When trying something new, adults tend to want to learn all they can and research everything to death until they never actually get around to acting. At the herb class I went to on Sunday they said the best thing to do is to just try it; that you learn the most from failure. So I’m going for it!

This post shared at Works for Me Wednesday

Related posts:

1. Friday Potlucks at the Franklin Farm
2. Garden Update: On to the Herbs
3. Roasted Rhubarb

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