>>>The tree may be wild but unless your front yard is a forest it isn't really a fair comparison.
Actually, I am pretty much surrounded by forest, my front yard is partially wooded. The persimmon trees around here in general are very productive most years.
>>>Time is an understatement. My garden is entirely hand weeded and I haven't up till now used any herbicides. I realize that as I add more plants that I have to manage there may be areas that I have to use other weed managment techniques. I would like to think that I could get a group of egg laying hens that would vigilantly patrol the garden eating all the pest and weed seedlings. Wouldn't that be sweet!
My garden is also entirely hand weeded, well my hoe helps.
I am adding more and more mulch though and experimenting with planting very densely or with cover crops or "synergistic" planting such as the "three sisters" method. The way I see it, nature just doesn't like bare soil and it wants to cover it with something, so I attempt to do just that to head the weeds off at the pass.
I'm not quite ready for chickens, though that is a good idea.
>>>I believe we are close to the same page. WE will always have points of disagreement and one those we can agree we disagree. I guess if I could kick the mulch back anywhere in my garden and find earthworms then I have succeeded.
I've been gardening since I was knee high to a grasshopper, and I've always done it like my father and his father before him. Its just in the last handful of years that I've started questioning and trying different things.
I do agree that whatever you do and however you do it, if there are earth worms, then you are on the right track.
