Mulching makes gardening much easier

Laura Young reporter3.riverbendnews@gmail.com By the beginning of May, midday temperatures regularly nudge into the 80s. By month's end, even hotter temperatures bring new challenges to the home garden. Heat-loving weeds start vying for valuable water resources, and gardeners sweat away, tending the season's veggies toward a hopefully bountiful harvest. One task, if completed early on, can make handling all of this much easier: mulch. Mulch happens in the woods and open meadows. Leaves fall to coat the ground, and grasses die back, their spent blades tilting to form a blanket from which the next year's sprouts emerge. These layers help the soil hold water, add nutrient-rich organic matte