Back to Eden Central Florida - 3

We spent this past Saturday working on the mulch for the garden.  We finished offloading our 3rd trailer load, adding where it seemed it needed more.  We also took a look at the mulch previously laid down on October 29th, and to our surprise, it is already turning.  In this photo you can see how it is turning black, and breaking down.  What you can't see is how moist the mulch and soil are underneath.  This area received about 2 inches of water, the day it was installed, and very little if nothing since.

The other area planted a week later, is also showing signs of turning, however it is not as far along.  It has received little if anything for rain.

Other observations:  weed pulling has never been easier.  We only had a handful of weeds, and they came up really easy.   We had a lot of mushrooms growing in random locations throughout the garden.  I believe this is a good sign, as they will not grow if they don't have a moist, composted area.  They did shrivel up when the sun came out.

On another note.  We are getting the other areas of our garden ready for mulch.  We picked up our 4th trailer load, so we're ready for next weekend.  We had to remove the black vinyl material we had laid out, to help keep weeds down.  We found some unwanted guests living under the vinyl, and Miss Izzy had a blast eliminating 6 small rats.  She's a terrier mix, and loves hunting those disgusting, vile creatures.  She's sleeping off yesterday's fun, today.  Boy did she have a blast!  She has waited her whole life for a day like Saturday....

The Hooligans are doing great.  No more missing or broken eggs, so that's a positive.  Have a great week everyone!  Happy Thanksgiving!