WAITING, WAITING TO BEGIN THE GARDEN.....ALMOST

Greetings!  A funny time of year.  Still cool, sometimes warm.  Winter still official!  Seed catalogues, seedlings started.  Want to get out there and dig in the dirt.  I tried that a few days ago when it was warmer....warmer being in the high 4o's F but the ground is still frozen after digging into the first few inches.  But the big compost pile wasn't so frozen for some reason.
So began doing some garden preparation.  Applied compost in all the raised garden beds.  Will leave the soil for when the compost pile frost is gone.  I am anxious to apply the cow/horse compost to all the beds...on the soil top and the 12 inch raised garden beds.  I planted winter rye in all the gardens and beds early October last year to increase the amount of organic material available to the soil.  The land around here is sandy to sandy loam.  Once the frost gets out of the ground in about 3 weeks will add the cow/horse compost to the rest of the soil and till it in lightly.  Do not want to disturb the layers of the soil where earthworms and other organisms that provide organic material and aeration to the soil are....try to lightly (no more than 4 inches deep) till in organic materials is best.

I have one side of my garden that is about 30 feet by 60 feet that seems to stay so sandy in texture even with the winter rye and the remains of straw from mulching last year.  So once the rye and compost is lightly tilled in, I will plant a spring cover crop. The mix contains field peas, oats, and hairy vetch. Designed for spring sowing, but it may be sown anytime early spring through late summer.  I just caution all of you that when it gets about 4-5 inches tall, be sure to till it in.  Last year I got so busy that I didn't get to the tilling until it was about a foot tall....very difficult at that height to till it in.  It was a "wash" last year.  Learned a lesson.




That is about it that I can actually do in my gardens, except to plant some spinach in one of my raised garden beds tomorrow, design my garden space....what I will plant where being sure to account for rotation of crops, make sure I have all the equipment and supplies I need, check which seeds are usable from last year and make a trip to my farmer friend and pick up the straw bales I will need for this year.

That's all for now!  Enjoy your preparations.  Maggie

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