Won't Break Soil Rule #1 Again!
What IS Soil Rule #1?
Never Ever Work the Soil When It is Wet or Damp or Clumping or Sticking to the Shovel.
How did I learn that this is an important rule? THE HARD WAY, of course.
We had help in the garden and wanted the paths to be re-defined, so we went ahead and shoveled some of the wonderful soil out from the walking path to make a bit of a raised mound for the beds. Alas, I didn't stop when I saw how the soil kept the shape of the shovel scoop.
I thought perhaps the rain which was coming would wash it into smaller pieces, or soften it. But no.
Through weeks of sitting out in rain and wind and sun (since 3/30), it stayed put, like this:
The shovel is standing in the walking path, soon to be dug. On the left is a path which has been lined with weed barrier cloth and wood mulch. This made so much more work for me, as it all has to be hoed and raked and then covered with straw, hopefully to regain some life and moisture and bring back the worms which no doubt fled to the terra firma beneath.
Today I did some more Triage on my work schedule (as in the 4/18 post). Sadly, I had to choose between continuing planting the potatoes (which NEEDS to be done) along with their companion plants, and the hard work of taming the soil in the rows. After several days of sun and wind, I knew the soil would be dry, even though caked hard.
There's a chance of rain tonight and tomorrow and then it would be too late to do this job. The soil work was important as it is almost time to plant the tomatoes, eggplants and peppers (and their companions) in these rows. Intensely physical exertion, and beneficial breaks all day today and I have but one row left to finish. Below, you can see on the left what the finished row looks like. Don't look at the soil on the right.
Now I have direct experience of the validity of this soil rule.
And I promise myself to follow it from now on.
Actually this year I am hoping to have the garden design somewhat set so I can keep straw mulch on it always and not need to dig it again. That is, after all, the definition of a "no till garden". Something to remember in the fall. No matter how tired from the season and the putting up of the harvest - clean, clear and re-mulch! I believe that also will be a rule.
Laziness or tiredness
May seem to rule the moment
Yet the extra effort of "following the rules"
Brings less work and more joy
To the gardener who is Wise.
(quote from "The Way of the Garden"
as yet unwritten by the author of this journal)
Choose the Tool to Dig a Flowerbed
The mission is to transform the weedy patch next to the front stairs into a flower bed and to move the long entrenched hostas from their path to the new bed and beyond. Tools of potential value are brought to the site and are displayed below. The bucket is for the weeds to be transported to the compost. The pointed hoe is excellent for digging out a specific plant. Hori Hori knife, constant garden companion (note the belt) does everything, in a one-pointed way. It leans against the shovel, as everyone knows, the usual digging tool. Next comes the strawberry hoe which sports two widths of hoe blade and is wielded like an axe. I love working with this tool. Last is the conventional hoe, good for moving plants which are not deeply rooted in fairly loose soil.
What else is on hand? The best fitting gloves for these hands, a small size coated palm and finger cotton glove (Boss's Flexi grip, in both summer and winter weights). There's a good grip without blistering the flesh and a solid barrier between my skin and the bugs I squish. Squeamish are you, upset at reading about squashed bugs? Do you garden?
Which tool will prove to be the one for the job? Or will several be needed? They are all at the job site now, so lets see how it goes.
The job site is between the stairs and the down spout. When we first moved here, almost two years ago I dug this area free of weeds. It was surrounded by a rough rock edging and had decent soil in it. I was about to plant herbs there, but the renovation team needed to reside the house, porch, well, everything you see in the photo. (Plus there hadn't been any gutters or down spouts then.) At last the final touch has been laid around the house in the mulch you see beside the house foundation. Beneath that mulch is a weed barrier cloth. Beneath the cloth is hardware cloth, anchored to the foundation to deter animals from seeking shelter. Yes, we really live out in the country, the back woods.
If you look closely, you can see the hostas coming up in the foreground, just in front of and to the right side of the steps.
And the winner of this job is the shovel. A whole section was loosened at one time and fingers riffled through to get the grass and other undesired plants out. Here's a bit of the soil showing. Yes, there are white pines above us, giving the pine straw you see. I use it as mulch on the blueberries.
After the beds were cleared of weeds and the amendments sprinkled on top of the soil I decided to walk back to the tool shed to get another helper to mix the amendments in. As it is a relatively small space I didn't need a full size rake, so this little tined cultivator was perfect for the job. The little hostas you see are left from previous landscaping. They will be dug up and redistributed. Stay tuned for that exciting story.
The shovel also proved to be the best help in digging up this hosta clump. Hori Hori knife comes in handy to thwack the lump to remove dirt from the roots. Some dirt has been removed here, but the rest of the job will come the next day. The clump spent the night wrapped in wet newspaper in the greenhouse. Unravelling roots to separate the plants will be a puzzle to work on while its raining later, hopefully today.
On with the job... In the yard, planted probably 30 years ago are overcrowded areas of summer blooming tiger lilly, spring blooming irises and daffodils. The orange lilies are one of my favorites. There's a wonderful picture of them on the top of Heather's blog, Idaho Small Goat Garden. Both the flowers and roots are edible to humans. We know for sure that they are tasty to deer as the whole flower head gets chomped away and no more flower forming parts are left by the deer to continue brightening up the summer.
Hoping to save some blooms for us, some of each of these bulb-based plants are transplanted into this little bed.
Another tool was used in anticipation of rain storms which have not yet come. As the crew isn't finished with this water diversion project, I need to protect the flower bed from the downspout outflow. The rocks were set in to slant the flow away from the bed and the mini-trench was dug using the smaller blade of the strawberry hoe, followed by smoothing with the larger blade. In the past I have found that water can be trained using a shallow trench like this. The flow may follow the trench out past the flower bed and stairs and then it will resume its normal course downhill which in this case is to the left, down toward the greenhouse and garden.
You may note that there are different plants now, not weeds in the bed. In a rather unimaginative arrangements, minus the hostas which will fill the spaces between the other bulb plants, from the rear, are tiger lilies, iris, tulip, hyacinth (the pink), lilies of the valley (my favorite) and varieties of daffodil. Other flowers will be added when the weather warms.
All the tools, including the ones that didn't get to be used on this job, were returned to the shed. The weeds were taken to the compost (first to dry out, then to be mixed in). The soil in the bed will be smoothed out and finished nicely (I hope) and mulched after the hosta addition. Then I can return to planting the onion, strawberries and cabbages that are waiting in the greenhouse.
Just for fun, here's a pretty picture for you, of lettuce in the greenhouse, with late afternoon sun backlight.
Thank you for visiting. May you and your plants all Grow Joyfully!
Using Cardboard for New Garden Bed
An Answer to a Gardening Question from a Reader
Hi Rachel, How are you and the garden these days? A question. I wondered if I used cardboard right over my lawn to make a new planting bed then added compost and dirt over that would it compost the lawn turf below or should I remove it or till it first? -H
The answer to this question lies in the timing in which you wish to transform the lawn into usable garden. Also the amount of effort that you wish to put into it is important.
In my post on breaking new ground, some of this method is mentioned. The description of laying down cardboard and covering it with straw is the first step. The straw at first has the job of holding down the cardboard. One must put enough on top to keep the winds from dislodging it. When I don't get enough on, I have to run around the field gathering up the cardboard, or sometimes paper. When we run out of cardboard we use sheets of newspaper. I've heart that the paper is enough to keep the weeds from growing up through. Of course, again the straw is useful as a weight.
Later on, as the cardboard breaks down, (and this takes quite a while), the straw becomes home to the worms and other beneficial soil critters who help break down the straw into humus, that is, soil.
March 19, 2009 The edge of the potato field as its built.
The boards are holding down the newspaper, waiting for the next layer of straw. It was a very windy day.
I have a new field laid out with paper and straw that I am going to be using this year, but not for the soil beneath it. I'm going to plant potatoes IN the straw. Their roots will likely go down through the straw and somewhat into the soil as they age. But right now, the job of that paper is to keep the weeds and grasses from growing. Hopefully as that green material spoils and rots, the bugs that make a living out of eating live roots will get all they can out of that plot and will move on somewhere else. Some sources say to leave a field for 2 years so that the lawn bugs will leave before you can use it without problem for a garden.
In the garden where we started with tilling, I spent all Summer dealing with the bugs that normally live in a pasture. Afterward I researched a bit and I found that those who know (can't remember the reference now, sorry) say that a plot of pasture or lawn needs to be repeatedly tilled, once or twice a week for several weeks until the plot would be ready to plant. Of course I didn't do that. On one day the site was gone over three times with the neighbor's tractor's tilling attachment.
March 17, 2008 The Plowing o' The Green
Tilling seems to be helpful to start a garden. However, all the plant matter that is cut up and remains on the surface has to be removed so it doesn't grow up again. Also many worms are killed and the soil becomes very disturbed. Keeping healthy soil is a science in itself and studying this usually leads to the development of a "no till" garden. This is what I am using now. Keeping a good mulch of straw over everything holds down the weeds, keeps in the moisture, gives good eating to the worms who increase the health of the soil in innumerable ways.
Another question is regarding the type of grass that will be covered up. Grass which is tame and only spreads by seed is much easier to deal with than grass which spreads by the roots (or are they called rhizomes?). If you have what is called Bermuda Grass, or Crab Grass it is much more difficult to get rid of. If you put cardboard down over it, the shoots seeking out will go to where the cardboard is not and will continue to spread. I've been told that the only way to get rid of that is to put black plastic over it, to remove the light and burn it with the heat that is trapped in the black.
Now your idea, Heather, is very interesting, to suppress the lawn and then cover it with soil for planting. Hmmm. I guess you'd want to put a frame around the edges to keep the soil in. You'd also want the cardboard to be thick enough for the roots not to break through it right away until the weeds died. That is, use cardboard from boxes rather than from shirts. (Do they still fold shirts around flimsy cardboard?).
There's a book on my shelf which I have not yet read, called Lasagna Gardening, which I believe has a recipe similar to what you are suggesting. Layers of paper, cardboard, compost form a bed in which to plant, feed and grow one's vegies.
All in all, I'd say that you have a good idea brewing. How about taking pictures and letting us know how it goes?
And the other question you asked "How is my garden going?" Tonight will be a freeze, with possible snow, so the plants that are eager to be planted have decided to shy away from the winter experience and are still taking up room in the greenhouse. The tomatoes would like bigger pots, however in their little cells they can all be under the lights, high up in the warmth. There doesn't seem to be enough room yet to repot them (a job that is high on the list), as the Bok Choy, Kale, Chinese Cabbage and Lettuce, refuse to leave the nice warm and protected greenhouse. As soon as I plant them outside I'll have to construct insect proof fabric tents for them too.
Look at this bug that I found IN the greenhouse!
On the other hand, it IS Spring, and there is joy and beauty here.
Much Joy to You, Dear Readers!
Breaking New Ground - Back Breaking? part 1
BLOTANICAL READERS MISSING TEXT, the pick setting NOT to see the original formatting also takes away all but the first line of some of the paragraphs. If you wish to read and see this post, you'll want to choose to put a check in the pick setting "SHOW POSTS AS ORIGINALLY FORMATTED."
The beneficial flowers is a wildflower mix that draws the beneficial insects that feed on the bugs that devour the vegetables. That's the theory, we'll see how well it works in the next couple of years. I bought the mix from Bountiful Gardens, a bioentensive gardening organization which teaches sustainable gardening practices around the world. I like them, they are always helpful, and they sold me the widger tool which I enjoy using.
The new home for the berries was inspired by a post I read on Blotanical, an online community of garden bloggers, where I learn a lot about gardening. I'm sorry I don't remember whose post it was, but the gentleman gardener showed his raised bed gardens with a large blackberry bed. He said that the runners were coming up all throughout the garden and that he had to dig them out. This brought some awareness to me of my less that thoughtful plan which had berries planted within the fence of my 75' X 60' (approx.) garden space.
Winter is over, the ground is dry, the beds are needed, the home planning commission (my husband & I) determined the locations, and the neighbors came over with a rototiller. A week and a half later the weather was right to take some time to do the next step, and our favorite helper arrived to participate.
Here's the flower bed project. On the left is the outside back of the garden fence. The bunch of straw there is from last year, laid over cardboard as grass and weed prevention. Next is cardboard laid over the grassy boundary to the tilled area (just a foot and a half wide). Then comes the pasture grass. It is miraculously wonderful soil for the Ozarks, for which we are very grateful.
On top of the cardboard should be more straw to hold it down. Our helper was working hard with the shovel to break up the grass clumps. Now comes my job, removing the chunks of grass and roots from the tilled area by hand. Down onto the stool to dig and sort, up again to move the stool. Throw the stones and rock and old tractor parts behind and pick them up after to move to the rock pile. Up and down, reach and throw. Then placing the newspapers covered with hay, in the breeze took a lot of team effort. I opened the papers, held them for him, then passed over a lump of straw while he held them down. Up and down, another load, back and forth, get more water to drink, its hot out here!
I see now in the photo that on top of the cardboard is the grass and dirt which was removed while clearing up the soil. Now that mess is going to have to be cleared that out again and replaced with straw to hold it down. Oh no.
By the time we got to that stage of the job, the weather had turned to Summer temps and sizzling sun. I guess wearing a shade hat instead of my thinking cap was a mistake. I didn't even notice that we'd missed a step. Just have to get that moved out before it rains again, or it will be a wonderful rooting medium for the grasses!
Below is the partially finished job, with newspaper and straw on the right being the new grass barrier. The newspaper showing between the two piles is going to be the planting area. I'll take the seedlings, poke a hole in the newspaper and lay them in the soil beneath. There are a few amendments in the already excellent soil. A little calcium lime, some organic manure compost mix, and a little Azomite, (an A through Z natural source of minerals and trace elements supplement mined from rocks somewhere in Utah. All this work gives those flowers a good chance of thriving.
Below is the tilled area for the cane fruit, the black, yellow and red raspberries and the blackberries. That's the worst part, before yesterday's labor.
Below, the plot has been processed with a cardboard barrier on the downhill side, a trench for the berries' roots, and the cleared out soil to place around the canes. On the cardboard (uh oh) is the grass and root debris.
The difference is that working on this part of the job, it was late afternoon and we were both tired from the up and down, and I thought ahead to how to finish up the day's work. I realized that the little bit of debris wouldn't hold up in a wind, to hold down the laboriously placed cardboard.
So we scooped up the dirt and grass mix and hauled it off to a concrete pad to dry up. Hauled more straw over to hold down the cardboard, and here it is. Ready to be finished up today.
In a few minutes the helper will arrive. We're going to do the potato patch today, which will be Part 2.
I've got to get busy now, watering the greenhouse before he gets here.
Best wishes for you to have a Joyful planting day too!
