It's Wednesday and the temps are in the low 50's today. Storms are coming tomorrow, so I chose to till my garden before the ground was saturated with the coming rains.
I have the fence material at just the right height so that I can pass the side of the tiller under the fence to thoroughly till up the soil with the compost on it. I worked it from both sides of the fence and then went down the center of the space between the rows.
The collards greens are looking good! In another couple of weeks or so they will be ready to pick. Only one Brussels sprout plant survived in this plot, but there are several broccoli plants that are doing pretty well.
All the compost throughout the garden tilled in very nicely. The soil really looks good. I can't wait until I can plant the seeds!
Thanks for visiting my blog!
Veggie PAK
Some of the Brussels sprouts didn't make it, so I pulled out the roots before I tilled in all that compost that I had spread out. I didn't want to encourage pests with the old roots.
All the compost throughout the garden tilled in very nicely. The soil really looks good. I can't wait until I can plant the seeds!
Thanks for visiting my blog!
Veggie PAK
I'm going to have to order some compost soon. Sadly my pile wasn't really up and running last year. And I'm not sure I'll ever make enough from this little plot of land for the whole garden.
ReplyDeleteOh man. . . you just made my fever worse! It's not quite warm (or dry) enough to even start tilling. Everything is a soupy messy around here. It's even hard to go into town b/c all the stores have their seeds out. Makes me itchy just thinking about it! Have fun w/o me! ;}
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks like it is ready to go! I have 3 brussels sprouts out there from last year. It looks like one or two may have survived the winter! We shall see!
ReplyDeleteLucky!! I can't even see my lawn (or driveway, or anything), and it's still very cold and wet here. Your garden is looking lovely! What kind of tiller do you use? I think the soil around my area is rocky and even the biggest tiller I can rent does not like tilling this soil- I used to use a small mantis one but had to upgrade to one on wheels, much heavier and harder to control for me since I'm rather small.
ReplyDeleteYou are so fortunate to have such a big garden. I just planted my tiny square foot garden and a small herb container garden too--am thankful for it even though it is small scale. Baby steps!!
ReplyDeletePeace and Raw Health,
Elizabeth
Daphne, even if you can't make enough for your whole garden, every little bit helps the soil and plants.
ReplyDeleteMilkMaid09, Oh, that Spring Fever!
Robin, most of my cool weather plants survive the winter. This coming fall, I am going to use the row covers and maybe a small hoop house and see what results I get from that. It might be well worth the effort.
Kay, I have a Yard Machine 5.5 hp, front tine tiller made by MTD. I think that's the Home Depot store brand. My wife bought it for me 3 or 4 years ago at the end of the season. It was the last one in the store and we got it for $199. Boy was I happy! My brother lives in an area in PA with stoney soil, kind of like pea gravel almost. I suggested that in addition to compost, he put sphagnum peat moss liberally all over his garden to boost the organic content of the soil. He did, and he's says that it made a terrific improvement in the condition of his soil. He uses a tiller, but he also uses a Mantis heavily for cultivating through the season. As far as the tiller being hard to use, if you're not doing this already, I would suggest that you make several light passes with it before you try to really get it to dig in. Trying to get it to dig in the first time around is like trying to till up a sidewalk! You really have to hang on! Good luck with it this year.
Elizabeth, those baby steps really count. My first garden here was a 12 x 12 area, and my wife and I dug that up with a pitchfork. I never want to do THAT again. I wish I had more room, but we have no yard left to expand the garden into. If I had the space, I would have a very large garden with the rows and plants spaced 36 inches apart like a checkerboard. I did this with my tomatoes last year and it was great! You can go up and down the rows as well as across the rows with your tiller, and that's all the weeding you have to do. Of course, I don't believe in being weed free. I believe in weed control with no chemicals. The criss-cross cultivating allows the tomatoes and things to grow to the point that they shade out the ground and the weeds hardly grow at all! The thing is, you need room for a big garden to be able to really capitalize on that method.
It's exciting having each of you visit my blog and share your thoughts with me. Even if someone doesn't leave a comment, I'm so grateful for all the visitors. I just hope I can inspire someone to start or expand their garden so they can enjoy the wonderful fresh vegetables and fruits.
Have a great vegetable gardening day!
Veggie PAK
Your garden patch looks prepped and ready to go. All that lovely compost should contribute to a really nice humous content of the soil. Hopefully our stretch of soaking rain weather will ease up soon and we can join you in prepping beds for planting.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, Thanks for the compliment!
ReplyDeletekitsapFG, It sure felt good getting out there and working the soil. Good luck with the wet weather easing up. Maybe some warm breezes will help dry it a little. Spring is getting closer and closer. It won't be long and the last frost will be a thing of the past.
Have a great gardening day!
Veggie PAK
Howdy! Seems you have things well underway! The rains we got last week finally thawed things out here and I was able to dig a little this past weekend. I turned the compost but it doesn't seem to have broken down much over the winter - looking forward to some action there soon. Are the rows with the fencing for peas? (I didn't forget that I need to send you the Sweet Dumpling seeds!)
ReplyDeleteJGH, I hoped to have things underway, but Mother Nature isn't cooperating. We're supposed to be getting lower than normal temps for the next week. In the mid to low 30's at night!
ReplyDeletethat's looking beautiful!!
ReplyDelete