I thought that title would get your attention. No, winter is still with us and I am counting the days.
Even thought the ground is just as covered in the gardens, I am sure many of you are itching to get outside and start a new planting area for spring. I definitely am, and with a 12" across the front of the Butterfly house I still can’t get in to even get started. The snow may not look deep but if you check out the electric fence post there are only 3 wires showing, the other two are BELOW the snow. We are afraid to mess with it since the one wire we tried to dig out on the electric fence around the main gardens was frozen into a layer of ice and Gregg snapped it- yes he had to fix it.
Well once the snow is gone; it will not be too late to get a new bed started this spring. Although ideally you would have staked your claim to the area in the fall you can still have a new area this spring. Read on to see how we set out a new area for planting.
Let me tell you how we have planted all but our first garden at Beagle Ridge. My last blog topic was about the Soil Web. Well this is a continuation of how valuable these critters are and how you may actually be harming them with some of the most often used practices.
I call this improving from the top down. You may have heard of Lasagna Gardening. Pat Lanza coined the phrase and even wrote a book about the method. In a nutshell, place several layers of newspaper or cardboard on the area to be planted and cover with 4”-6” of leaves, mulch or anything organic which will break down. This will smother the grass below and as it decomposes, it will add organic matter to the planting area. No tilling required just dig down and plant right through this wonderful layer and within a season you will be on your way to healthier soil. This is what we will do in the planting areas of Flying Flowers- if we see the ground any time soon.
Gregg and I have planted all our beds this way and even our weed problems area minimized and slowly but surely our soil is improving. By allowing worms and the myriad of organisms in the soil to do their job they make our work easier. Think of how many worms you would kill if you tilled; not to mention all the weed seeds which are brought to the surface when you till. In addition tilling can destroy the “tilth of the soil.”
Tilth- well, what is it and why should we care? As a gardener you should care. The soil is full of burrowers- yes you may not see them but there are lots of insects, reptiles and even mammals which actually aerate the soil in your garden. Worms, bees, moles, even lizards and frogs all dig down allowing air and water to penetrate the hardest poorest soil. Roots do the same thing as they seek water and nutrients. Waste from your “visitors” and decaying roots after harvest or seasonal changes add to the organic makeup of your soil, provide nourishment as part of the Soil Food Web (see previous blog posting). With natural processes of freezing/thawing, drying and spring rains wetting the soil it makes structure which allow for water to percolate and air to penetrate, both of which are necessary for your plants and the critters which live underground. Tilling can actually do irreparable damage to your soil so unless you are growing vegetables please reconsider before cranking up the tiller this spring.
This being said, by creating an organic layer, allowing the structure of the soil to be maintained your existing soil can be improved by the above mentioned actions. What type of soil do you have in your garden? At Beagle Ridge we have a rocky blend which is made up of rocks, broken down Sandstone and lots of pockets of clay. Not exactly what I hoped for but you work with what you have.
The area which is now gardens at the farm was once a parking lot! No, it wasn’t paved, but it was a parking lot none the less. 40 hunting campers were parked on that same spot for up to 6 months out of the year. God only knows what may have been tossed from those trailers but compaction was the major problem. Our gardens still have a rocky blend but that now provides drainage and we have lots of worms (nature’s amazing soil scientists). We use dirty rock a small non washed limestone based both to break up our soil and as mulch for all the herb beds. Be sure to click on the dirty rock link and scroll through pictures of the gardens to see what it looks like.
I realize many of you think Clay is a terrible, and those of you in Florida
need a richer soil, lots of organic matter will be ideal. If you are stuck with a sandy soil you too need to add lots of organic matter. It will allow the plants to retain some moisture while providing some nutrients to an otherwise sterile (lifeless planting medium- I can't call it soil). Since none of us have perfect soil why not let Mother Nature and her amazing workers create it for you.
By providing lots of organic matter regardless of the type of soil you are “stuck” with; you can encourage worms and their helpers in the food web. They will aerate, fertilize and create “soil” that even Martha Stewart will covet.
Yesterday we finally did get some rain but we still have more than 4” of snow on the gardens and so patience is still needed at my end. Hopefully many of you are able to get out and see the ground and start working on those new beds for spring once things dry out a bit.
Those of you can get busy, enjoy yourselves. The rest of us will be wishing for spring.
I am counting the days,
Ellen
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