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Growing my gardens
Apr. 30th, 2011 10:02 pmMy shoulders are sore! Last night I dug out a new garden bed, 12'X6', in the back yard. By hand! (I don't mean I clawed it out with my fingers, I mean I used a shovel instead of a rototiller.) When I started I wasn't sure I could get the whole bed done in one session, but once I started it wasn't as hard as I feared. A little soreness is worth the satisfaction of a hard task completed, but I'll admit I'll be happy when I can stop eating aspirin.
This was the breaking-of-ground and first-turning-of-earth. After I recover I am going to redig it to break up more of the clods and to fish out more of the clumps of grass mixed in. I also have some leaves saved from last fall that I want to dig in; I've discovered that moderate proportions of leaves will decompose quickly if you mix them directly into the soil. The city of Lincoln has free compost for people who can haul it away, but being carless that option isn't available to me. I have a compost heap going in the back yard, but it is a cold pile so I don't expect to get anything out of it before fall.
It is possible that I've bit off more than I can chew with this, given that I have a fairly large garden space in the front yard. But I want to grow more squash this year, and they take up space. I figure if I put some low-work long-season veggies in the back yard it shouldn't be too unmanageable. I am thinking winter squash and cowpeas, maybe a few tomatoes. I'm also thinking of getting some of that black fabricky stuff that keeps down weeds by cutting off their light, so as to reduce my weeding chores. Then again, if I grow squash the vines themselves should do a good job of that, so maybe I should hold off.
I need to to more planting in the front garden. The cabbage seedlings need to be thinned, I should seed some more kohlrabi, and my rat-tail radishes need planting. And I should really start some tomato plants; it is embarrassing to have a many tomato seeds on hand as I do and not have any seedlings yet. On the other hand, April has been really cool so it's not like I could have planted them out earlier. A more positive note: My lentils came up! They are all only like four inches tall (I am blaming the lack of sunlight due to clouds), but there are up and I can hardly wait for them to start doing something.
This was the breaking-of-ground and first-turning-of-earth. After I recover I am going to redig it to break up more of the clods and to fish out more of the clumps of grass mixed in. I also have some leaves saved from last fall that I want to dig in; I've discovered that moderate proportions of leaves will decompose quickly if you mix them directly into the soil. The city of Lincoln has free compost for people who can haul it away, but being carless that option isn't available to me. I have a compost heap going in the back yard, but it is a cold pile so I don't expect to get anything out of it before fall.
It is possible that I've bit off more than I can chew with this, given that I have a fairly large garden space in the front yard. But I want to grow more squash this year, and they take up space. I figure if I put some low-work long-season veggies in the back yard it shouldn't be too unmanageable. I am thinking winter squash and cowpeas, maybe a few tomatoes. I'm also thinking of getting some of that black fabricky stuff that keeps down weeds by cutting off their light, so as to reduce my weeding chores. Then again, if I grow squash the vines themselves should do a good job of that, so maybe I should hold off.
I need to to more planting in the front garden. The cabbage seedlings need to be thinned, I should seed some more kohlrabi, and my rat-tail radishes need planting. And I should really start some tomato plants; it is embarrassing to have a many tomato seeds on hand as I do and not have any seedlings yet. On the other hand, April has been really cool so it's not like I could have planted them out earlier. A more positive note: My lentils came up! They are all only like four inches tall (I am blaming the lack of sunlight due to clouds), but there are up and I can hardly wait for them to start doing something.
