Thankfully, I got the work I had to do done in time to spend some time in the garden - the vegetable one, not Linda's flower garden.
Picked a 10'x10' space and cut the winter wheat. Much to my surprise, the 20 year old weed wacker started after just a few pulls.
The area is part of my "dead earth" garden, the place where not even weeds grow. Last September, when we went a week without electricity, I removed the top six inches of soil. In October, I sowed the wheat.
It didn't do great, except around the edges but that's OK. After mowing it, I stuck the leaves in a compost pile, along with thousands of little brown leaves from a tree. It is only about a cubic foot, but still, a nice start.
Spread a bunch of not quite decomposed compost over the area and then brought out my 50 year old, front tine rotary tiller. It also started after maybe 8 tugs. Tilled the roots, the non-decomposed compost and dirt to maybe a six-inch level. The dirt was friable but even better - it is black earth. Plus, unlike the dirt over top of it I removed, this stuff did not till easily.
We are suppose to have rain for the next three days, followed by high temps ranging from the upper 40s to whatever. But by next Saturday, the ground should be ready to till again and hopefully the non-decomposed compost and wheat roots will have deteriorated a bit and I'll be able to sow some peas and beans. I really believe in planting close and should have room for about 150 seeds.
This is my test patch of ground, though it is also where my GH will go. If it works, I'll be able to reclaim another 300 sf of area.
Keeping fingers crossed!
Mike
Picked a 10'x10' space and cut the winter wheat. Much to my surprise, the 20 year old weed wacker started after just a few pulls.
The area is part of my "dead earth" garden, the place where not even weeds grow. Last September, when we went a week without electricity, I removed the top six inches of soil. In October, I sowed the wheat.
It didn't do great, except around the edges but that's OK. After mowing it, I stuck the leaves in a compost pile, along with thousands of little brown leaves from a tree. It is only about a cubic foot, but still, a nice start.
Spread a bunch of not quite decomposed compost over the area and then brought out my 50 year old, front tine rotary tiller. It also started after maybe 8 tugs. Tilled the roots, the non-decomposed compost and dirt to maybe a six-inch level. The dirt was friable but even better - it is black earth. Plus, unlike the dirt over top of it I removed, this stuff did not till easily.
We are suppose to have rain for the next three days, followed by high temps ranging from the upper 40s to whatever. But by next Saturday, the ground should be ready to till again and hopefully the non-decomposed compost and wheat roots will have deteriorated a bit and I'll be able to sow some peas and beans. I really believe in planting close and should have room for about 150 seeds.
This is my test patch of ground, though it is also where my GH will go. If it works, I'll be able to reclaim another 300 sf of area.
Keeping fingers crossed!
Mike
