Posted by admin | Posted in Down on the Farm, Uncategorized | Posted on 13-01-2010
January 10, 2010
I went out today on a Sunday afternoon and braved the cold to begin prepping a dirt garden as I call it. I really like self watering container gardening much better as I have had better luck with the Texas heat using this method in the past. I guess it is still habit though and I do prefer the dirt for the winter and early spring crops and we had a nice wet spring last year also. The only time we watered was at planting time if I remember correctly.
I began by hoeing off all of the dead grass and winter green cover as I call it. I could have just tilled this in, but I prefer to do it this way. It is less of a problem when tilling and I will use this cover material in a compost pile. It is just much better when you are in a hurry to get your ground ready too. I will use this to set up a compost bin as it is both carbon (dead grass) and nitrogen (green grass) and I will add some leaves to that also. I prefer to start at one end and go backwards across it. That way I only see the part I have cleaned mostly. It’s a psychological thing for me. Every now and then I will grab a rake and rake what I have hoed into a pile to haul to the compost bin later.
Once I had cleaned all of the grass and vegetation cover down to mostly bare dirt, I got out the tiller and tilled it one time without the bedder attachment. The ground was just a little too moist but I got through it without too much of a problem. After this first pass, I put the bedder on the tiller and made some really nice deep beds.
I am going to let this set until Friday when the next above ground planting times are good according to the almanac. I used to not take much care about this, but I had an eye opener many years ago about this and I will make a special post about this when I get a chance. Really a unique story and it actually happened to me.
I will coat this entire area with about a half inch to an inch of compost from the compost pile after I plant also. Keep watching and I will post again after planting time. Last year we had cabbage, onions, radishes, greens, brocolli, and brussel sprouts in this garden area. I have include some pictures from Spring 2009 below.
:B
