Week Two:
Down and Dirty: Preparing garden beds for first planting
I am getting married in the end of July. Exciting! Here’s
the thing, I will be giving up my lovely large garden in exchange for a 8x4
condo deck. In July my garden will just be delivering nice
sweet cherry tomatoes, crisp sweet peas and crunchy zucchinis when I move to
condo land.
I have tried to convince Kyle that he should move in my 150
square foot house once we get married. I would love to keep my garden. However,
he argued the following:
- We own the condo
- We own way too many toys (bikes, tents, skis etc..) to even fit into 150 square feet
- We would have to share a twin bed
I still think it is a
fair trade, but marriage is all about compromise, right?
So what’s the solution you ask? Double the fun! I will
cultivate both my existing plot garden and voyage into the new world of deck
container gardens.
Let’s get started!
Week Two
Preparing the ground of the existing garden for planting
Timeline: This step starts as soon as ground can be worked. In Steamboat Springs, I usually start this step in the middle of April.
Supplies Needed:
Organic Manure or Organic Compost
Garden rake and shovel
Soil (if starting a garden for the first time)
Step One: Figure out if the ground is workable. This may seem
obvious but I like taking the guess work out of gardening. If you are starting
your very first garden, pick a spot that is south or west facing. Directionally challenged? Google map your house! If you are starting a raised
bed or plot garden for the first time, start small. It took me three years to make the garden the size it is. Every year I slowly chipped away more space. It is a lot of work to cut though sod, so keep it manageable.
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Keep in mind that different parts of your yard may be ready to work at different times. The picture above shows a garden that is ready to be worked. Yes, yes, there is snow in the background, but it is not ON the garden.
This part of the garden is not ready to work, even though it is less than 4 feet from the first picture. It is still storage space for lawn furniture.
Step Two: Clean up. No matter how carefully you clean up your garden in the fall, you will always have work to do in the spring. Your garden soil is warm enough to work when you can easily claw your way though dirt. If you are starting a garden from scratch, start when you can shovel without hitting frozen spots.
Step Three: Loosen the soil. You should dig down at least 6 inches. Your goal is to soften up the ground so the roots have a better chance. When you churn up the soil you are also adding needed oxygen to the soil.
Step Four: Rocks and Soil. If you live in the Mountains, chances are you will be digging up rocks. Do you see my pile of rocks below? The first few years of cultivating my garden, I found that a few bags of extra top soil were always in order to even out the ground. Your garden should look something like this when it is all cleaned up.
Step Five: Nutrients. To be honest, I have not done much with compost or manure in years past. If this step intimidates you or you are in a hurry, skip it until next year. I add some organic Fish Emulsion a few weeks in. Feel free to jump in then.
Manure needs to be worked in the soil a month before you can plant, I will not be using manure due to the time crunch of having a 62 day growing season. I added a few shovel fulls of organic compost to the garden above. Make sure to mix it in well. Repeat the steps above with all other parts of your garden.
Let me know if you have any questions! Up next week: Layout and soil preparation for the new deck container garden. I will post a blog every Tuesday!
