Hand crafted soils...

Over the last two days I've completed redigging my original double dug plots for the third time. It has been rewarding to feel and see the improvements.

What do I mean by this?

First, they are things that have to be felt by hand. The shovel enters the ground easier. The spade fork enters the B horizon easier. In contrast to the first and second digs - most often I can push it into the originally clayey layer by hand, when earlier I needed to use a foot to pentrate this layer.

Visually, the transition zone at the junction of the A and B horizons is now approaching a black color when it originally had a distinctive brown, more orange color. Earthworms are fat and healthy looking and more common, but I don't think I've reached an optimum population by any means. The crumb structure of the soil is visibly improved. The large strips of sod that were originally buried are considerably broken down but clumps can still be distinguished as part of the origal organic material that was incorporated.

Separate soil tests were submitted for the second and third time double-dug soils - the UW soil lab was utilized this year because they do a total combustion method for organic matter.

2010 Kick-off for the season...

We've had a near record warm and dry March here. I just began the process of double-digging our largest bed. Unlike last spring, this season we begin with a weed problem that is a carry-over from the cold wet October last fall. The rhizome spreading grass was able to proliferate during that cool weather while my "green manurs" sat and watched. It will be interesting to see whether I can manage to get them back under control. They were present in the entire 12" A horizon profile.

Work, but little to show for it...

We redesigned the layout of the garden into thirds rather than quarters. We now have one third devoted to the Ruth Stout method and the other two thirds containing double dug beds as advocated by John Jeavons - quite a contrast in labor...

Why do I say we have little to show for our work? We have had frost after frost, wind and more wind, and unseasonably cool daytime temperatures (10 degrees F below normal), and drought conditions.

On May 24th all of our tomato, pepper, and squash transplants were killed by an unpredicted frost on the first night that they were placed out to harden off! We had frost nearly every night since then through June 4th! Potato shoots have been killed off and all beans that had emerged were killed also. Needless to say everything else has been slooooowwwww to emerge.

A planting we will go...

Today - Mother's Day - I made a little progress with planting the narrowest and longest arc of the garden. About a third of the bed has been double dug, had sod/thatch placed ten inches below the soil, watered thoroughly, and back filled with A horizon material. A final seedbed was prepared by belly rubbing an inch of vermicompost on top. Using a 9" isosceles triangle as a template - Onions, Sugar Snap Peas, and Carrots were planted in rotation with a full triangle devoted to each crop.

What do I expect? Onions and peas - are considered "antagonists" according to Jeavons "How To Grow More Vegetables" - does this apply to sugar snap peas? I don't know but carrots need lots of nitrogen and I expect the peas to provide this as an intercrop...I'm actually expecting all of them to thrive...

The plane, the plane...

With apologies to you Fantasy Island addicts...a plan has now emerged from the injured gardener...

Patience...will be required.

Last years plots will receive the following treatment(s):

• Green manure plots (2) will be allowed to grow until the clover looks like it is taking off - the rye has started to thrive already. When this happens they will be turned over and planted with a mixture meant to produce a crop and build OM...just what is not clear yet.
• The intercropped plots (4) will be left until their N-fixer covers (planted late) start to thrive, then they will be covered in "belly rub" vermicompost, and then turned over. They will be planted in primarily three sister intercrops...

Potato seed has been "planted" in sod sandwiches - to be planted as space becomes available in the new double dug plots. The outside arc along the fence will be planted to combinations of carrots, onions, & super sugar snaps. More later...

Another compost approach...

Yesterday I started a new compost "pile". This time I used a combination of just about everything that I have on hand.

Last fall, I mowed a small plot of grass and left it stacked uncovered for the winter. In addition I have watered it well all spring. When I removed the top layers I found that it was wet internally (photo above) but just beginning to break down if at all.

In addition, I collected from two different friends wood lots a good sized sample of leaf and wood based well composted material and leaf litter. In addition, I collected a small amount of composted cattle manure. With these materials I want to formulate a better compost "starter".

These materials were blended and a small amount was placed in the straw cavity, then covered with a layer of the sod and thatch that I am using for vermicomposting in place.

All of this was covered with a fresh layer of kitchen compost and a small amount of wood ash. Evrything was recovered with the top straw layers, well watered, and will be opened in a month to check on the progress it's made...

Catching up...

As usual with the beginning of May physical gardening activities increase - making writing about them more difficult.

On May 1 - I sowed the seed of Blue Wind broccoli, Caraflex cabbage, Brilliant celeriac, Orion fennel, Orient Express eggplant (zero emergence from first sowing), Winter Density Romaine, Breen Romaine, Cajun Delight okra (already emerging today the 5th), Bottle Gourd Mix (2008 seed from Burpee), Costata Romanesco zuchinni, Spaghetti squash, Black Forest kabocha, Waltham butternut, and Xiang Cai cilantro.

Soil test results got back yesterday and were disappointing at first glance - organic matter only increased from 1.8 to 1.9% over last year - this demonstrates that the addition of deep rooting crops alone will not move the OM level up at an accelerated rate. This sample did not contain any soil from the plots that just had a Fall Green manure and daikon planting. Next year it will be made up of a composite of these 6 - 25 sq. ft. research plots. Otherwise other than nitrogen levels pH and soil fertility factors look about the same or slightly better than last year. The optimistic outlook is that we grew a crop and improved the soil albeit only slightly...Pasha has suggested using the belly rub technique to add some vermicompost to these plots as well and this I will do...but another year will pass before we re-measure the OM of these plots.

As a result of the test, we will have to ensure that we use nitrogen fixers intercropped with not only sweet corn and potatoes, but also carrots, cabbage, greens, tomatoes, peppers, and squashes.

Currently I'm on an injury timeout - my back and right shoulder are giving me great pain as a result of helping a friend move and install about 300" of fencing and then coming home and spending the day on some obsessive double digging...hopefully my miracle working friend the physical therapist can put me on the mend...