Garden pre-planning
With our very late spring and all the school hubbub, I haven't thought much about the garden yet. My Vesey's catalog never showed up (waa!) and I just haven't had much time to think about it. An email from dronon got my urge ticking again, though.
So help me, I'm thinking about doing raised beds. Every spring is a pain in the ass for me, trying to get the garden turned over and ready for planting before things get too far along. I can't work the garden until it dries out, since our soil is clay, so when it is finally dry I have several days of panicked digging trying to get everything done.
Raised beds would prevent a lot of that. The soil wouldn't be compacted from walking on it. It would be nice topsoil with compost worked in, and would be light and fluffy right out of the gate. Weeds wouldn't be as much as an issue, since I'd put down landscaping fabric under the beds. And the beds would warm up faster (and cool down faster - always a consideration in the fall.)
Bonus: there would be sides to the beds so I could attach a polyvinyl cover. This could extend the growing season into the fall, and I could plant things like tomatoes before June. Also, I could do the weed whacking around the beds without having to worry about accidentally decapitating a zucchini or bean plant.
The problem is that our garden is very strangely shaped. You don't want to make raised beds any more than six feet wide, since you can comfortably reach three feet. That means the main part of the garden would have to be cut in two, reducing the amount of space I have to work with.
This isn't going to happen this year, but it's definitely on the radar. I'm half-tempted to do a little raised bed next to the edible honeysuckle bushes (which are about to lose their spot in the garden: I have yet to get any berries from them after four years.) plonq has been making noises about doing an herb garden, but he doesn't feel like digging up a new place for the garden. This might be the perfect thing for him, and a good pilot test on the concept.
So help me, I'm thinking about doing raised beds. Every spring is a pain in the ass for me, trying to get the garden turned over and ready for planting before things get too far along. I can't work the garden until it dries out, since our soil is clay, so when it is finally dry I have several days of panicked digging trying to get everything done.
Raised beds would prevent a lot of that. The soil wouldn't be compacted from walking on it. It would be nice topsoil with compost worked in, and would be light and fluffy right out of the gate. Weeds wouldn't be as much as an issue, since I'd put down landscaping fabric under the beds. And the beds would warm up faster (and cool down faster - always a consideration in the fall.)
Bonus: there would be sides to the beds so I could attach a polyvinyl cover. This could extend the growing season into the fall, and I could plant things like tomatoes before June. Also, I could do the weed whacking around the beds without having to worry about accidentally decapitating a zucchini or bean plant.
The problem is that our garden is very strangely shaped. You don't want to make raised beds any more than six feet wide, since you can comfortably reach three feet. That means the main part of the garden would have to be cut in two, reducing the amount of space I have to work with.
This isn't going to happen this year, but it's definitely on the radar. I'm half-tempted to do a little raised bed next to the edible honeysuckle bushes (which are about to lose their spot in the garden: I have yet to get any berries from them after four years.) plonq has been making noises about doing an herb garden, but he doesn't feel like digging up a new place for the garden. This might be the perfect thing for him, and a good pilot test on the concept.