Let's Get Started

“Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle …a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl.  And the anticipation nurtures our dream.”

-Barbara Winkler

 

People who know me know that I hate to wait. Hate. To. Wait.  And, that's what Winter is all about to a gardener.  Waiting for the snow to melt (as Gus is doing, left).  Waiting for warmer weather.  Waiting for to get the garden started. 
 
But it doesn't necessarily have to be, does it?  There's always the planning, the research, the anticipation.  And, that's what we've been doing for the past few weeks around our house.  Our planning has focused on what we will put where in the area of our property we call the Way Back. 
 
 

The "what" we have been researching in garden books and seed catalogs all season.  And, then, on Saturday, we went to our local Tractor Supply for dog food and bird feeder supplies...and there they were.  Seeds!  I'd read that there was a shortage (surely, they jest...:), and that you'd better buy 'em when you see 'em.  OK, I'm good with that.  We got peas, beans (2 kinds), lettuce (4 kinds), carrots, squash (2 kinds), cantalope, watermelon (2 kinds), cucumbers (2 kinds), peppers (3 kinds), tomatoes (4 kinds), and corn...plus several flowers.  Some we will start indoors and transplant, some we will direct sow, some we will do a bit of both.  And, of course, there will be additions in the form of transplants from the Farmer's Market when the time comes.
 
We then set up the Birthing Center, as we are calling the starter area.  Mr. T had already "plasticized" the screen porch for the Winter.  He stapled long sheets of plastic over the screens to enclose the porch and provide a cozy air-lock between the two doggie doors (which must be kept accessible at all times).  Even on the coldest snow days, the temperature on the porch was 5-10 degrees warmer than the deck, and the water in the dogs' bowl never froze.  We moved metal shelves into the protected area and will attach plant lights for heat and light.  I got some Seed Starter mix at TSC, and I plan to recycle those cardboard rolls from toilet tissue and paper towels I've been collecting. More on that in another post.
 

Now, about the "where."  Other than a couple of hastily tilled rows where we could host some tomato and pepper plants purchased from the Farmer's Market in late June '09 (after our move from MO to NC was completed), the Way Back is virgin ground. 
 
Well, "virgin" isn't exactly the right word...but, what I'm trying to convey is that this part of the property has been neglected as far as having a garden or anything other than weeds and tall grasses growing on it.  Duke Power, who maintains a right of way through our Way Back for their transmission lines (left), has seen to it that nothing taller than 15 feet has grown here in years.  And, because of this lack of vegetation, the ground had hardened to something resembling a parking lot.  But, that's changing, even as we speak.

Last Fall, Mr. T took all those moving boxes, knocked them down, flattened them out, and put them in the area where we wanted to expand our vegetable garden for 2010.  Then, he covered them with leaves (hoo-boy, do we have plenty of those!) and grass clippings.  Direct composting...right there out in the open!  And, I'm happy to report:  it worked!  That photo to the right shows the degree of decomposition of the moving box and the leaves, after 6 months. 

 

Amazing! We had read about this process, but had our doubts. Heck...nothing could have been easier, and it took care of lots of boxes and loads of leaves. 

This weekend, which was warm and sunny with highs in the 60's, was the perfect time for the first till-under of the covered space.  Mr. T (left) got about 2/3 of the new garden patch turned with the rear-tine rototiller before both it and he ran out of gas. Of course, the boxes are still decomposing, so we will have some chunks this year...but nothing we can't live with. Also, Mr. T will make another pass or two with the tiller before we plant this area.

We'd recently read some negatives about using a tiller in the garden. The writer said that it was just turning up the bad soil to the surface...and destroying the worm tunnels (and worms, too, I suppose) that help keep the soil aerated.  Well, I have to say that we've seen few worms in this dirt since we started working it.  Hopefully, by amending the soil...and turning it...we will be making the area more hospitable for worms.

 

Not to be outdone...or, to miss just a great day to be out in the garden...I got my hand tiller (it's a combination of a stirrup hoe and a three-tine tiller) out and attacted the area under the former bean trellis...which is really some sticks and branches stuck in the ground and joined by strong string.  Lo and behold, the ground was workable.  So, I got that packet of peas (Ferry Morse Alaska) out and planted my first seeds of the season.  Then, Mr. T double-dug the lower part of the row, and I powdered 1/3 of the resulting wide row with Nantes Coreless Carrot seeds.  Then, since there was still some daylight, I hand-tilled some more of the row and sprinkled it with Black Simpson and Grand Rapids leaf lettuce seeds.  Rushing the season?  Possibly, since we have another cold front on the way on Thursday of this week.  But, still...
 
The garden is started!