Garden Update

Wow, it's been two full weeks since I've added an entry. Let's update the status of the garden.

The seedlings are growing well. I've selected the strongest onion and lettuce plants and cut the others back. I think they're going to be really ready for transplanting with just a little more warmth in the weather.

Melissa and I have figured out where everything is going to be placed. Our main plot is about 10' x 25', and it's been cleared but not yet tilled. I've trimmed up the pine tree that at one end so that more sunlight reaches the ground, and bought the materials to erect a fence around the site to keep the dog and pests (and children) from trampling it.

I've decided to use the French Intensive gardening method. This involves "double-digging," meaning the soil is hand-turned about two feet down (two spade depths), and extra soil heaped up to make a raised bed about 10" above the surrounding soil level. Unlike traditional raised beds, these aren't walled in (thereby saving money on timbers, etc), but have sides sloping at about a 45 degree angle. This allows planting on the slope, water runoff, etc. In this system, plants are sown in rows across the short axis of the bed, and they are placed a little closer together so that their leaves touch where they are mature. No thinning is used: the plants/seeds are positioned at their final depths. Lastly, several plantings of the same crop will be staggered every couple of weeks until midsummer.

The benefits of this system are manifold. First, it provides a wonderfully soft bed for the plants to send down tiny roots, which apparently really benefits productivity. Planting them closer together also increases the yield-per-square-foot ratio, and it creates a "living mulch" as the shade from the overlapping leaves blocks out sunlight below and retards weed growth. The successive planting assures a continual harvest throughout the growing season, and maximizes the use of ground, since there is a continual rotation of harvesting and reseeding.

Now, it also means I have a LOT of earth to turn and dirt to move...