By the time I finished prepping and planting in the flower bed, things were getting pretty hot out, but I had one more bed I wanted to work on.
The low raised bed with the frame that still need to be assembled.
This is where we had winter squash with trellised peas and beans, last year. It has been completely taken over by dandelions!
It took quite a while, just to loosen the soil enough to get started. Compaction was also an issue.
And rocks. A surprising number of rocks, considering it’s been picked over and cleared of rocks every years for several years now! Then the soil needed to be broken up more, section by section, so the weeds could be pulled without leaving behind any roots. Not that I can get every root, but at least it’s better!
The dandelions, with their deep tap root, was one thing. The crab grass with their endless rhizomes weren’t as bad as I thought they would be.
Finding elm tree roots all the way at the far end of the bed, though… that’s just insane! The bed is 18′ long, and it’s another 7 feet or so from the North end of the bed to the tree line. These were clearly Chinese elm roots, too.
Those trees have got to go!
Once the weeds were pulled and raked away, the soil surface got raked a couple of times, too. The first time, using the thatching rake, which pulled out more rocks and weed roots. Once that was cleared and leveled, I went over it with a fan rake, and that found more rocks and weeds, too!
After the bed was cleared and leveled, I got the roll of plastic that had been used to solarize the bed the peas and carrots are now in and covered the freshly cleared soil. This will help warm the soil up more – and keep it from getting too cold overnight – in preparation for planting or transplanting. I haven’t decided what to put in here, yet. Nothing will go in here until the beginning of June, though, so any weeds that were missed will have a chance to start growing again, and will be easer to get pull when it’s time to remove the plastic.
With this bed done, I was also done for the day!
At least, I was when it came to preparing things in the garden.
After chatting with my SIL, who was mowing the outer yard at the time for a while, I went to check on the walnuts that were planted. Things were getting pretty dry, so I filled the wagon with watering cans and buckets of water and gave them a thorough watering. I watered the Korean Pine, too. We really need to remember to water the outer yard transplants more often. Especially with our upcoming heat and lack of rain. We’re not expecting rain until the first week or two of June.
At least they’re no longer predicting snow and freezing overnight temperatures!
I’m very happy with how much progress I got today. There’s still lots to do, and we’ll have to work around the hottest hours. I just have to remind myself not to over do it, or I’ll end up losing several days due to pain while recovering.
Little by little, it’s getting done!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 