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We've broken ground!
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 8:50 am
by megany
We're finally moved in to the new house, so this weekend we started tearing up the backyard. We're going to start off with four beds on the flat part of our yard (since the other half is a hill, which will be even more labor intensive!).
For this first bed, we dug about 3 feet down in the end.
We're going to put a border of bricks around it and put some more dirt in it, so that it is a little more raised.
For the next one, we're not going to dig quite as deep. Probably a little under 2 feet.
[img]https://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/cancercrusader/IMAG0091.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/cancercrusader/IMAG0094.jpg[/img]
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 1:39 pm
by megany
Yup, compost pile on the list of things to do this week! We bought some wire and we're planning to make a wire bin. I've been saving all of my compostable materials the last few weeks, so we'll be off to a good start!
Re: We've broken ground!
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 10:36 pm
by farmerlon
megany wrote:...
For this first bed, we dug about 3 feet down in the end.
...
The bed looks nice.
What "amendments" (if any) did you add to the native soil?
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:49 pm
by DoubleDogFarm
The bed looks nice.
What "amendments" (if any) did you add to the native soil?
When I say the first picture an open grave came to mine
I don't want to know the amendments added.
Very nice. More details please.
Eric
Re: We've broken ground!
Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:04 am
by megany
farmerlon wrote:megany wrote:...
For this first bed, we dug about 3 feet down in the end.
...
The bed looks nice.
What "amendments" (if any) did you add to the native soil?
Thanks! We added about a fourth of a bag of organic compost we bought at the store, mixed in with the soil at the depth range where the roots will end up (since we don't have any of our own yet). And then towards the top, we mixed in some better gardening soil (also purchased from the store) with the native soil.
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 9:27 pm
by farmerlon
Sounds good. The organic matter in the Compost and "Garden Soil" will give you some "buffering capacity", but you may also want to test the soil pH to see if it's in a good range for growing your veggies.
Some test kits are available in stores... but, a Soil Test submitted to your local County Extension agency is probably the most accurate.