grdnguru's blog: Garden news update #1

The weather here in Maryland has turned for the better. We have had another string of beautiful days which has once again propelled me into the garden to get things rolling. And rolling they are! There is so much to tell that I have decided to break it up into a series of posts. That's the only way I can be sure to get all the news that is news addressed.
So, as they say, everything starts with the soil. I decided that the first thing I should do was pull out the rototiller and get the remaining winter rye cut down to the surface. After hitting all the beds, I put my hand into the garden soil and felt that it was very cold and definitely wet. We have not had the best weather and the sun has been almost non-existent for several stretches. Given the cold and wetness of the ground, I decided to cover the areas where my tomatoes and cucumbers are going to be planted with cloches in hopes of warming up and drying out the soil. I had no idea I had so many of these. As you can see from the pic below, I had enough to cover every plot with them.

The ones that are yellowed are probably at least 8 years old. The other ones are more recent but all of them will do the job this spring. The three big ones were Christmas presents this past year and supposedly do not yellow. We shall put that to the test this year.
Subsequently, I decided to cover the rest of the beds with 6 mil greenhouse plastic that I used many years ago. I am glad that I saved them and they fit all the exposed beds that I needed them to cover. I am hoping these covers will allow the sun to both warm and dry the soil while also helping to breakdown the rye laying on top.

On a similar note, I also decided to move my various bags of soil amendments that I have gathered over the winter to begin warming them up. I had a patch of rye in another plot that I needed to kill so I decided to pile the bags on top of that area as seen below. I have amassed a varied collection of cow manure bags, compost/manure mix bags along with peat moss, vermiculite and a bag of soil amendment. This will be added to my leaf compost I have been letting breakdown over the winter. Once mixed, I will distribute it on all the beds. I'm sure I will be doing that very shortly. Here's a shot of my amendments pile. I will cover it up each night with a tarp in hopes of holding in the heat.

There is talk of us having a very cold snap towards the end of March into early April thanks to another cold dip from Canada. Anything I decide to plant this week will have to be covered or I risk loss. Seems old man winter is still around and kicking. I know, as I write this, that Denver and surrounding areas are going to get cold and may get a little bit of snow. We're not expecting that so that is good.
As I stated earlier, there is so much going on that I had to break this up. Afterall, I don't want to miss much time when the sun is bright! Lastly, I wanted to leave you a small sign that Spring is indeed coming on. Enjoy! Until next time, Happy Gardening Everyone!

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