First off, I have decided to forego my ususal routine of growing most of my own vegetables from seed. I have decided to purchase most of my plants from two or three growers in my immediate area. My reasoning for growing my own plants was that the growers were not offering the plant selections I liked to grow. There was a paucity of heirloom plants available and an overabundance of the usual hybrid varieties. For me, there is nothing like the taste of the heirlooms.
After visiting the various plant sellers throughout last year, I noticed that between three of the them, I could find almost all of the varieties I wanted. And, to make it all the better, they were at very affordable prices. It appears that the growers have finally caught up to me and other gardeners in regards to the superiority of taste of the heirlooms.
I still do need to take stock of my seed inventory which I will complete this week. An indirect result of the aforementioned decision to curtailing my growing efforts will be a much smaller seed stock and, of course, less purchasing. I just need to be sure I have the seeds for the various plants that can be started directly in the garden.
All of this will allow me the luxury, if you will, to concentrate more efforts in building my soils to peak richness. Last fall I planted winter rye in all three of my beds to overwinter them. I have written several times last year about the benefits of this which I firmly believe in. The beds are in great shape given the weather we have had recenlty. Two weeks ago we had wind chills in the negative 10 degree range and have just entered another colder than normal period this week. It's supposed to right itself by this coming Friday.
Here are the beds as of last week. I think they look great and the rye is actually holding up much better than I would have anticipated.
I will be waiting until probably late February to cut the rye down to the soil level. Then I will wait for the cuttings to rot for about a week or two. Once rotted, I will work them into the soil with either a fork or a light roto-tilling. The object is not to distrub the roots or the sub soils. This serves many purposes. The cuttings will act as an immediate green manure, the roots as nutrients for the plants over the growing season as they break down and the light rototilling will not introduce imbedded weed seeds to the sun and warmth required for them to grow.
After I do this, I will need to add a mix of composted horse manure and compost in order to build the necessary fertility and structure in the soil. One has to be careful to be sure that the manure does not have wood chips or shavings in it as those are detrimental to vegetable growth. People sometimes use cow manure but that is courting disaster with pathogens if it is not composted correctly. My choice is to use the safer horse manure. I will be researching various local suppliers of this as I like to stay as local as possible.
I also have a new 8X6 greenhouse to place in my gardens. Not quite sure where but my guess is at the end of my beds at the southernmost end. This will, by proxy, be a reason to reset my beds. I am thinking of getting rid of my blocks and do a more intensive planting scheme. I am still playing with various alternatives so I havent really come to any hard choice although I will need to do so in a short time.
Well, that's all the news in the gardens at this time. Just begining to piece it all together one step at a time. So, until next time, Happy Gardening to everyone!
