Time to Make the Beds

"The best fertilizer for a piece of land is the footprints of its owner." -- Lyndon B. Johnson

More heirloom seedlings are up and smiling. Currently growing are Filderkraut Cabbage, Red Rock Cabbage, Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts, and (just yesterday) my beloved Lacinato Kale.

The time for transplanting to the great outdoors is coming, and there's a lot of prep work to do. The next two weeks will be all about the soil: Digging into it, testing it, weeding it, and amending it. In addition to containers, I have three main planting areas that I'll focus on this year: BED 1, along the south side of the house; BED 2, along the south side of the garage; and BED 3, along the east side, or back, of the garage (the crude drawing is not to scale, but I will use this basic sketch to start noting plant locations).

In previous years, the only area that I used for edibles was BED 1, along the south side of the house. You'd think that this area would be the easiest to prep, but I was silly to plant invasive bamboo here a few years ago, and these tough guys, along with an overgrown butterfly bush and spreading annual grasses, will make for some backache...and that's just not acceptable on a Monday. So I started with BED 2, the area along the south side of the garage.

The area is nearly a blank slate. About 10 years ago, I planted a neat row of Goldflame Spirea shrubs, but not only have they grown to a not-so-neat state, they do nothing for the vertical space here. It's interesting to note how much larger and healthier the plants are close to the gutter downspout--it's clear that the bushes farther away from it did not get enough water. Before the heirlooms go in, a better irrigation system will be installed.

I dug out all but one out of the Spirea shrubs. I figure that the one adds some visual interest, and, from the front side of the garage, this Spirea has always looked great. Once the garden plans come together, though, it may have to come out as well. While digging, I noticed lots of worms here...that's a good sign.

The bed will be widened yet, and I'll need some stepping stones so the little grass that's in my yard stays put. I'll create a framed-in mesh netting, which will run vertically right up into the roof eaves. This will allow the plants to grow up, not so much out.

The plan for plants in this space (BED 2): tomatoes, for sure, and likely peppers, since the two both thrive in the same soil type. What kind of soil is here, I currently do not know--that is my next task, and one (hopefully) made easy by the handy dandy digital soil test kit brought to me yesterday by the Easter Bunny.