the garden space
The Towsey-French garden underwent some significant development this past weekend (May 9 and 10). Keri –with a wee bit of assistance from me– finished the sod burying project. This included clearing ground for more than the garden space; we also removed a significant portion of sod to make room for flower beds, strawberries, sunflowers, and a revised patch of ground for the Gardenfort –a metal tube-framed ‘house’ made of green poly netting, which –when the season is in full bloom– features a roof and walls made of live, flowering vines.
keri on the new gardenfort floor
Grandma gifted the Gardenfort to the girls last summer, but it came too late to really bloom into the vision presented in the Magic Cabin catalog. Additionally, the fort was a bear to keep mowed on the interior, and if you didn’t mow the grass inside, it became a somewhat undesirable place to call little-girl-HQ. With this in mind, we set out to start the fort’s vines much earlier this year. Keri also had the vision to suggest we build a raised wooden floor for the fort.
securing the gardenfort's frame
I built the floor out of spare 2x4s and a bundle of 1×3 pine slats. After measuring and cutting the wood, I screwed the frame together with deck screws and then used floor-finish nails to attach the slats to the frame. After this was complete, I stained the outward face of all the boards and floor slats, then applied two successive coats of marine oil to seal out the weather. While this was taking place, Keri dug out the sod that previously resided beneath the fort, then she laid in a sheet of weed block before laying in some soil to even-out the surface. You can see the finished product in the pictures in this post, or in greater detail in the gallery.
In addition to the Gardenfort work, Keri also planted more than a half-dozen sunflowers along our Western fence line, butting directly up to a row of freshly planted strawberry starts. We also transplanted two of my tomato seedlings (started in our house from seed) to the main tomato section of the expanded garden plot.
close-up of gardenfort floor
The ‘main event’ for me was carrot planting. First, we made the decision to plant two rows of carrots (11 row feet each), with the first planting preceding the second by a few weeks to help step-out the harvest. After Keri completed her work preparing the carrot bed –which included tilling in compost and organic fertilizer more than 12 inches deep– I decided to take Steve Solomon’s advice and not place seeds in the furrow by hand.
Solomon recommends that you mix your seed in with some organic compost, then pour the resulting mix into the furrow. After this is complete, you cover the furrow with some more compost. According to Solomon, this process will result in a more even broadcast of seed requiring less thinning after germination. I’m definitely excited to see what comes up!
I used the same Steve Solomon method for sowing carrots and found it needed LOTS of thinning. This fall I just sprinkled them in and they aren’t needing as much thinning. Now my problem is slugs. They’ve eaten 4 successions of my seedlings. I’m curious about you tilling in the compost. Steve says that’s a no-no; you should only put a 1/2″ layer or so on top. How is your garden growing?
Hello again, Carrie. Unfortunately, I didn’t get an opportunity to see if Solomon’s carrot seed mix-in method worked or not because I erroneously mixed in the wrong soil! Essentially, I think I ended up killing most of the seed, so seven of my 14 row-feet of carrots failed.
This being said, I also used the good ole-fashioned sprinkle method for the second, seven row-feet crop and the results were fantastic.
As with the potato crops, I made sure that the soil was as loamy as I could get it prior to planting, so the roots could tap deep before the soil compacted –that’s the key. If you enable the tiny young roots to tap deep as early as possible, then by the time that watering compacts the soil, the carrots have a massive head-start and can then expand outward the full length of the root.
And while I’m mentioning watering –carrots love it and need plenty of it! If you’re considering a drip watering system, start with your carrots. Give your roots a good head-start and they’ll grow long and thick and tasty. :)
As for tilling in the compost, we did it primarily to help amend the soil through several levels. Again, our soil was in pretty tough shape, so we went above-and-beyond the call of duty to make sure it had a fighting chance. We likely won’t till-in much compost next year.
Solomon is correct that for the most part your compost will filter nutrients down into the soil from the top, thanks in part to natural erosion and microbial compaction and digestion, so you needn’t place any down low.
That being said, you should still give most plants (e.g., tomatoes) a little something extra to reach for when you plant them –that’s why Solomon recommends placing a bit of complete organic fertilizer in the bottom of the hole prior to planting your starts. It doesn’t hurt to toss a little compost in there too, but it’s by no means necessary.
Happy gardening!