amendments

To cultivate the garden bed a few inches deeper, a second tilling was undertaken. In all the depth of cultivation is about 6-7." A yard of compost and a yard of topsoil are added to increase organic matter and to ameliorate the clay content of the soil (gypsum also helps with this). Next the amendments are added. These include granulated limestone, phosphate, greensand and gypsum, all broadcast on the surface of the bed and then tilled into the first few inches of the soil. All that remains to do is refine the design drawn out on paper and hope for another dry day to plant.

In the course of tilling, numerous feeder roots from the nearby pine trees were found wending their way only a few inches beneath the surface of the soil. Trees, being advantageous organisms, seek out the most easily found nutrients. As many roots as were found were removed, but always to keep in mind is the fact that our vegetables will be competing with the nearby trees for nutrients as well as light (at certain times of day). We'll try to keep this in mind while choosing where to plant certain varieties more tolerant of shade, and fertilize (with compost) throughout the season based on observations of how the plants are growing and competing.