Yes. I am grateful. I know I'm blessed! This 2019 season’s garden turned out amazingly well despite the poor soil conditions. It’s horribly compacted. It looks and feels dead.
I plan to expand the 2020 garden so I need to start adding amendments now. But then I need mulch to protect it from the sun’s bleaching effect.
I would also love to get rid of the layer of rock 6" to 8" below the surface. Short of using dynamite it’s not going to happen. It is what it is. Someday I may find where the rock ends and plant a peach tree, but not any time soon!
I brought home 3 additional plants the other day - Brussels sprouts, Cauliflower and Collards - to add in the fall garden with the tomatoes and herbs. I hope they will enjoy the raised planters and store-bought dirt mixed with a bit of the old dirt.
I need to do much more of what/how Morag explains here:
One tub at a time...
Taking her advice ~ in part ~ this is what I did:
In the tall tub I grew pumpkin (got one tiny pumpkin and that’s it!) the old tired dirt was so hard and compacted I had to use the turning fork just to pierce it! I ended up scooping out half of the dirt into a wheelbarrow. I then took our container of small chunks of kitchen scraps and put down a layer. I watered the layer. Next I put the used coffee grounds and filters I’ve been saving. I watered that layer. Then I put the dirt back in and planted three “extra” veggie plants. I covered the surface with several layers of newspaper. I used rocks to hold the paper in place and to also make it uncomfortable for the cats. They have a tendency of laying on the wet cool newspaper/dirt after I water, crushing the plants.
We’ll see what happens, how well the plants grow (or not)!
Here is to someday digging in the dirt in my bare feet!
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