Preparing to Plant

May 9, 2011 by birdsong

A long past history of working with raised beds led me to the decision to create long, wide planting beds for the dye plants.  Most are either perennials, or self-sowing annuals, so I am planning to give them a well-prepared home that won’t need further major soil disruption in the future.

We used this area for a large potato patch about four years ago, so the soil is already less compacted than the heavy clay we normally deal with.  However, Glenn still decided to go through and first mow, then till with the large tines, to make it easier to get rid of weeds.  He brought in a top dressing of donkey manure on Sautrday,  it rained overnight and then there were a few showers (and some hail) today, so the ground is nicely soaked.  Now, to wait patiently just a handful more days, til we are truly past the last-frost date!

I have lady’s bedstraw and yarrow waiting to be transplanted from other locations, as well as tansy and two black hollyhock plants I found at my local food co-op.  Dahlias are already in the ground in another, well-established herb bed, and more yarrow.  Hubby’s Mother’s Day gift to me was a large, 4×10 foot bed to put my madder roots in, and this week’s work also includes filling that bed with soil, more manure (it’s a good thing we have such a ready source) and some limestone to help counteract our acidic Sierra soil.