03/06/2013

 This is the first day of real bed prep in the Hoophouse. I have done a bit of rototilling during the winter however this is the first day of rake and shovel, fork and seeds. 

I take the shovel and cut out the walkway and toss the dirt up on the bed. We had already put on some peat moss and will work in a bit of compost. This act raises the bed about 2 inches or so over the ground level.

I rake in the lumps and knock down the peat into workable clumps. This step further moves the dirt around and gets the bed looking like a planting area.

I then go through and take the potato fork and pry up the soils down to the length of the tines. This is about 8 inches or maybe 9. This also aerates the soil and allows the worms to get some air.

The line for the seeding, and the layout of the length of the bed, is next. Tape and string a few posts and I am all set.

The plan that I drew up with the help of the Mother Earth News garden planner is the map for the planting. I can get the early crops into beds that won’t be planted for a month and a half. Many of the early veggies, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, lettuce and radishes are the first in. Oh, and the Spinach, love the spinach! A couple kinds will be good. 

 

This is the temp at the north end of the hoophouse. It is the end that dies into the barn. The barn, with cement floor, it still kind of cool. That makes a bit of a difference. The thermo reads 62.6F and the outside temp is 31 and partly sunny. It does move in and out of the sun and that should make this temp rise by this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

This is the temp at the south end of the hh. It gets a bit more sun and more direct sun closer to noon. It is about 11am when I took this picture. Right ;about at 80 F and taken at the same time as the one at the opposite end.

 

 

Now for some dirt temps.

 

 

This is an instant read thermometer and stuck about 4 inches into the ground. The temp is better down there overnight and the top seems to give off a bit of the heat as the sun goes down. I think I’ll put black plastic down and maybe a bit of tree chippings. The tem is 52F and was pretty consistent over the length of the 12 bed that will be planted tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a pick of a dandelion that has overwintered in the hoophouse. These, wild carrots, and a few grasses maintained their vigor all through the winter and I am going to have to plant various ground covers inside and out next fall. The ground here is really sandy and can use all the extra’s it can get as a way to get it up to a nice loam. I think I would rather begin with this soil as with some clay as I can work the top of this down each year and not have to worry about plowing. 

Be well;peace…dan