Garden Planning
It's time to start planning the vegetable garden. There are a few challenges this year: unknown
soil type, drainage, growing season, wildlife.
I don't know the
suitability of the soil around the property to grow a variety of
vegetables. Based on local drilled well
records, it is most likely blue clay, which means I'll have to get a truck load
of garden soil brought in. Afterall the
area is known as the Little Claybelt.
Another challenge is
choosing a location that has good drainage.
The North landscape has an extensive wetland area - significant for
maintaining Canada's water quality and for sustaining wildlife. Local farmers drain their fields by laying
drainage pipes to direct the water into ditches which are dug between the
fields. I saw one farmer doing this a
few weeks ago. It's amazing that it can
be done even when the ground is frozen.
With all the drainage from local farm fields, the townships are having
to replace the culverts under roads to handle the water flow. Spring will tell
but I believe the valleys in my back field is part of this redirecting of
water.
For 2023 the Farmers
Almanac is predicting the last frost in this area to be June 7th and the first
frost of the fall to be September 8th which gives only 92 days for the growing
season. The long term goal for me is to build a small greenhouse to prolong the
growing season.
As far as wildlife I know I will have to have a fence around
the garden - the question is how high?
What type of visitors will try to sample from the garden? rabbits?
raccoons? porcupines? coyotes? wolves? deer? bears?
The photos are from my previous vegetable garden.
I used to love the planning part of gardening. Some tips: 1. Be careful about bringing soil in. A few loads is manure is way better. Foreign soil brings foreign pests. 2. Clay soil should never be worked when frozen or wet. Turns it into bricks. 3. Pick high ground for vegetables. Best drainage. 4. Observe what weeds are growing where. They’ll give you lots of insight into soil conditions. Happy planning!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Connie for all the tips - there is still manure in the barn so I can collect that for now; it should be well composted. Discovering what is outside the barn will have to wait until the snow melts and the chickens are busy helping provide more fertilizer. I will rethink bringing a load of soil in.
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