Last evening my neighbor came over to help me move the
chicken tractors, as he has kindly agreed to do weekly. It takes about a week
for the chickens to kill or eat all of the greenery in an area, and then they
get moved to greener pastures, and I have the beginnings of a garden bed.
I garden in beds, not rows (and someday I’ll tell you all my
reasons). Today, I’ll put down a kill mulch (keep reading, I’ll explain) on the
place the chickens were last week, and use that space as a new garden bed next
spring – or maybe even this fall -- without having to work too hard to get it
in shape for planting.
You don’t need chickens to do this, though. Here’s what to
do: Mark out the place you have chosen for a bed. The width should be no more than
twice your reach, and you should be able to access the bed from both sides. You
can make it as long as you wish, but you also don’t want to step on the bed, so
either make it narrow enough to step across, or leave a break for a path at
regular intervals.
Now mow the area closely. Save the clippings, and any other
grass clippings you have, or get some straw (use hay only if you enjoy
weeding). You’ll also need some plain brown cardboard from shipping boxes, or
plenty of old newspapers.
If you have results from your soil test, you’ll know whether
or not you need to adjust the pH of your soil with lime (to raise it) or sulfur
(to lower it). Proper pH is key to nutrient availability for plants, and you’ll
want to make sure you follow the recommendations from your soil test. (Don’t fertilize
yet, though. We need to talk about organic methods of fertilizing, which I’ll
do in another post).
Lime or sulfur will eventually have to be dug in, but it will
help to put it down under the mulch now – you can dig it in later. So sprinkle the
sulfur or limestone. Be sure you are using finely ground limestone, NOT quicklime,
slaked, hydrated or pickling lime. These substances are caustic. Dolomitic
limestone is fine – it contains magnesium.
I also recommend putting down some Azomite, or another,
similar product to help remineralize the soil. Throw down some compost or
manure. If you don’t have a local source, buy a bag of composted cow manure at
the garden center, or dig a couple of small holes and bury some kitchen scraps.
This will help attract earthworms, which are going to do a lot of your work for
you. Now water the area well, and cover it completely with newspaper (wet if
first to keep it from blowing away) or cardboard. Then cover the
paper/cardboard with grass clippings or straw.
That’s it! Now you just have to wait for the earthworms and
soil microbes to begin to incorporate all that good stuff into the soil while opening
up little channels for air and water. The root systems of any plants that were on the area will
decay, so when we do get around to digging, it will be a lot easier!
Happy Summer Solstice!
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