George and I spent the weekend cleaning up the yard and getting the garden-beds ready. We also took out the rabbit hutch that I made about 6 years ago when I had my rabbits, chickens and pygmy goats.
We double-dug a long growing bed along the fence for a cottage garden, and made eight berms for the vegetables. Each berm is about five feet square, allowing easy access to every plant. This is an intensive gardening trick I experimented with for about 15 years here in Tacoma.
Because we get a lot of rain, digging a trench and piling the soil up into a berm allows rainwater to seep into the trench. This pulls excessive water away from the seedlings so they will not rot. It helps to drain moisure into a trench lined with old straw, decomposed leaves, and grass compost. That way, if it rains hard, it becomes a nutritious 'grass soup'.
This 'grass soup', called 'Green Tea', will provide fertilizer for summer as more grass and weeds are composted in the trench. The technique requires 'double digging', turning soil up and over after the initial digging, to mix the lower strata with the upper portion. But, the benefit here is that the richest soil is underneath six inches, so summer-weary plants get a real boost of nutrients when they need it the most, when they are putting out their 'seed'. Because of the abundant organic material, I've never had to use artificial fertilizers other than a little steer manure.
To conserve on water, in mid summer, I'll apply a mulch of grass clippings and leaf clippings, to hold in moisture. That way, the berms are protected from heat and water loss on top and on the sides. As I weed, I throw the material in the berm I'm standing in, and it becomes composted through the summer. By season's end everything I've grown becomes composted.
It is mighty hard work - and the muscles in my arms are still sore. But the good news is that my shoulders held up real well, and that is a sign that the cartiledge is improving: I've been taking Glucosamine and Chondroitin, with MSM and Ester-C for about a year now. It has improved my joints.
