March 13, 2012 - Digging Up the East Beds

It was windy and cold today, so I didn't last very long outside. Just long enough to rake the remaining roots and garden debris from the east garden, and begin the layout and digging of the beds. This area is going to be a bit narrower than it was in past years, as well as a bit shorter. A 3' path along the fence line between us and the neighbors is necessary, due to a buried irrigation line on that side. It also serves as a barrier where I can attack the neighbor's Bermuda grass as it creeps under the fence. I plan on putting in three beds of potatoes, each being 3' wide by 7' long, and two beds of Walla Walla sweet onions, each measuring 2' wide by 7' long. That should give me enough room to plant the 60 hills of potatoes and 112 onions I have planned for the 10' x 22' garden plot, with 18" paths between the wide rows. I may decide to cut the path width down to just accommodate the width of the rake. This area of the garden has yet to be fenced, so I'll plant it first to determine just how much room I'm going to need.



After I got the entire area raked clean, I dug the first potato bed. Three trenches, about 9" deep, were then dug. Well decomposed cow manure and a bit of 5-10-10 organic fertilizer was scattered along the bottom of each trench and scratched into the soil. I placed a Dark Red Norland seed potato every 12" along the bottom of the trenches. I had 20 seed potatoes, so I had to cheat just a tiny bit to get them to fit in three rows. They were then covered with the soil, and the bed was raked smooth. Planting the first onion bed will be the next project, hopefully tomorrow.

Quite a few seedlings have been hardening off on the back patio for a few days, so I decided to go ahead and plant out a few lettuces. I have several batches of the lettuce seedlings growing, so if these don't make it, I have others to take their place. The varieties are mixed, so every salad will be a surprise this year.





26 comments:

  1. Thanks so muich for all your wonderful gardneing posts. Every time I read one, I learn something new. "The width of a rake"! Genius!

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    1. Kris, I have OCD when it comes to keeping my pathways clean and raked! No sense making them any wider than I have to :-)

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  2. Wow...you are so organized! You must be in great shape..I'm sore from planting my seedlings and clearing the gardens! That is a lot of digging....:-)

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    1. Robbie, I'm OK as long as I keep moving, but one day off and I'm stiff as a board! Two Tylenol and a hot bath are musts every night of garden prep.

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  3. I'd love to have your level of energy and to be this organized! I do have a questions thought -- is it too early for potatoes or is it ok to plant this far before last frost date? I usually planted mine 2-3 weeks before LFD (for me it's May 1) so after April 10. Just currious.

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    1. Jenny, I've always planted mine around St. Patrick's Day. Looking back, I see I planted on March 20, 2009 and March 11, 2010. I didn't plant any last year. My "garden bible" says they can be planted from March 15 to June 15 in my zone. I plant my onions around the same time. My last frost date is around April 25 - May 1. I don't like to plant out tomatoes or peppers until around the 10th. of May, just to be on the safe side.

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    2. Thank you! I always plant my onions on march 15 and nightshades on May 15, but haven't tried early potato plantings. will try one bed this year and will see! thank you again, you're an inspiration!

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    3. You'd better have a real good crop, or I'll be in trouble! LOL

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  4. It looks like you had a very productive day in the garden! That was a great idea to have a path along the fence by your neighbor. Now YOU can keep things under control! Maybe they will be a bit more interested in taking care of their yard this year.

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    1. Robin, I sure hope so. They did an awful lot of cleanup last month. I whimpered every time I saw the garbage truck picking up 20-30 bags of leaves. If it had been fall, I'd have grabbed them. I'll be home when the leaves begin to fall this year, I'll get what I can for the garden beds. I'd love to cover all the beds in chopped leaves and manure in the fall.

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  5. Wow Granny that is going to be a lot of potatoes and onions! Two things I'm not growing this year :-(

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    1. Liisa, I didn't plant potatoes last year, and I sure did miss them. I bought the same amount of onion plants that I always do, so I know how many we (and my kids) will go through. That's just two bunches @ $1.59 a bunch! I was disappointed with the condition of the onion plants. They are even worse than the ones I bought last year (which grew lovely big onions, by the way). I buy them at the same farm supply store each year, and I was shocked at the difference between these and the ones I bought in 2010! I'll have to do a comparison post.

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  6. wanna come attack my Bermudagrass? Ugh I HATE that stuff, can't believe that's the grass of choice here :)

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    1. Erin, it's the most horrid vegetation on earth! The yard next door is full of it, and it has gotten into our lawn. I have tried to keep it under control, but I'm afraid I'm losing the battle. I had a gorgeous flower bed against that fence several years ago, but I finally had to pull everything out because of that invading grass. Our lawns are mix of fescue and Kentucky bluegrass.

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  7. You never cease to amaze me with your boundless energy. The lettuce should do fine outside, when I went to my bed prep I found a gorgeous volunteer 'Bronze Beauty' lettuce, about 4" across. Lettuce can take much more cold than people think.

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    1. Ed, I've had a Red Sails lettuce plant out in one of the front yard planters for probably a month, and it's been down to 18F with no harm done. It's not growing much, but it's alive. I put the other 7 Red Sails plants out last week, and they look happy enough. They weren't even hardened off like the ones that were planted out today. I left the first batch of spinach seedlings outside on the patio tonight, so they will be planted soon.

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  8. Wow that is going to be alot of onions and potatoes!

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    1. It's actually the same amount of sweet onions I plant every year. However, I need those potatoes to bring my total harvest weight up! It went pretty low last year. When it comes to harvest weight, Granny doesn't want to be "The Biggest Loser", LOL!

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  9. I love that you are off to a running start! I can't wait to see these beds greening up!!!

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    1. Me too, Barbie! Rain predicted for today and tomorrow, yay! We need it!

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  10. It's so darn tidy I can't stand it. I'm growing potatos this year for the first time - should be an adventure!

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    1. LOL, David. I like a tidy garden. I've always treated my veggie gardens better than my flower beds. To me, they are prettier! If you are like me, you'll be stealing those new potatoes as soon as the plants blossom. I never have any left for winter storage. The flavor of freshly dug new potatoes is beyond comparison to any store bought ones, I grow them for that purpose.

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  11. I'm glad to hear you're daring the weather with lettuce. We're going to direct sow seed this week. We just don't have enough room under lights to seed them inside. Good luck Granny!

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    1. Thanks, Jody. It rained today, just in time to water those little seedlings. I haven't been out to see how they fared through the night yet.

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  12. lol, it's amazing the difference in climate between Eastern Washington and Western Oregon. You're excited to see some rain and I'm sick to death of it! I haven't had a warm, or dry, enough day in weeks to be able to start hardening off my starts.
    Not that there's any rush, since my garden beds are still completely shaded... /shrug

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    1. Anywhere, it has been so dry and windy here so far, ever since the snow melted. What moisture we had in the soil was just dried right up by the wind. Luckily, we are expecting rain nearly every day this week. It will keep me out of the garden, but we really need it.

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