Farm Expansion Step 3 – Finishing
After the sod busting, the new beds were clumpy and – according to the analysis of the soil we sent to the lab – not sufficiently nutritive for the coming crop. Lime was spread, along with a three inch covering of compost. I am machine-averse and was ready to start breaking up the clumps and mixing everything up with our trusty garden fork. The farmer had other ideas, however, and soon discovered that the neighbors owned an electric tiller. Running a tiller appealed to the one-third part of the farmer that is teenage boy (the other parts: one-third Ma Kettle and one-third princess). Maneuvering it through the beds, she looked like a musher guiding an unruly dog team over rough terrain. But it was effective and efficient, and another instance of our jack sprat partnership. Even so, there were still smallish clumps that exceeded the farmer’s tolerance level, so she went through the beds again crushing clumps by hand.
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Dirt First! Bed finishing before and after.
There were other finishing tasks. The strips of grass between the beds had been covered with black plastic to keep them from growing. We replaced the plastic with landscape cloth, tight-cornered and smooth like a well-made bed. The resulting pathways support easy kneeling and smooth transport of the garden cart, which they are just wide enough to accommodate. A section of one bed was set up for a cloche (aka hoop house): rebar driven in pairs on either side and connected with a bent pvc pipe – ready for the clear plastic to be clipped on. My description might not be clear enough to paint the picture, but anyone unfamiliar with the concept can look it up. The structure reminds me of a classic train station. Due to the farmer’s eagerness, the first plants arrived at the station a little early. They suffered through some cold nights as a result, but the starts were hardy little buggers and they made it through just a little worse for the wear. When it warmed up, they recovered quickly and started growing in earnest.
