Spring has arrived and with it the chance to crank up that wonderful element of the growing season ahead: the veggie garden. Growing vegetables is an easy but methodical pursuit where timing is everything. Early spring is the moment when the whole year is set into motion, the period when the garden is dug, weeded, seeded and prepared for the coming months. The next two or three weekends are important for putting in the cool-season garden that yields such treats in May and June as fresh salad greens, radishes and peas. Procrastinators, take heart. You have until May to ready your plot for the summer garden. In August, we told you how to lay out, build and decorate a vegetable garden. Today we offer a gentle nudge in getting it cranked up for the 2011 growing season. Remember, your garden needs at least six full hours of direct sunlight to be successful. The rest is up to you.
Cleaning up
For the vegetable gardener, there is something deeply satisfying about clearing away last year’s detritus and creating a clean slate for the new season.
Growing beds should be separated from paths, and beds should be no more than four feet wide. This allows you to work the soil on either side of a bed without stepping into it. Human feet will quickly squeeze the vital air and moisture out of soil.
Small beds with good soil can be cultivated with a three-prong cultivator. This will loosen the top few inches of soil, which then can be raked smooth. Larger beds that have not been dug for a while probably will be compacted, depleted in organic matter and in need of soil fluffing and replenishment. Finished, screened compost or well-rotted manure (never fresh) can be added.
I like to add a few cups of wood ash and bone meal and a bag of powdered limestone. Spread the amendments evenly on the surface before you start to dig, so that you can turn them in. I prefer a high-quality, well-balanced garden fork for digging, though a shovel or spade will do the job too.
Work backward in rows to avoid stepping on newly dug soil. As you turn and break the soil, pull last year’s dead vegetation and, most important, any weeds. Use a hoe to finely chop soil clods, and rake or hoe the bed smooth.
Apart from bed preparation, weeding is the most important step in the spring cleanup. Annual winter weeds are now maturing and must be pulled before they flower and seed. The most common culprits are henbit, chickweed, annual bluegrass and hairy bittercress. The safest, most organic approach is to pull the weeds by hand or slice them with a sharp hoe. In beds that are being dug, simply break apart the soil and remove entire weeds by hand, roots and all, and throw them in a five-gallon bucket.
Weed paths before laying a seasonal mulch. I like to use a thick layer of wood chips; others in my community garden prefer straw. Reset any edging that has come loose during the winter. Now is also the best time to repair fences, gates and arbors.
A wheelbarrow is handy for both hauling bags of soil and mixing amendments, and for transporting mulch for paths. Make sure the tire is pumped up and the axle greased.
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