Saturday, December 29, 2012

#6 - 13 in 13 - Gardening

Planting Bed #1

Hello again, this post will help document the start of my Gardening skill. I am mimicking Ecology Action's Bio-Intensive Gardening methods. Where you prepare beds by Double Digging them. They do not use the long row approach that you might be used to. They prepare 100 square foot - 5'x20' Beds instead.




What you see in the picture above is Planting Bed #1. I have outlined a 100 s.f. - 5'x20' Bed, and using a Broadfork (pictured below), I first began to break up the soil. The Broadfork has 5 - 12" tines. It is used to sink into the earth and aerate the soil.



I used this approach because this was the first time for preparing the beds. After this intial preparation, I will be able to much more easily Double Dig the beds in the future.


The picture above shows a different angle.


The picture above and below shows the completed bed. Broadforked only.


Let me tell you that this is alot easier after a good rain. The Double Digging is way harder.


The picture above shows both beds Broadforked only. A view from the North. I did this in September 2012. For some reason I can not locate my pics of the beds when they were Double Dug. They would appear as if someone made a mound. Check the Bio-Intensive method out for a really good tutorial. Double Digging was really hard for me because my land has alot of clay. Everytime I would begin the second 12 inches with the Digging Fork, it felt like I was trying to go through concrete! I almost quit, but didn't. And I'm glad I didn't. Because once you Double Dig, you really wont have to do it again for a long time.



On a side note...If you are looking for Raw Honey, the kind that Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy use in their Med Kit. Or if you need it for your 72 hour Kit, in that squeezable pouch, go to The Honey Company

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