Preparing the Soil in Raised Beds

If you haven't already added compost to your soil for the upcoming season, now might be a good time to do so while it is unseasonably warm and the soil is workable. In raised beds, getting soil tested may not be necessary if you are using more topsoil, compost and supplements than the naturally occurring soil. Personally, I have not had my soils tested, but as I expand beyond the raised beds this year, I probably will.

Last year, I had pretty good results with the combination I used in my raised beds. I took cues from "Square Foot Gardening" and from my pocketbook. Following is approximately what I used per 4'x12' bed.

• 1 - 50 lb bag Black Kow Compost (Available at Lowes and Home Depot)
• 1 - 20 lb bag Black Hen Compost (Available at Lowes and Home Depot)
• 4 cu ft Peat Moss (You can find these in 4 cf bails at Ace Hardware)
• 6 cu ft Garden Soil for Flowers and Vegetables (Available at Lowes, Home Depot and Ace Hardware)
  

I also had some leftover Vermiculite from a friend. There was just enough for a thin layer over the beds. I turned the soil over about 12-18" deep, trying to mix everything in evenly.

In the 4'x4' boxes, I ran into problems (blossom end rot and powdery mildew) likely due to overcrowding, a lack of calcium, fluctuating moisture levels, and poor drainage. We have pretty heavy soils that retain water, but we were also hit by drought conditions during which I didn't water enough. This year, I will be planting tomatoes and squash in other areas of the garden to increase air flow and to prevent any recurring diseases that tend to hit tomatoes if planted in the same area repeatedly.

Most likely I will only be adding calcium and Black Kow and Black Hen in the coming weeks. From what I have read, this compost is fairly pH neutral.

Seeding and Planting Timeline

My brother recently requested that I let him know whenever I was planting something so that he didn't plant too late this year. Last year I was an eager beaver planting earlier than most, which lead to my tomatoes coming in a month before most of my friends and my squash gave me a nice early crop before being ravaged by pests. Other plants were too early, and I either had to replant or just never enjoyed any yield from them. So I started revising my planting dates to prepare for Spring.

This spring and summer I will be growing onions, peas, lettuce variety, potatoes, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, a pepper variety, pole beans, and okra. Ten seems like a good place to start. I will leave the melons and corn to the farmer's market this year unless I happen to get ambitious while nursing a newborn - doubtful. Raleigh's last frost date is May 11 (last killing frost is April 1 - 11 according to NCSU CES), so only frost tolerant plants should be put outside before this date. I take risks on my tomatoes and plant extras. Tomatoes can stand to get a little cold, and although they may temporarily droop, will still produce good yields.

Late January	Outdoors: onion sets (these can be planted through mid-February)
Mid February	Indoors: tomatoes, peppers Outdoors: spinach, romaine, peas (every two weeks following until end of April)
Late Feb - Early March	Indoors: squash, zucchini Outdoors: potatoes
Late March - Early April	Outdoors: tomato transplants (protect from frost on cold nights or wait until mid-April)
Mid April	Outdoors: squash and zucchini transplants, corn
Late April - Early May	Outdoors: pepper transplants
Late May	Outdoors: beans (every two weeks following)
Mid June	Outdoors: okra

North Carolina chart for Average Last Spring Freeze Date (1949-1998)

Time to Plant Onions in NC

It's strangely warm outside, and I thought I'd look into onion planting dates for NC. Last spring I waited until March or April and my plants bolted and never bulked up. According to the Department of Horticultural Science at NCSU, the window for Spring planting is January 15 - February 25. For more information on planting onions, check out this information leaflet from NCSU.

Gardening - Just A Novelty?

Another issue of Organic Gardening came in the mail yesterday, and is still in the plastic wrap. I'm not sure how I keep getting these since I didn't pay for them, but I am not complaining. Maybe I signed up for a free trial? My Fall gardening completely bombed due to one main factor: morning sickness. I wasn't in the mood for anything green for about 15 weeks, and it seems to me that Fall gardening is all about green: lettuces, broccoli, more lettuces...

I had a fairly comprehensive plan for this coming season, but with a baby due in the middle of June, I am rethinking quantities and scope. I don't know that I will be up for canning gallons of tomatoes, but I definitely will reprise the pizza sauce as we've really enjoyed cooking pizza from scratch - dough, sauce, sometimes peppers - all but cheesing the cow and making pepperonis.

My waning enthusiasm shows me that I still partially approach gardening as a novelty rather than a way of life. If I feel in the mood, I will garden. So just like the winter cooking bug hits around the holidays, the Spring planting but hits me about February, or on January 8, when my brother mentions he's ready for warm weather so he can start planting. The power of suggestion can do a number on a planting junkie. Part of the problem is that failures in the garden can be crushing when a lot of time and effort was put into the planning and preparations. There is a learning curve that probably takes years, and meanwhile, the effort to produce ratio can be discouragingly high.

I am thinking through an idea that may turn into a long-term community plan. It seems that everyone has their forte with specific crops. Mine last year was tomatoes, Anaheim peppers, and beans. One of my friends did superbly with cucumbers. My neighbor excelled with eggplant, watermelon and collards. Perhaps instead of attempting to dabble in 10 different crops, and doing some of them quite poorly, we could develop a community crop exchange system. I don't know that this will be the Spring to get this going, but it is definitely something I want to work on in the future. Personally, I like to do things well, but when I spread myself too thin and feel unproductive, I begin to treat gardening as a novelty.