Note: garden nurseries are being classified as essential businesses because they sell the means to grow food such as vegetable seeds and seedling plants. Brawley Garden Center in Mooresville, Dearness Gardens in Huntersville, Lowe’s and Home Depot are open at this time. Follow the links to their websites for hours. —EH Stafford, Managing Editor
I love Spring in North Carolina. As an avid gardener, it is one of my favorite times of year. For newcomers to the area, we are blessed with what is called “Cool” season and “Warm” season gardening. Cool season is typically Spring and Fall, although some plants such as collard greens and kale can survive the winter. These plants that are “wintered-through” burst forth with extra growth in late February and early March creating larger plants for a plentiful harvest. Warm season is usually May through August/Early September. That’s when we grow beans, tomatoes, melons, corn and other heat-loving crops.
This month is still considered cool season. As long as the ground is not too wet, it’s time to till the soil and get planting.
One of three raised beds in my backyard, it is made of two tiers of cement foundation blocks topped with a 2-inch cap block. The entire structure was skim-coated to give it a better appearance.
I am working in one half of the raised garden bed shown above. Whether you are working in a raised bed or on the ground. The first thing to do is pull out any old plants and/or plant roots. Knock the soil off the roots (we want to keep the soil in the bed). Then put the stuff you pull out in your compost pile.
The soil in my raised beds gets compacted over the winter. I turn over the soil with a garden fork. If you see worms when you turn the soil, fantastic! Worms break up clay soil and add some fertilizer.
During this time of coronavirus, I was only able to go to one place, so I picked up two kinds of soil amendments along with my vegetable seedlings: composted cow manure and potting soil. Work it into the soil with the garden fork or hand tools.
Light soil that breaks apart easily will be the most beneficial for your plants. If you can take a handful of soil and make a ball of clay like the one shown in the photo [left], then you need to continue to amend the soil.
The raised garden bed after amending with soil and composted manure.
I planted Tiger collard greens, leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, and mustard greens. Notice in the photos below, the seedlings sometimes come 3 to a pack or one to a pack.
These Tiger collard green seedlings are not heavily root-bound, but I did gently pull the roots apart at the bottom to help them grow. [Left one is ready for planting, Right one shows the roots curling around the bottom.]
It takes time to amend the garden bed and plant it. I spent around two hours working on this small 3 foot by 3 foot bed.
You may have noticed that I have a fence around this bed. Last year, the squirrels and rabbits ate all of my lettuce. (Even with the fence!)
This year, I added netting on top of the fence to prevent “varmits” from eating the fruits (vegetables) of all my hard work. So far, it seems to be working.
Ellen Stafford is an avid, organic gardener living with her husband, Tony, in Cornelius, NC. She is also known as EH Stafford, the managing editor, of LKNConnect.com. If you have any gardening questions or would like to share your gardening stories and photos, please email her at [email protected].
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