Preparing Your Patch

You can plant most of your  veggies in raised beds or directly in the ground.  In our garden we plant the onions and lettuces in raised beds but this is not necessary to produce delicious veggies.  Measure the 10 x 20 plot and surround with twine.  If you are transforming a lawn into a garden, cultivate the rows into the sod, three feet apart. Everyone start digging!  Dig about 12 inches or one shovel deep. Some of the earth will be used to “hill” the potatoes and the rest can go into the compost pile.

The trifecta of any good garden is sun, water and soil. Soil is not just dirt.  It is a mix of fine rock particles, organic matter, water, air, microorganisms and other animals.  We want the soil full of living things in order for your garden to thrive.  We add well composted manure we buy from a local farmer.  You can buy

composted bags of manure at garden centres. You will need about 30 lbs. of organic composted manure or fertilizer. Before you add compost to your garden, it absolutely necessary to  weed.  Believe me, this will save tedious weeding later. At this point, it will be easy to figure out who really wants to be part of your garden family.  Weeding is labourious work and you’ll find that most people despise this part of organic gardening.  Put on your ipod, have a drink close by and get into the zone.

After weeding, the ground will need to be tilled to work up the soil. If you can borrow a tiller for a couple of hours – great, if not dig by hand with a spade or spading fork.  Don’t till if the soil is too wet or too dry.  Next, use a yardstick, twine, and stakes to ensure your rows are straight and evenly spaced. Spread the compost over the rows (up to 6 inches if you want to buy that much).  Till or cultivate the compast matter into the soil.  This should be done about two weeks (last week of April) before you plant the cool weather veggies like beets, lettuce, onions and radishes.  You will need at least 12 inches between rows and 24 inches for the tomatoes and squash. Put at least 1 inch of mulch (straw, sawdust, bark, newspapers, grass clippings and black plastic bags) between the rows to prevent weeds.  Remember, this is an organic garden so no chemical weed killers allowed.