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| Is digging a thing of the past? |
If you haven't heard about no-dig
gardening or you have and you have your doubts, read on. Gary and I
have been watching a lot of Charles Dowding videos on that very
subject. A lot. So last year, we didn't just plant in containers. We
also planted an experimental no-dig plot to see if it would work well
for us. Well, mainly, for me with all my mobility issues.
It all started when we moved the tarp
we had under our above ground pool. Since the weeds under there had
taken a hike, we decided this would be a great opportunity to do a
no-dig garden experiment. So, off we went into town for a load of
planter's mix.
My sister and I hoed up the residual
weed sprouts from the area. Gary shoveled and barrelled the planters
mix onto the weedless spot. Not an easy task, by the way. Thanks,
hon. There we planted some seeds, interspersed with greenhouse
seedling for zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkins, watermelon and
eggplant.
There was a late cold snap, so we had
to replace a couple plants, but holy cow did no-dig ever work. There
were very few weeds, so bending wasn't an issue. And the no-dig did
so much better than the stuff we planted in containers!
We're calling the eggplant and
watermelon a loss. They didn't coming along quickly enough due to the
cold spring, but.... Oh my gosh, the squash! It just keeps coming and
coming and coming. And the plants are extraordinarily full, healthy
and green as well. No bugs. No disease. No deficiencies to deal with.
I could go on, but you get the drift.
By contrast, our container plantings
last year were a huge disappointment. The peas totally shriveled up.
Replaced the tomatoes twice, even though we waited for warm weather
to plant them. And now, tomato batch 3, while producing a lot of
large, green orbs, look severely undernourished, despite our best
attempts. In short, nothing but the herbs did well in containers,
which is how I grow them every year.
Even the radishes were a big fail in
container-land. That never happens!
I don't think the prairie is a good
environment for container veggies, you guys. Too hot and windy is my
guess. That dry wind just sucks the life out of container soil.
Watering is an endless battle. The herbs don't mind. They're very
resilient. But the veggie roots have nowhere to go once the pot dries
up, so to speak.
On the other hand, the no-dig veggies
can root deep for water, thus guaranteeing their survival two ways.
First, they get the water. Second, their deep roots help them
withstand the crazy winds out here on the Colorado plains.
So now we have a huge tarp laid out to
banish weeds in next year's no-dig garden spot. We built some raised
beds out front too. We'll be keeping our container herbs for “Herb's
garden” which should be in full swing by next year, but all the
veggies that spread or need a large area will be planted
no-dig-a-rama style. Our dream is to have our whole yard planted some
day.
One patch at a time in the gradual
garden, as always. Just on a bigger scale and with delivered dirt to
save Gary's back. I mean, he's a nice guy, but even nice guys have
their limits.
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