Soil Testing, Staking, and Snow

We seem to be in this weather cycle where it is warm during the week then frigid cold on the weekends. It is frustrating! I mean, I love having the kiss of spring during the week, but it would be nice to have it on the weekends, so I could get things done without 7 layers of clothing and a blistering cold wind nipping at any exposed skin! Geesh!

In spite of the temps and a snow squall, we were able to flag the planting area. It feels so good to mark the bed edges and see that our plans on paper are translating well into the field. I think the size will work well. We didn’t flag the individual beds, just the overall length and width (106’ by 15’).

Measuring out the planting area

The southeast side of my property is tree lined with huge beautiful mature trees, and I am a bit concerned that they will shade the garden a little too much during the day. It is hard to judge in February how much impact the leaves will have this spring and summer, but hopefully, in spite of our wooden soldiers standing tall, the cut flower garden will get the sun it needs. I have tried to position the garden in the field where I think it will get the most sun, but I am just not completely sure. Since we moved here the end of September, we have not yet experienced the spring and summer months, so it is a bit of a guessing game at this point. Fingers crossed we’ve made the right guess!

The other thing we accomplished was getting our soil samples! By we, I mean, my husband. I definitely did not have the strength to get our soil probe into the partially frozen soil. The probe worked well, but we did end up just using the shovel for the last few samples. The shovel proved to be easier to break through the frozen layers. This is yet another good reason we will get into a soil testing cadence in the fall!

Soil collection complete!

While we wait for test results, I am going to look for good quality compost supplier in our area. I have calculated that I will need 10 to 15 cubic yards of compost depending on how thick we want the layer to be, so I just need to find a good yet affordable source. I know quality matters with compost. I certainly do not want to create more problems than we are fixing!

  25 days to spring!