Preparing for Spring!

     One of my new discoveries this season is the wonder of Biodynamic agriculture.  Maybe I find it so fascinating because it takes into consideration the relationship of the soil and plants with the moon,  astrological alignments, companion plants, and organic gardening methods.  I remember my mom and dad always made comments like 'the old timers said if you plant in the full of the moon...' etc. that the yields or growth of the plant would be better.  The Farmers Almanac gives planting and pruning dates based upon the moon phases and regardless of whether its just a bunch of hocus-pocus or not, my plants tend to do better when I follow those guidelines.  So if the Almanac works, I figured why not give biodynamics/organics a try?  It certainly won't cause the damage that pesticides do!

     Anyway, over the weekend I decided to follow the instructions of my biodynamic calendar and transplant my root veggies: asparagus, chives,  and scallions & garlic (which I had sown last fall).   And I went with my intuition and transplanted my strawberries even though the calendar said I should wait until today - the 14th.  But I figured the weekend was prime time for root development, which is what I wanted for all of the transplants.  I'm glad I followed my gut, because the snowfall today would have prevented it or at least made it more difficult.  The snow is also a reminder that maybe I'm rushing my spring gardening a bit.  But it does take care of the watering of the transplants!

Garlic sets - amazing how many sets came out of  9 cloves!

     Last spring I did 'double digging' of what is now my perennial veggie bed.  Double digging basically means you dig out about 12 inches of soil and mix in compost and manure into that soil and put it back into the place you dug it out of.  It took me about 3 or 4 hours to do that to a 3' x 16' bed.  I didn't see as positive results from it last year as I would have hoped, but when I began loosening the soil in that bed in preparation for the transplants I was pleasantly surprised to find very loose, dark, rich looking soil with about 7-10 worms per foot.  (And that's a very good sign!)  I figured that the compost used last year decomposed even more over the fall/winter and the result was beautiful garden soil.  A little while later while viewing the finished bed from my kitchen window I spied a plump Robin scratching the soil - apparently he was enjoying the worms too!

My new perennial bed: chives, carrots, scallions,
strawberries, asparagus, garlic and artichokes.

    I mentioned earlier that a part of Biodynamics is companion planting.  The thought behind this is that certain plants drive off or repel insects or animals that might otherwise invade the bed and destroy the crops.  I happened upon just how effective this was last year, while tending my squash and cucumber plants.  Earlier that year I had planted rows of Radishes, which weren't producing as I had hoped and were going to seed.  And since the squash were doing so well (no bugs!) I decided to pull up the radishes to make room for them.  Bad move!  Within a week of pulling the radishes (which really could have stayed put without any harm) I started seeing squash bugs.  After doing research I discovered that radishes produce a scent of some type that repels the bugs.  So I think you can figure out what I'm planning to plant with my squash this year.  (I couldn't believe all the varieties of Radishes!)

     I kept companion planting in mind while tending to my perennial bed and transplants.  I had heard that chives benefit strawberries, so I kept those next to each other.  I also learned that garlic tends to drive off a variety of pests, so I transplanted a long row in front of the asparagus and in front of the section that will eventually become home to my artichoke plants.  Speaking of the asparagus - they are in their 3rd year and I could not imagine the roots that had developed on the plants.  The first 4 plants came up fairly well.  However, it took me half an hour to dig up the other four plants!  (You have to be careful when transplanting asparagus because you don't want to severely damage the roots.)

Garlic sets being planted in front of the Asparagus patch.

    
     The four strawberry plants moved very easily.  And an impromptu trip to Lowes resulted in 10 more bare-root plants to complete that section of the bed.   And on the right of the berries, the once small 4 inch section of chives was transplanted into a 16 inch long row behind the carrots and scallions sown last fall.  Now its just a matter of waiting a few more months and I should have quite an assortment of veggies to harvest!

Ah, the dreams of things to come!