Spring is here! (and so are the weeds!)

Only 30 more wheelbarrows to go!  

Yesterday I picked up another yard of compost from Wittkopf landscape supplies.  I got the Colville Valley Compost which is basically very fine bark that’s been composted for a few years.  Our soil is very heavy clay and it’s going to take years to amend it but that’s all part of gardening…patience!

This is the main reason why we added raised beds for the vegetable garden…so much easier to customize your soil immediately and so far very minimal weeding.

But in the rest of the yard, now that things have started to grow and settle in for a few years, I’m starting to notice that some plants could be bigger/better and I know it’s because of the heavy clay.  Admittedly when we first landscaped I didn’t know much so I really didn’t bother bringing in better garden soil, we just took the tractor out on the back 40, so to speak, and dug up some “nice” dirt.  Hmmmm.  Well, lesson learned.  Now I will be spending the next several years fixing that mistake!  Insert quote here: “There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments” -Phillips.

The only way to improve your soil, what ever type you have, is to add compost yearly, as a mulch, and maybe even dig it in a little bit too.  And of course any new perennials/trees that I plant I dig an extra big hole and add lots of good compost and mix it in with the clay too.  The compost will, over time, amend the soil, making it lighter, not so heavy and compact, which makes for healthier roots systems (and makes weeding easier too!)  Also, in the summer it will keep the moisture in and roots cool.  And because I have clay it will prevent the top of my soil from turning into a concrete driveway!

The other reason to add a good 1-2” layer of mulch around your perennials, trees and shrubs is for weed prevention.  It’s not full proof but it does help.  And much better for the environment than recklessly spraying “weed-b-gone” around your yard…especially when you have pets.  

So for the next week or so I will be hauling compost around the yard in my wheelbarrow, no need to lift weights this week!  

Radishes, Arugula, Spring Onions, Kale that I seeded
about a month ago.

This is my runner bean area this year.  I dug a 2 ft x 2ft
trench along the bottom of the grate and filled
with my homemade compost, then filled back in.  Beans
require very rich, fertile soil.  

This is what happens with chives when you don’t
remove the flowers after they bloom!
after the first set of flowers are done you can cut it all the way down
and you will get a 2nd bloom/crop.