first dig 2016

with no clear idea yet of when planting day may be , i set out to the garden this morning to spend a few hours working on turning under the green manures in preparation for that event...there were seven beds to address and i spent my limited time there working on what seemed most pressing, including the three beds that had winter rye beginning to develop seed heads, and a bed colonized by sunchokes ( next post )...so i took the garden shears and mowed the manures down and began the process of turning them in...this is only the first dig...it will take a few more turnings and some heavy work with the warren hoe before the beds are ready so i will obviously be heading for the garden after work in the coming week or so to start the other three and continue with what was begun this morning..i had planted alfalfa in the beds to set nitrogen and out of curiosity i pulled a plant up to have a look at the roots...what i found was the sugar secreting nodes ( they are the small, lighter colored parts of the roots...fairly well defined by the soil on my fingers ) so the beds should be well supplied with nitrogen, with even more coming as the organic matter from the winter rye decomposes...couple of weeks and we are home free.