we rented three beds in the portage community garden this year and, since a couple of family members are ready to plant, i went out there to prepare two of them ( i am not remotely ready to plant yet and will be germinating seed in the next week and waiting for the soil to warm a bit more )...
i turned both beds ( however will not burden you with photos from both )...
each of which had a lively population of earthworms...always a fine sight on a garden morning...
i worked the beds with a hoe to break up roots...
spread about 120 pounds of bagged compost in each bed...
raked it level as possible, turnes it in, and raked the beds again...
this compost is not sterile in terms of imported plants ( then again, the composting i do in bins in my yard isn't sterile of plant growth either...always something growing in the compost ) so i suspect there will be visitors...hopefully not invasive ones...there will be a need for vigilance...that done the beds are ready...don't ask me when planting day is...
back at home at least one of the plants growing in the cracks in the patio...
is, as i had thought, winter rye that has grown from seed spilled during last summer's harvest...that ear coudn't be clearer evidence of harvest loss...
the rye out in the east beds is coming out in ears as well...what wheat that survivred the winter is going to be a negligible harvest, if any...the wheat has failed two of the past three years which i am attributing to a lack of insulating snow...yes it snowed rather heavily here in february...unfortunately that was after the cold in january...so if i am milling flour for bread this year it will be from purchased wheat...a dent in the "grow your own" bread flour project...these things happen...
the garlic is looking robust...
and the walking onions around the yard have begun work on blooms and aerial bulbs...time to pinch them off, leaving some for bulbs to plant in autummn and letting others produce some potent onions...
the ramps are not quite the disappointment the wheat is, however thay are not having a grand season either...they are there but none seem eager to flower...so...no seed this year..these things happen as well...
the new york imports are still blooming and there are berries on the way...unfortunately the mooseberry bush, while not dead dry and breaking apart, still looks like a dead stick stuck in the ground.
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