More Garden Stuff

Well, here's the deal. I've decided to limit the "layered garden experiment" to a 12ft by 12ft square. Its taking a lot of time to build and I don't want all my eggs in one basket anyhow. I think that will be big enough to grow my tomatoes and peppers. The rest I'll grow in the dirt. After making up my mind on that I went right to work on the dirt. I figured that hill top would be nothing but rocks and hardpan. To my surprise its wonderful soil with nary a stone to be found. Just the other side of the barbwire fence its rocks and more rocks. The trick is not plowing it. I am using a "garden claw". After peeling off the sod I give it a twist with this strange gadget I found in the shop and voila.......6 inches of seed bed that looks like I've rotto tilled it 6 times! I knew if I lived long enough somthin' was bound to go my way. I can't believe how fast this is going. If I went much deeper I'm sure I'd pull up a lot of shale, that's why a plow can't be used up there. After working at it for a spell I realized that I've done this whole garden this year without the use of any modern power, just simple hand tools and my back. Now I've got this crazy idea that I'll keep it that way, just to prove I can! Its a good feeling to stand back and see all that fresh tilled earth and the layered spot we made and know I've a done it all the "old way". I sit on a tractor plenty, and this is a welcome change of pace. Plan to plant the peas this week. Hey, why don't you turn off that computer and go get some dirt on your hands!