Skip to content

Horticulturing, June, First Week

So, I've been trying to watch a MasterClass on Edovo, Ron Finley Teaches Gardening, but our Wi-Fi is THE hottest garbage. What I did manage to watch in the five minutes of video I could see described four kinds of soil. Having watered and turned our soil, I can confidently identify it as clayey, compacted soil, clearly not good for growing 💩. What we do not have, so far, is sand, to balance out the clay, which is a concern I have here in Blessington.

It's not like I can go dig a new bed with better soil, alas. So, I have some plans, some experiments I would like to conduct over the coming weeks:

  • I'm planning on giving up about 6.25 square feet of my overall bed at its far end, digging out a pit of sorts 12-15" deep. To it, I'm going to add all the grass clippings that I can gather from the recent mowing that was done, and cover it with a little bit of the shoveled soil. I expect that this will trigger composting, which will yield (over time, but not right now) some viable, loamy soil. Something in my head suggests this will work, but unless the Wi-Fi works for more than 30 to 90 seconds at a time, I can't see the video that teaches about composting.

  • I need to ask our instructor tomorrow or another day if she is able to acquire just plain sand for us, so we can make soil amendments and rebalance our soil for use. Having access to that sand will be rather critical, so if we could have, say, a 20-25 pound bag to start, for those who know what they are aiming for, or have an idea of what they want? I think this is actually curriculum-related material based on a quick read-ahead in our The Horticulture Professional textbook. I want to amend a small portion of my bed and plant something else in that section, see if it makes a critical difference (and I think it will).

  • I am hoping to have the energy, a shovel, and a wheelbarrow (though I should ask for a bucket instead!) to delid (remove the surface) part of my planting bed and carefully sift through by hand to remove some more rocks, limestone, etc.; the head of my bed is rockier than a triple scoop of Rocky Road ice cream, friends.

  • I also need to ask for sulphur: something tells me the limestone has the soil pH so jacked up that only sulphur will amend it.

I'm also trying some interesting trenching around my plant bed, with some diagonal cuts through it from one side to the other. I don't want the excess water that comes from being by where everyone washes their boots off to run solely down one side of my bed when it could take a few different routes to the end. Some of the soil I am removing is going in where I had over dug previously, using my weight to compact it back into place while blocking a side with a shovel -- mechanically engineered earth, minus the power tools. Just add one chubby enby, haha! :)
I'm mixing some of that clayed soil with water, using tools to spread it in place to let it harden some; basically a mud plaster. If I had a bucket, I'd be adding some grass, making mini mud bricks if I could shape it.

... to do: see a boat about a disposable bowl, hah! That might get me a leg up in our garden contest that our instructor has started: miniature mudstone 'pavers'! It's that bowl, or see someone who has an empty duplex cookie rack -- I could do stick-like stones, which actually add utility for plants that need places for their creeping vines to go!

Duplex rack is looking like my best choice right now. :'3

Okayokay.

I need rest. Feet are kinda sore. Brain's running ten miles an hour with no legs.

Until next week!