This is the last week to order seedlings from me for the spring! Put in some orders for varieties that you won’t be able to find at your local garden centers! I am happy to talk with you about different varieties, so please feel free to reach out!
Each week, this newsletter will contain three sections:
How things are going
I will share an update on my garden as a point of reference for how my weekly tasks are adding up and looking.
What to do this week
Here I will present the 3 - 5 things I am planning or doing this week.
Resources
A deeper dive into information and perspectives that are inspiring or informing my gardening.
If you are coming to this newsletter mid-season, please take a look at the posts from the past few weeks to get a sense of context for where we are at this week!
Week 9: 2/26/2023 - 3/4/2023
What I am doing:
March starts this week, and I am setting up my gardening space for spring plantings. I’m planning to plant out seedlings that I’ve started in my house in the next couple of weeks, so I want to make sure I prepare the soil and space to get them all off to a good start. Because I use a “no-dig” approach to preparing my soil, this work primarily involves one thing, adding compost.
This week, I am going to buy enough compost to add a 1” - 2” layer of compost to the top of my beds. Once I’ve added that layer, I’ll be ready to plant. That’s it. I don’t work it in by mixing the soil. I just smooth it out on top and leave it to start breaking down.
Here is a side by side from when I first set up my current beds. I filled them with bulk gardening soil bought in bulk (dropped off by dump truck), and then I spread out bags of compost until I have a good layer on top. I’ve been topping off my beds 1 - 2 times a year since then.
As I mentioned last week, no-dig gardening is a fairly simple approach that recognizes that fertile soil is built over many seasons by layering on compost to the top of your beds. The life in the soil breaks down those layers of compost over time, releasing nutrients for your plants.
This is such a cool demonstration of what no-dig soil looks like:
I usually buy my compost from a local garden center, often Echter’s. The city of Denver also takes the compost that it collects from its residents and sells it at Ace Hardware stores. I’ve never tried out this compost, but I’m going to this year.
I really think this approach to building healthy garden soil is maybe the most important part of my gardening success. I am making a multiyear investment in developing a rich and living soil. In addition to this seasonal topping off of compost, I do use organic fertilizers throughout the season to supplement my soil, which I’ll talk about as we get closer to late spring plantings.
Even if you aren’t planting out early in the spring, I think now is a great time to do this bed prep. Laying out a new layer of compost now will give it time to get rained on and snowed on and settle in, starting to break down. It’s also an easy way to get yourself out into your garden and take a look around.
I am also taking inventory of my gardening tools and supplies. I defrosted my hose and got it set up. I am organizing my shovels and snips, testing out my hose nozzle, gathering ties for securing plants to trellises, checking the condition of the various stakes I use to build different support structures, and inspecting the quality of the plastic I use to cover my beds (it’s doing ok). From this, I’m making a list of a few things I’ll need to get in the coming weeks to really feel ready to get started. Some things I’m noting:
I need more fertilizer
I need some potting soil for some new pots I’ll grow peppers in
I need some more labeling stakes
I’ll probably add to this list as the week goes on, but doing this first round of checking things out and organizing what I’ll need is giving me some good spring preparation energy.
What to do this week:
Embrace the warmer weather as it starts to come more frequently and do some spring preparation! Take inventory of your gardening supplies and figure out what you’ll need to get to have a good start to the season. Also, consider adopting the no-dig approach to gardening and buy some compost to top off (or start) your beds.
Here’s what to do:
Think about how you are approaching building fertility in your soil. Make a plan to amend your garden soil in some way to promote its health.
Take inventory of your gardening space and supplies to identify things you’ll need to get in the coming weeks to be ready for your first plantings.
This is the last week to order seedlings from me for the spring! Put in some orders for varieties that you won’t be able to find at your local garden centers! I am happy to talk with you about different varieties, so please feel free to reach out!
Next week:
Early plantings - planting out some cold hardy crops!
Resources:
Resource 1
This is a helpful list of some essential gardening tools that might help you identify a few gaps in your supplies.