One of the crops that is done for the year is my spring peas. I was disappointed in the harvests from these plants, but I think that they were not watered enough and didn't tolerate the heat well. I pulled up all the dried up peas and then weeded the bed thoroughly. I removed the trellis as well, since the next crop wouldn't need it.
I had originally planned to till the beds as little as possible, but the soil was so uneven and cracked even under the mulch, that I decided it would help if I turned the bed with a shovel, mixing the mulch with the soil. It didn't take long, since the soil wasn't compacted like last year. In about 20 minutes, the three by ten foor bed was ready for planting.
I knew the drip irrigation wasn't working that well in this bed, so I fixed it my own way - by poking more holes in the line with a thumbtack. Once I was sure that the hoses had enough holes, I laid them back down on the bed where I wanted to plant my next crops. I decided to plant a row of turnips and a row of beets in this bed. Both crops grow quickly and should be ready to harvest in just two months if everything goes well. After I planted the seeds I sprinkled a thin layer of fresh grass clippings over the whole bed. I start with a thin layer of mulch, so the seeds I just planted still get enough light to germinate. Once they get a few leaves on them, I will add a deeper layer of mulch to help trap moisture better and to block out weeds.
Hopefully, this bed will be ready to harvest by early October. The original plan had called for this bed to be planted with garlic in the fall. If everything goes as planned, then there should be plenty of time to harvest this bed and plant garlic in it after the first frost. If it works out, then I will count this as getting three crops out of one bed in a single growing season. It will be a first for me. I have spent the last couple of years trying to figure out the scheduling for rotating crops in a bed like this. I think I may be onto something.
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