Garden Update for April 2012

Spring has finally sprung in Northern Idaho. While downtown has been clear of snow for a few weeks now, the snow in our neck of the woods has just recently begun to melt. It took temperatures in the 50s and 60s recently to get it going. And go it did. The quick snow melt almost washed away our driveway and the road. A few days of digging ditches in the mud and flowing water saved both.

The growing season is short here--our last frost is usually in early June. And summer nights are pretty cool. It may be in the 80s during the day, but nights can still be in the 40s. Many plants don't like this large temperature swing, so you have to take measures to keep them growing.

Last year, we had problems with deer eating our food. So this year I plan to put in a seven foot fence. I'm hoping it will also deter the moose, but as big as they are, it would take a pretty strong fence to keep them back if they really want something.

I plan on planting some root vegetables this year, including carrots and beets. We have plenty of rabbits around here, so I wanted to make sure they didn't eat my carrots. While attending some meetings organized by our local gardener's association, I learned that a lot of people have problems with gophers and such, too. The solution, I'm told, is to create a fully enclosed garden, including the bottom.

So my first project this season was to build a permanent garden bed that will prevent any digging or burrowing animal from getting in. Aside from the wire fencing, all materials were scrap that was lying around waiting to be used. The wood frame was made using the crating for the roof installed last year and left over from the solar panel installation. To "seal" the bed, the fencing is stapled to the wood along seams, and the bottom is stitched shut with wire used to hold the fencing in a roll. The finished size is ten feet by four feet.

The enclosed bed before it is filled with dirt.
From the ground to the top is about two feet.

This bed is about two feet deep. The location is slightly inclined so I leveled the bed by leaving more exposed above ground at the bottom of the hill from where these pictures were taken. I basically just dug until I hit the orange clay and then dug a little more, moving some dirt from the top of the hill to the bottom so that the bed would have roughly the same usable depth all the way across. We'll have to wait and see how well this actually holds up.

The finished bed backfilled with dirt. The sides will probably have to
be reinforced before it is filled to the top.

I'll try and get some organic compost this week to mix in with our soil. The soil around here has quite a bit of clay, although being in the forest there is a bit of organic matter on top. This particular spot is disturbed soil and the hill was probably created when the area for the house was cleared. I'll probably make two more beds in this hill, but probably not fully enclosed like this one. This box will be solely for plants needing protection from diggers.

Hopefully by next week we can start planting.