Quote:
Originally Posted by Vicmeister
Karen, I thought it was also to fix high ones, so it's good to know I'm okay this year 
Red Baron, thank you! I'm going to have to spend some time researching what you're saying so I can figure out how to make my ground work.
Couple of quick questions though, as I'm reading this on my lunch....I've been trying to do a climate check in italy to see what they have, but not having much luck. If they need less heat and sun I can put them in the shade...I'm hoping they don't need the humid air or the rain, although I can fix that with sprinklers. Would you mind giving a quick "perfect climate" like it would have in italy and I can see what I can do?
Also on the no digging....I don't think I can get around that. The dirt is so hard and compacted, I can't put a shovel down the full length of it's head, even when jumping on it. BUT for the future, maybe the worms would help loosen it up? Maybe I need to buy a big barrel full of worms?? |
I know nothing of Italy, sorry. It is just a half humorous hypothesis many people were bandying about on the forums. I don't even know if it is true or not about San Marzanos growing better in Italy. I have no idea. Tomatoes need full sun though. I know that.
As far as jumping on shovels trying to dig the soil. I weigh well over 200 pounds and that's exactly what I did the first year here in Oklahoma. I jumped and jumped and jumped till my feet hurt so bad I had to stop. Ruined my shoes too! And that's on only 2 or 3 shovel wide rows 10 feet long. I simply couldn't do it. Gave up. Laid newspaper down 6 layers thick and covered it with mulch. A year later, like magic, beautiful soil I can dig with my bare hands. 5 years later
deep beautiful soil I can dig with my bare hands. Who knows what it will be in 10 years?
And the biggest thing I learned from all that was the small part of the garden I did manage to dig up. That part is not as good as the part I just covered with newspaper and mulch right over sod. I got to thinking about that long and hard. All my energy and work to dig the soil and get some organic matter dug into the ground actually had the opposite effect. The ground I left alone did better. It is then I realized worms are far smarter than me.
All I can tell you is that you need to trust the worms. They are far better at this than any human.