Plowing and Digging

We have had a couple of reasonably nice days...over 35 degrees...so J and I have been outside working the garden plot.  Actually J started raking and discing the garden a few days ago but yesterday and today we really focused on it.

Hole for the cold frame.



Before we tackled the garden, J started to dig out next to the cistern for the cold frame.  Our goal is to use some of the radiant heat from the cistern to keep the cold frame warm.  We (I mean J) dug about two feet down with the ditch witch.  We will then line the three remaining sides with pummy block - we hear you can buy cheap ones that have blemishes from the concrete store.  For the top, we'll use the greenhouse hard plastic.  The whole thing will be about 20'x8' so we'll have more than enough space for the plants.  Initially

this will be used to harden off our seedlings...but we may end up using it as a secondary greenhouse for the winter to grow things like lettuce.  I'm not sure how warm it will keep.  We'll have to see.

Looking northeast.

Looking southwest.

At this point, the garden looks to be about an acre.  Smaller than what J planned, but it seems big enough to me.  It stretches from the rock piles to the irrigation pipes.  Most of it will be hit by the end gun on the pivot, but we are planning to run a mainline down the side of it and send drip lines across it to water most plants.  The end gun will water too much and isn't really the best way to water since it will be spraying down from the top.  This might be a nice option if we need to protect the entire crop from a freeze.  Otherwise, I guess there's a way to turn it off and back on again when it hits a certain part of the rotation.



Pond is to the left of where the old
pump house used to sit.



Looking into the pond.

In addition to discing and dragging the garden, we've been building up a small pond.  There used to be a run-off creek from the irrigation overflow.  Instead of just piping it out of the way, we decided to collect it in a small pond first.  This will give the kids and the ducks a place to play in the summer.  It won't be super deep so it will stay fairly warm.  We don't have the money to line it with clay the way that most people do here, so we will use bentonite (something that we have about six bags of already) to firm up the sides.

Our goal is to get a bunch of manure spread next week and then rent a tiller implement for the tractor over the weekend, till everything under, and be ready to plow and plant the following week.