Topsoil pH and Chemical Tests. 12.27.21

I used a home test to check the pH, N P K content of the topsoil I've been using to fill raised beds. This is a test of the un-amended soil, nothing added. pH

Nitrogen

Phosphorus

Potassium

pH, using pH strips and dilution 1:5 to make it readable.

I think these are a little difficult to interpret, but maybe OK. If Im reading correctly, pH using the liquid reagent is about 6, maybe 6.5. Nitrogen looks depleted and both phosphorus and potassium look deficient. By the pH strip method, the pH is about 6, maybe 6.5 so similar to the liquid reagent test. I'm not surprisd the topsoil would be depleted. Now I feel more comfortable fertilizing and adding a liming agent (wood ashes).

Fungi. 12.26.2021

There are mushrooms growing all of the time. Last winter I spread a layer of tree chips in several areas, often on top of a newspaper layer. The newspaper is completely gone now, and the woodchips are starting to disappear. Meanwhile mushrooms continue to pop up. They like growing in those wood chips.

The benefits of fungi are legion. The soil should be interlaced with fungal mycelium, for soil health and therefore plant health. Often, I remove some mushroom caps and place them on the raised bed soil the get them started in the new soil.

Winter Day. Raised Bed. Deer. Rufus. 12.26.21

It snowed again. Rufus got to take a walk. He likes to snoop. He sticks his nose under the snow, then snorts like a horse. Then he sticks his nose under the snow, then snorts like a horse. Then...

There were some deer between the woodshed and the woodlot. They like it there. It gives them a chance to see if I leave the garden gate open so they can eat the remaining plants and fruit trees.

They grew nice and big, munching on my fruit trees and flowers and veggie plants. I set a goal of not more than 10 to 15 buckets a day in the raised bed. Today I added about 15, lost count. More is too much for me. At this rate, it will be filled within two more weeks. Next layer is compost from a year-old compost heap, then what I imagine will be the topmost layer of topsoil.

Rufus supervised.

Saving Squash Seeds. 12.24.21

These are seeds from the Pink Banana Squash that I hand pollinated. When I gutted the squash (like making sausage, gutting a squash is not for the squeamish), I rinsed the seeds and then left them to dry for a week on newspaper. I stirred them a few times so they would dry thoroughly.

The bits of newspaper stuck to the seeds are harmless and I don't remove them. This is enough Pink Banana Squash seeds that, if I planted them all, and they all made squashes, I could feed a moderate sized city.

Garden Raised Bed 1/2 Filled With Soil. 12.24.21

Due to space constraints, I have to fill this raised bed, bucket by bucket. I tend to overdo the work then regret it and get mad at myself. I have all Winter, and Spring if needed, before it gets planted with the main crop. This year, a community of moles moved in under the previous raised bed and had big mole parties. I think they were mole weddings, or maybe mole political rallies. They dug up the paths and mixed dirt with the nice thick layer of tree chips I had as a pathway. So the pathway is useless now. So, I dug off the top layer, which made the bottom four inches or so of the rebuilt raised bed. Eventually the tree chips will compost themselves and just be soil. Then I covered that with about six inches of new topsoil. Then a bag of leaves, which wont add much volume but will add a little organic matter and feed the soil fungi and earthworms. Now I've started adding the top layer of topsoil. When completed, the bed is 18 inches high, a good height for accessible gardening.

I'm ahead of schedule. If I set my goal for a half dozen buckets a day, it will be done in January. Then I'll put down a barrier in the pathways and cover with something that stays reasonably clean and comfortable to work on.