Do as I say, not as I do

Packs of bean seeds are landing in the hands of growers, and they all say the same thing:

ORCA BEANS

Plant around Mother's Day.

Today is April 20, a full THREE WEEKS before Mother's Day.  And what did I do this weekend?

Yes, I did that

But first...

I had to prepare the growing space.  The native soil at Haiku Farm is glacial till, which is, essentially, gravel.  My first garden here was dismal.

(no photo.  too pathetic.)

However, we have poultry, goats, and a horse--and all of the winter stall cleanings from our barn get dumped directly into the gardens.  

After 16 years of doing this, we have to dig at least two feet down to find the gravel.  The soil in my garden now is soft, fluffy, and eager to grow stuff...which includes weeds.

I pulled three entire wheelbarrows of weeds out of my bean-growing space

If your weeds are buttercup, bindweed, ivy, or any other noxious or invasive, do not compost them or feed them to poultry or livestock.  Put those nasty things into a plastic bag and dispose in the trash.  

Weeds in this space were mostly quack-grass and dead nettle,
with a little bit of plantain, so perfectly fine to give to chickens

After the weeds were removed, I shaped the beds by digging out trenches for walking, and dumping the trench-soil onto the planting space.  

Then:  time to add the irrigation.

I'm a big fan of soaker hoses

The farm is on a deep well, and we've never run low on water during summer months, but our neighbors on shallower wells sometimes do.  

We minimize our water-use by capturing rain water and using soaker hoses on the gardens.

I made a trench with my hand and dropped in a bean seed every three inches.

Adding the beans at last!

Then cover over, press down firmly, and wish them well.

Watching the water is very soothing.