Here it is, almost May, and the weather fnally seems to be turning to a late spring, so today I laid down 30 feet of composted horse manure, covered by cardboard for a three-foot-wide bed, that covered in turn by a few inches of compost from the town’s big pile. (If you can’t find cardboard, check’s craigslist for free moving boxes; they’re perfect).
The bed was to be for broccoli, planted in three staggered rows, each plant about 18” apart, but first I thought “We have wasted space here.” So I sowed the bed with early, and short Nelson carrots, and Cherry Belle radishes. On the end, I even planted dill, all of this broadcast by hand, watered, and covered with more compost.
The radishes I’ll harvest first, then the broccoli will take over, shading out many, but not all of the carrots, and the dill should come up fine between the broccoli plants. I was about to go crazy and sow, in the same bed, Hakurei turnips – the sweetest-tasting white turnips you can imagine – but it’s another root veggie to compete with the carrots and radishes, so the turnip bed goes in tomorrow.
Anyway, what I’ll have is a living mulch among the broccoli, and a mulch I can harvest and sell.
Sugar Snap Peas are up, also. Life is good. Thank you God.
Peter
