California has been in a severe drought for three years and, now, is going into the fourth year. It will not impact my garden in Trinity County this year as we have gotten sufficient rain to wet the soil down deep which was my major problem last season.
No, our water levels are not back to normal. Trinity Lake is less than half full and there is no snow pack in the Trinity Alps. Since this county is defined as a "county-of-origin" that means we won't have water to send down south. The water politics are just ugly.
Building the soil: This is the first in-ground garden I've ever had and I really didn't know what I was doing at all. I still don't, in my opinion. I still have a LOT to learn about soil.
My primary planting area is what I call the house pad level in back of my home. I have a no-till garden. A good thing because when I started this garden, I couldn't even use a shovel to dig a hole. I had to use a pick. Now, I can dig in the beds I've created with a trowel. I have never dug anything into the soil. The change in the soil structure came about because for years I have hauled in organic material and placed it on top of the beds twice a year and just let it decompose.
Spring has arrived six weeks early this year. Normally, I would not be outside working, yet. Our last frost date is officially the end of April, but I let the forsythia tell me when there is no more danger of frost. This year it bloomed near the end of February, so I am playing catch up big time.
I've been weeding like a crazy person because we never got our sub-freezing night temps to kill off the weeds this year. I started pruning the roses near the end of February and now I've got to get my spring mulch down.
What do you plan to improve your soil ?
Smiles,
Lyn
