Started Digging Today

I was able to turn 5 of the 8 boxes today. The weather has been sunny and warm the past two days and the boxes are drying out. The kids and I found many earthworms in each box, too. That's good news! I amended each box with 3 cubic feet of organic chicken manure. Maybe we'll plant the lettuces and root vegetables this weekend on the top row. It gets the most sun this time of year.

View from the water tank.

This box construction is what I've found to work in this region full of redwood trees. Each box is built of rough-hewn redwood boards, with dimensions of 4' by 8' and 1' high. I put redwood plank bottoms on each box as well, with 1/2 inch between the boards for drainage. I lined each box with drainage cloth before filling with dirt so the dirt wouldn't fall through the cracks.

I built these boxes with bottoms and have them up off the ground to prevent the invasion of redwood roots. In the past, if a box has been on the ground, or even touching the ground on one side, the redwood roots are attracted to the water and grow right into the box, forming a dense network that is impossible to shovel through. So, the trees around the garden grow taller each year, slowly shutting out the sun, and the roots are always ready to invade from beneath.

I have very good luck with these boxes. My tomato fruits are not particularly large, however I attribute that to our maximum of 5 hours of sun per day. Also, since I don't replace the soil each year with new soil I have to watch out for soil-borne diseases (e.g. Verticulum and Fusillium Wilt). I have found that certain heirloom tomatoes are susceptible to these more than others, particularly Green Grape, Red, Green and Black Zebra varieties. I'll avoid those this year. Early Girl is my one reliable producer.