All dug up!

Today was extremely busy in and out of the field! This morning we aimed to get as much hard labor done before the heat! Humidity brings bugs here and boy were there gnats. After coming inside I could still hear the ringing in my ears from the constant 5 hour hum of them they so nicely gave me this morning. Tyler and I built trenches this morning. We are starting to prepare the plot for my outside vegetables by a method called double digging, not to be confused with double dipping. So this method seems quite simple but unfortunately the ground is rock solid that it takes much longer and we are doing everything by man power and no machines. More man power = bigger muscles, beware! First thing we did was lay out our plot which is 70 x 9. A decent size, actually a bit larger than I was originally hoping. I am still a bit overwhelmed by this plot and the hightunnel. Fortunately, the growing season of what will be planted on each piece of land is differing so my focus can really remain on one at a time besides typical maintenance. So the method of double digging is to dig one foot deep and 23 inches wide and put that topsoil (actually sand) to the side since it shouldn't be mixed with the lower dirt (actually sand/clay). Then with the lower dirt we use a specific type of fork to loosen the next foot of sand/clay that we have. After it is loose we put a four inch layer of mulch and then put the topsoil back on. Then repeat for what seemed the rest of my life! We only completed three since the process took so long! The purpose of this was to add rich nutrients back to the soil. Now since you are so bored from the double dig a picture may suffice.

After the my siesta I went into the heat to use the measuring wheel to measure the existing veg in the hightunnel. I had to map out where to plant the new seed for the hightunnel and outside plot, which I should call the orchard plot. I also had to write out a growing chart and schedule as to when each veg is grown and how long it takes to mature to keep on top of it! Here are my schedules, hard to see but definately my lifelines! The top is a map of the hightunnel and the highlighted portion is existing veg. The middle is the orchard plot mapped out and the bottom is my veg with their varieties, growing dates, etc.

I was a bit distracted during my work as Lincoln was starring at me through the window. I went out to give him a treat and he disregarded after one bite and just sneezed on me. That stink! So I gave the treats to Jackson instead and now Lincoln is mad at me.