Garden Preparation
Research on the plants common to the early 1900's was conducted and a plant list for the garden was constructed.
The border was measured. The area was marked and glyphosate herbicide was applied to kill the turf before tilling the area.
A soil sample was taken in spring of 2003 and submitted for analysis to determine the initial state of the soil. The results are as follows:
pHs 7.1, Phosphorus (P) 77 lbs/a, Potassium (K) 408 lbs/a, Calcium (Ca) 4404 lbs/a, Magnesium (Mg) 746 lbs/a, Organic Matter 3.3%, Neutralizable Acidity 0.0 mEq, Cation Exchange Capacity 14.6 mEq/100g.
Garden was tilled several times in order to get ready for fall 2003 planting. The plant orders were made to get ready for fall.
Peat moss was into the soil to amend the clay soil before fall planting.Peat moss was into the soil to amend the clay soil before fall planting.
Additional organic matter was tilled in (3 inches cow manure and sphagnum peat moss) in early spring. A follow-up soil sample was taken in summer of 2004 and the results of the analysis are as follows: pHs 6.8, Phosphorus (P) 148 lbs/a, Potassium (K) 573 lbs/a, Calcium (Ca) 3356 lbs/a, Magnesium (Mg) 613 lbs/a, Organic Matter 5.5%, Neutralizable Acidity 0.0 meq, Cation Exchange Capacity 11.7 meq/100g.