Deep Soil Preparation

On Wednesday in Sustag we aerated our soil with a U Bar, sprinkled fertilizer, shoveled on compost and added soil in order to prepare our beds for planting. The aerating was hard work especially on the drier parts of our bed but the final product was better quality soil. Additionally, the final step of adding soil and raking our bed allowed our bed to finally look somewhat ready for planting. During this process, we also had to continue weeding and made sure to remove invasion plants, such as Bermuda grass which we removed with clippers. We also decided to take out some unnecessary flowers to make room for our new plants. On Thursday, we finished preparing our bed and began planting potatoes. To do this we cut the potatoes into pieces that had at least two eyes, placed it underneath the soil, covered it up without compacting the soil, and finally watered the area. We then used an 8-inch stick to mark the next spot for the potato and planted in a triangular shape in order to make our bed more efficient. Next week we are excited to finish planning and planting our bed. --Grace