laying out the homestead

[littleminnie]

Funny thing is I found an early plan from weeks ago that is back to what I am thinking now. I came full circle. Also I set a gopher trap yesterday, got one, and reset it tonight. The soil is like brown sugar it is so easy to dig!!! No stones at all. Sandier by the house than in the field. I could dig ten feet down easily. Lots of crab grass roots in the north half. I am going to start with the beds on the south west corner and the northwest corner will be prepped for the high tunnel and I'll put some plastic mulch crops as needed. You can even see in the satellite pic where it is darker; that's the crabgrass area. The soil is richer and darker there and it is slightly depressed. The rest is sandier and very sparse. What can I expect in 2016? That is the question. Will lots of manure and well chosen liquid fertilizer be enough. Also a side point is we are thinking about bee hives. Hub wants to do it. Since it will be about half acre of flowers I think we should.

[steev]

So lucky to have easily-worked soil; much easier to improve soil that isn't horrid. Manure is great; horse, goat, and sheep are primo; cow and pig, less so; they're just too efficient. Pretty much any organic matter is great; sheet-compost for Winter, using leaves, manure, ash, whatever; ready to till in Spring.

Not being one to buy soil amendments, I've no idea what sort of liquid fertilizer you're considering.

[littleminnie]

The P is very high here which is also high in manure so I have to use N fertilizer and now at the new place I need some K too. Manure alone doesn't give the right balance.