How to Work Your Garden Soil Early

Most gardeners think you have to wait until the weather is warm before you can plant your garden. There are other gardeners who say this is not true. Here are some tips to help you get your garden soil ready earlier and have your plants in the ground before most of the other gardeners in your area.

You can work the soil for your garden weeks or, perhaps, months before the last frost date for your area. Just because there is a chill to the air, does not mean you should leave your tiller in the shed. If the soil is not frozen, it can be tilled. Even as early as February in some places, this is possible.

One of the many advantages of working the soil early is that there is a lot of organic matter that can be worked into the soil. This can be leaves and twigs from the fall that are still around or even a green manure crop that was planted last season and has died over the winter. This keeps nutrients in your soil and gives the earthworms something to munch on. It will also help the soil hold water longer, especially if your soil is sandy. The important fact about adding organic matter is that it needs time to start to decompose. If you work it into the soil a couple months before you plan to plant your garden, this will give it plenty of time. Even one month is enough. Two weeks is the minimum that organic matter needs to be mixed into the soil before you start planting.

You soil may be too wet to work early in the spring time. A way to check is to look at your footprints. If you leave a mark in the soil that stays shiny, you need to wait for the soil to dry out a bit more. If you would like to help the soil dry out, work the top layer with a garden rake. This will brake up some of the soil and allow air to get into it and dry it out a bit. Every few days, rake just a bit deeper. When you can rake several inches of dry soil, it is ready for your tiller and additions of organic matter. If the soil is mostly clay, however, be careful. Working this type of soil too early may cause it to cake up and then bake solid in the hot sun it will get later in the year.

There are a few ways to protect your seedlings if you plant early and there is a danger of frost. Tunnel growing is one way to keep your seedlings warm. There are a few other ways discussed in my article on the subject, which can be found here.

Getting your plants into the ground sooner means a longer growing period for your vegetables. This means you will get more out of your plants or have time for a second crop of something else in your fall garden. Hopefully, these tips will help you get a head start on your home garden.

SOURCE

Raymond, Dick. "Garden Way's Joy of Gardening". Garden Way Publishing. 1982. Troy, NY.