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brooklyn1 · 20-02-2010, 04:24 PM posted to rec.gardens

(EVP MAN) wrote:

I do feel better now about the plastic choke. I have
about 150 sq. ft. of sod to remove and I'm having trouble trying to
decide if I should use the Mantis or dig and remove the sod by hand. At
61 and not in very good health, digging sod is really tough for me.
But on the other hand, I'm afraid if I till the sod that I will be
getting tons of weeds and grass growing in the garden. I'm wondering if
there would be a way to use my Mantis that would just rip up the sod so
I could just rake it away and then go back and till the garden over
again for planting. I just don't know what to do because I don't want
weeds and grass and I hate to even think of all the work removing the
sod by hand. I have to make some kind of decision real soon because I
must have the garden ready no later than April 15. I have asparagus
crowns arriving on that date and I need to be ready to plant them!

150 sq ft is about the size of a child's bedroom (like 12' X 12'), not
a very large area. The Mantis is not good for tilling virgin land,
especially sod, it will struggle and probably prematurely break down.
Were it me, for a small patch like you have I'd go at the sod with a
spade, cut it into whatever size sections you can handle and pile them
root side up on a tarp in the sun so they can dry. Then with hefty
garden gloves crumble off as much of that rich top soil as you can
into a wheelbarrow (a lot easier on ones back not doing this directly
on the ground), pick out stones as you go too, a couple of plastic
contractor's buckets are great for hauling off the rocks (I toss them
into my creek for erosion control). Once the sod is removed then till
with the Mantis) depending on your soil you may want to loosen it a
bit with a garden fork, removing stones as you go.... till again and
rake picking out stones as you go. Then add back the top soil from
the sod and till that in. Finally with a garden hose wash off the
last of the top soil from the sod clumps into the edge of your tilled
bed... then place the cleaned sod clumps into a composter. I go
through this procedure every time I plant a tree or whatever.... your
tiny plot is no biggie and no rule says you have to do it all in one
fell swoop... I'd say it's like six hours labor tops start to finish,
from collecting your tools, cleaning up, and putting everything away.
If you don't feel up to it then do like two hours worth each day, but
I bet once you begin you will finish in one day, my six hour estimate
is very conservative. I've done exactly what I described hundreds of
times. I built my vegetable garden the same way and it's a 50 X 50"
area... at first I made it 50' X 25', but then the next year I doubled
it. Only thing I'll emphasize is that having a couple-three of like
12' X 12' heavy weight plastic tarps before you begin is imperative,
hardly ever fails that in the middle of that job it begins to rain,
actually a deluge... you need to cover your dirt or you'll lose it
all. Also if you're doing this some distance from your house bring a
folding chair with you, it's nice to have a place to take ten, bring a
couple towels too, you're gonna sweat. There are other options too...
you may simply want to hire someone with a big tiller to break it all
up for you... don't worry about the weeds, no matter how long you
garden there will always be weeds, there are ways to deal with weeds
later... anyone who goes into gardening thinking they'll only need to
get rid of weeds and sweat once had better do like crossword puzzles
instead. If weeding gives you nightmares do not, let me repeat, do
NOT plant asparagus... dincha ever think why 'sparaguys cost as much
as they do... asparagus growing is very labor intensive. If you're
going into this venture thinking you're going to save money you will
be extremely disappointed... those are going to be the most expensive
asparagus you ever ate... and you had better really, really love
getting down into the the soil on your hands and knees and sweating
your butt off for never ending hours. You already invested more than
$300 just for a tiller... do you realize how many asparagus you can
buy for $300... you need to enjoy gardening for the satisfaction of
doing something yourself, home gardening is a hobby, it's not to save
money, no hobby is to save money, a hobby is not a business.

I suspect you have like zero experinece with gardening or you'd not be
asking for suggestions for how to create a tiny planting bed... I
think you had best think your asparagus bed through more carefully,
keep in mind that asparagus you grow yourself will not be any better
quality than those you can buy at the stupidmarket, and you won't reap
many from that small plot. I've had my own asparagus plot, but I'd
much rather buy my asparagus. I'd want to plant stuff that will
yield better quality than I can buy like tomatoes, cukes, and snow
peas, and that I can't easily buy locally like various peppers,
oriental eggplant, sugar snap peas, and pattipan squash. I'd think
very carefully before dedicating that bed to asparagus... it's still
not too late to cancel your asparagus crown order... if you're not in
great physical shape at 61 years old you're not going to improve as
time passes, asparagus growing is VERY labor intensive. If you were
like in your 30s with no debilitating health issues I'd not disuade
you, I'd let you learn about asparagus growing the hard way like I
did... growing strawberries is much easier but still back breaking, I
gave those up too. If you want a dedicated garden plot plant
blueberries, those require minimal labor... I gave up fully 1/3 of my
vegetable garden to blueberries, I'm so happy I did... and blueberry
bushes require zero weeding. Good luck.