On 3/5/10 9:35 PM, EVP MAN wrote:

I got a lot of great advice from this group and do appreciate all the
different combinations of gardening ideas from each and every post.

I think perhaps it would be a good idea to double dig my asparagus bed
only! I have read that asparagus roots go straight down to a depth of
twenty feet or more.

As for the rest of my garden, I think it may be to my advantage not to
double dig but instead like was recommended in a post, raise the bed as
much as possible. My bed will be in ground but I think that I will
still be able to raise it well above ground level. I'm going to have
lots of sod with top soil still attached. I think that once I allow
this sod to dry out and the grass roots to die off that I'll be able to
shred this sod with my mulching mower and then empty the contents back
on to the bed. By doing this, it should raise the bed quite a bit
above ground level. I'll then ad my amendments and till. The tilling
will then harm no worms in the process because the actual soil tilled
will be mostly the sod I added back to the bed. This should in turn
give me the added benefits of double digging. I figure that I'll have a
good fourteen to sixteen inches of good loose soil which should drain
well. I plan to slope the sides of the bed up on each side and rake it
level on top.

My goal it to try and give my veggies the best possible growing medium
without harming the beneficial creatures such as garden worms! A garden
fork will be used to dig the main soil and the tiller will only be used
on the added soil above ground level.

Rich


Tomato roots can go down 10 ft or more. Corn also has an extensive root
system.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary