Remnants of Andrea

Knowing we were in for a lot of rain today, most of the time yesterday was spent cutting and spreading grass mulch.   I managed to get the grass catcher on the John Deere by myself, but was glad George checked it.

The potatoes were already under hay mulch, as was vegetable bed #4.    I had started planting, but not enough to hold on to soil.

At the end of the day, all the flat surfaces had some kind of physical barrier to hard rain drops, even if pretty thin.    I stopped as the first drops fell, so didn't get a picture.

The picture at left is from June 4th, just after the second tilling (for weeds), and before any mulch was spread.   The view is to the south/south-east.

Beds # 1, 2, and 3 are shown, with #1 being closest to our house in the distance.   I took the picture next to bed #4, which is in the old pasture.

The green area between beds #1 and #2  is a wide and shallow swale (depression that drains down hill).   We leave this area in permanent grass, because of the heavy clay soils.  The green area in the foreground also stays in grass, because it has some large rocks just under the grass and a couple of young oak trees.

The second picture is of bed #1, just after tilling.   This shows more clearly that the bed is slightly raised, from added organic matter.

West of the beds, a small drainage area runs along the pasture fence, so we aren't likely to expand the beds in that direction.  Bed #3 could be lengthened going east, but that area will probably have a separate small bed for more blueberries.  I prefer to make any more room for vegetables out in the old pasture. 

I like having vegetable beds surrounded by plenty of green buffer area.   The buffer areas reduce stormwater runoff, lower the risk of creating erosion ditches in the clay soils, and help water quality.   Ideally, I like short mowed areas right around the beds, for better access, and longer grass beyond that, to slow down stormwater.

The buffer areas will certainly get a lot of water from Andrea.