Re: Mediterranean is a Big Word

Having gardened in Greece all my life, I assumed that's what all digging was like. Then a couple of years ago I offered to help my daughter in Northern England dig up a bed. It was like slicing chocolate cake... but ugh--the worms! I'd never run into worms while digging before. 
Cali
----- Original Message ----- From: <yarrow@sfo.com> To: <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>; <pamela.steele@re-taste.com>; <ottways@eircom.net> 
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 2:33 AM
Subject: Re: Mediterranean is a Big Word



At 3:18 PM +0100 9/21/08, Brian Ottway wrote:
<<...I too have an alkaline (~pH7.8) clay soil that is like concrete for 8 months of the year. 
 ...
...2. I tend to dig too small a planting hole - often too shallow I think. It is so hard to dig the ground that I give up too soon. 
....>>
People around here (San Francisco bay area) joke about needing a jackhammer in the dry season. A shovel barely makes a dent -- maybe it raises some dust, if the area is unmulched. But I've used the following method successfully to make it easy to dig during the dry season without any special tools or extra muscle. Run a trickle of water from the hose at the spot you want to dig 10 minutes or so before you start. If you put the hose on full blast, the water will run off and the soil will remain cementlike. If you use a slow trickle, the soil will absorb the water and you'll soon be able to work it. If it's on a slope, you'll have to make little dams so that the water doesn't all run off.
A couple months ago I did this in a neighbor's yard because they wanted to plant a couple tomato plants in an area that hadn't been used for several years. It was unmulched, unimproved soil with no irrigation nearby, and it went pretty fast. I moved the trickle over a few inches as I worked. For about a 20 sf area, I loosened the soil down to about a foot, and IIRC it took maybe half an hour. The rule of thumb is that if your soil is workable during the wet season -- it's really lovely to dig here in midwinter -- then this should work.
Another idea is the planting-in-mud method (during the rainy season) described at http://www.latc2.com/wordpress/category/your-home/ (third article from the top). 

Tanya Kucak
Sunset zone 15/17
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