Nurse Ratched

I'm so glad that we had a more seasonable week as far as temperatures, and I think the plants are happier too. The color on these girls I feel improved from last week and I think it will continue since I was finally able to get them in the ground! I selected the perfect bed for them in the garden. Well, maybe not perfect, since it isn't in the oldest part of the garden so it doesn't have the most topsoil, but that's ok because I dragged 3 wheelbarrow loads of compost out back. Last month I added a unit of Pfeiffer biodynamic Compost Starter to it and have been aerating it with the pallet forks on the tractor which is a lot less time and work then trying to completely turn it with the bucket, given the limited amount of space. After I put down the compost I broadforked the bed and then grabbed a wheelbarrow load of bark mulch and added 3 quarts of dolomite lime for a Cal-Mag boost and also to buffer the PH. Once that was spread over the top I dug my planting holes and popped the plants in, adding around 2 quarts of the Coast of Maine Bar Harbor blend soil that they've been growing up in so it's an easier transition as they spread out their roots. After I tucked them in I added a layer of local Lucerne Farms Ground Cover mulch to aid in moisture retention as much as possible this year since last summer was so dry. One of the reasons I chose this particular bed is because it's close to the gate so that's less distance to cover when lugging water up from the stream. It also has some welcome companions already growing in it like clover for nitrogen, chamomile for attracting beneficial insects as well as supplying calcium and magnesium, garlic for deterring harmful pests and motherwort because I love motherwort. Then I put up support hoops, hung a couple yellow sticky traps for any early diners, and covered them with an Agribon Ag-15 row cover. I used the same thing 2 years ago and I think it really helped lower the stress level for the transplants by keeping them a couple degrees warmer at night and lowering the amount of direct sun during the day.