Fall planting Day 2 - Southern bed

The new southern 4' x 20' bed is for smaller plants - broccoli, cauliflower, green onions, carrots, beets, strawberries, lettuce.  We had used cardboard to kill the grass, in hopes of making it easier to dig out the dirt that existed there... a false hope.

The new bed with 1/3 of the dirt removed

 The sandy soil that occupied the space was actually fairly dark in color considering it had no additives.  I chalk this up to the slope of the area around it - our southern bed sits at the bottom of a rather steep hill.  In the end, we wanted to replace the soil with the garden soil that had been delivered, and lacking a rototiller, digging it out seemed the best option.

 So began our morning!  With me digging, and my husband wielding the wheelbarrow, we moved dirt like no other couple.

The cardboard that was used to kill the grass was replaced at the bottom of the bed to provide a weed barrier.  Our horse manure mix was added on top.  

My supportive husband hard at work!

Onto the planting: I had purchased broccoli, cauliflower, and collards starts for this bed.  I wanted to attempt intercropping, as it seems a more efficient use of space, although you want to be careful because space seems to be a huge factor when it comes to yields.  

Starts are planted along the border, with rows of lettuce in between

A row of green onions, two rows of leeks, and 4 rows of beets were added to the last 1/3 of the bed.  The beets should have a fairly short harvest (50 - 65 days).  I would like to replace the beets with carrots and strawberries in mid-October.  The Florida vegetable guide suggests waiting until October in central Florida for beets.  We'll see what happens - beets aren't my favorite anyway.  

All three beds with irrigation in place.  Picture facing East.  

Although in the end we were able to position the sprinkler to reach all three beds, we installed a soaker hose in the tomato pepper bed.  

In addition, I replanted the corn beds with new corn seeds (some kind of bi-color hybrid).  When they sprout, I purchased a bi-color pole bean to plant with them.  I'll be watching the sugar snaps that I planted on Thursday to see if the sprout - if not, I do have a new set of seeds to replace them.  Overall, a great, productive day of gardening!