55+ Living Guide Spring/Summer 2017 55++LG+Spring+17+Spreads | Page 29

even a summer weight to keep things cooler. They can also
be used to extend your growing season for all your lovely
greens. Watering is a snap, so let’s hoop. We have had
great success in our beds and we highly recommend them!
Don’t forget to fence in your hard work. Deer, rabbits
or some other robber would love to deprive you of
your efforts.
At the entrance to my garden I had a special gate con-
structed, it is known as a Torii gate. The Okinawans con-
struct these gates as entrances to their hollow places. When
you pass through the gate you go from the mundane and
enter the sacred. So this gardening season be reassured that
as you enter your special earthly place that the best is in
front of you.
I would like to remind each of us gardeners out there,
big or small, to please share the bounty! Set up a road side
stand and offer some free veggies, give someone some cut
flowers or some herbs to dry, it’s the very least we can do.
To quote Mahatma Ghandi, “To Forget how to dig in the
earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves.”
Until the next time, may your weeding be light, your
fingers dirty and your problems solved many times over
as you sink your spade into the Earth so kind.

I’ll see you in the garden,

Rod Michael
leaves, animal manure or cover crops. Organic matter
improves the fertility and structure of all soils, and it
provides a continuous source of nitrogen and other
nutrients that plants need to grow.
It also provides a rich food source for soil microbes.
Organisms in the soil carry out the process of decay
and decomposition; they make these nutrients available
to the plants. Be sure not to over water or over feed. Be
mindful of bugs and if possible hand remove. Knock
on wood, in the past 10 years we have been bug free;
from slugs to potato bugs to whatever. With a raised
bed the bug will be contained and easier to control. Do
remember to trellis, grow up, not out and keep crops
rotating within the beds. It is suggested to use a three-
year crop rotation system and keep a yearly plan on
paper during each season for future reference. When
planting in a bed, get rid of the row idea, this maximiz-
es space and productivity.
Raised beds provide the ability to be transformed
into mini greenhouses. In the Capital District a frost
can come as late as May 10th to May 30th depending
on your elevation above sea level. Use hoops to support
a garden quilt for early planting. There are a wide vari-
ety of fabrics available. Some are used to manage pesky
bugs like flea beetles, birds, unseasonal cold snaps and
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