Vegetable Gardening (95 page)

Stripping sod

If you don't want to try the techniques in the preceding section, you can immediately remove the lawn grass by stripping the
sod
(grass and roots) before planting. I show you how to clear it away in this section. If your lawn consists of bluegrass and other less-spreading grasses, you can strip the sod without first killing the grass; most lawns in the northern United States consist of these types of grasses. But you should kill weedier grasses, like Bermuda grass, before you strip the sod (see the preceding section for details on killing weedier grass). Stripping sod takes a lot of effort, but it works. Just follow these steps, and have your wheelbarrow or garden cart handy:

1. Water the area that you want to clear for 15 minutes for each of the 2 days prior to digging up your sod.

I suggest watering this way because stripping sod is easier when the ground is slightly moist.

2. Starting at one end of your plot, slip a spade under the grass and slide it under the sod.

An easier method is to precut the sod into square or rectangular sections and then loosen each section with a spade. Either way, don't dig too deep; you just want to remove the sod and 1 to 2 inches of roots. You also can use a rented sod stripper to cut the sod into rows that you roll up and remove.

3. Pivot your spade up and let the sod flip off the spade and back onto the ground. Use your spade to slice off the sod section, toss the sod into a wheelbarrow or garden cart, and take it to a compost pile.

If your sod has healthy grass with few weeds, and you don't want to compost it, use it to patch bare spots in your lawn. Keep it well watered, and it should root and blend in with the existing grasses.

4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until your garden is cleared of sod.

These steps should clear all the grass in your garden. You'll get new growth only if you have an aggressive grass like Bermuda and don't kill all the roots.

Analyzing and Improving Your Soil

After clearing your garden area, you need to take a close look at your soil — give it a good squeeze, have it tested, amend it, and then work it out to make sure it's in shipshape. Good soil gives vegetable roots a balance of all the things they need: moisture, nutrients, and air. And knowing your soil type enables you to counteract problems that you may face when gardening on that piece of land. I explain the basics in the following sections.

Distinguishing different types of soil

Three main types of soil exist, with a lot of variations in between. Hard clay is at one end of the spectrum; soft, sandy soil is at the other end; and loam is in the middle. Being familiar with your soil helps you know what to expect when gardening. Clay soil tends to have a lot of natural fertility but is heavy to work with and doesn't drain water well. Sandy soil, on the other hand, drains water well (maybe too well) but doesn't have a lot of natural fertility. Loam, the ideal soil, is somewhere in between the two.

Here are general characteristics of the three basic types of soil:

Sandy soil
is composed of mostly large mineral particles. Water moves through this soil quickly, taking nutrients with it. Sandy soil is well aerated, quick to dry out and warm up, and often lacks the nutrients that vegetables need.

Clay soil
consists of mainly small particles that cling tightly together and hold water and nutrients. It's slow to dry out and warm up, and has poor aeration, but it's fertile when it can be worked.

Loam soil
is a happy mixture of large and small particles. It's well aerated and drains properly, but it can still hold water and nutrients. This is
the
soil to have for a great vegetable garden.

To find out what type of soil you have, grab a handful of moist soil and squeeze it, as shown in Figure 14-2. Then use these guidelines to determine what type of soil you're working with:

Sandy soil
falls apart and doesn't hold together in a ball when you let go. It feels gritty when you rub it between your fingers.

Clay soil
oozes through your fingers as you squeeze it and stays in a slippery wad when you let go. Rubbing clay soil between your fingers feels slippery.

Loam soil
usually stays together after you squeeze it, but it falls apart easily when you poke it with your finger.