I'm finally getting some time to write about the gardening experience.

A few weeks ago Yirim gave me a tour of the garden patch that will be shared by Kristi, Inye, Yirim and Kinetta.  Its perfect.  About 12 by 30 and full sun.  The first observation was that the dandelions are growing beautifully, a good sign that the soil is fertile.  The area had been dug last year, but no garden started so it was already partially cleared.

Yirim and I took a soil sample which has been send off to U Mass for analysis.

On May 8th Kristi, Yirim and I (and Ama Eba — I hope I spelled her name correctly) turned the soil on most of the garden and planted a small area.  We opted for a dense planting of several types of plants because that allowed us to experience the most techniques in one short time.  We had some starts of snow peas, kale, chard, lettuce and onions, which we planted, and we seeded a little more lettuce, some turnips and carrots.

Because of the cold, we set up an open cold frame (a piece of window glass proped up on some bricks) over the lettuce and used floating row cover over most of the rest of the plants and seeds.

On May 14 the garden is looking great, with lots of good growth and new seedlings.

We also tested the soil structure.  Taking a sample in a glass jar, mixing with water and a little soap and shaking well.  About 1/2 the soil settled out in the first 2 minutes — this is the sand fraction.  Most of the rest settled out in the next two hours — this is the silt fraction.  There is a small amount of clay, which takes a couple of days to settle out.

The soil structure test made me very jealous — sandy loam!!!! so rare in seattle.

We are hoping to get the U Mass soil test back soon, and looking forward to more time in the garden.

sorry this is so sketchy.  I needed to just get started.  Now that its started I hope to be more regular about it.