Preparing the Garden

  Last fall we took all the leaves we raked and piled them on the garden. It looked like this on November 7 ...

 I'd say the eventual pile we ended up with averaged about six feet deep. Then, during the winter, Jarred delivered a load of manure and added it on top of what was already there (at my request).

 Throughout the months, heavy rain, snow and wind compressed the leaves to a depth of a couple of feet (at the least) and maybe a full yard in a few spots.

 But now it's getting time to till the garden. What to do? We can't even see the soil.

 Though the top layer of leaves is dry, it's wet underneath so I turned it a bit and raked it as even as possible. That's when we came upon the idea of burning it in place. Jarred suggested the same thing when I asked whether he'd be available for tilling.

 Burning isn't the best alternative: carrying it away and adding it back to the soil slowly is better. But that's also a lot of work. As Tom said, it'd be better if the carbon amended our soil and not the atmosphere. But considering the work involved, we decided to see whether we could manage to burn some of it.

 So last evening (open burning is only permitted in Ohio after 6 PM), Tom used a lighter to start a dry section of leaves and off it went ...

 While we stood nearby, the heat coming off the burning leaves was extreme. It was a little scary at first, mostly owing to the great volume of smoke.

 An east wind pushed the smoke towards Farmersville and soon blanketed the open field behind us.

 We had first raked the leaves away from the areas we didn't want burnt.

 Nearing the end of the burn, the depth of the debris was reduced considerably. But wet leaves on the bottom will need to be raked again, exposing them to the open air so they can dry.

 We'll try again but at least we've made an improvement. Jarred said he might be able to stop by Wednesday and till it for us. I plan to mostly plant the Three Sisters this year: corn, beans and squash. We'll have room for a few tomato plants and also Tom's requesting peas.

 The first mow was done April 8 and 9 so the growing season is officially underway.

Follow up: On April 12 Jarred stopped by and tilled the garden.

 It's now level soil with chopped up leaves mixed in. Perfect! How we appreciate good neighbors. Payback will be veggies from the garden.