I’m getting an early start solarizing my garden this year. Unfortunately, my raised bed garden was sorely neglected this past year as I spent the majority of the year recovering from extensive spinal surgery.
I’m still nowhere near ready to resume my gardening tasks so it seemed wise to take advantage of my down time by solarizing the garden in preparation for future planting. That way the garden isn’t totally sitting idly by as I continue healing. I live in South Florida where the gardening season is closer to the fall. My garden will solarize throughout the summer heat – definitely a wiser option than dumping poisonous chemicals into the dirt to be absorbed into our food supply!
If you’re not familiar with solarization, Gardening Solutions, a program of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences(UF/IFAS) explains it this way:
Soil solarization is a technique that uses the sun’s energy to battle pests and diseases in your soil. It’s especially effective against nematodes, tiny worms that feed on the roots of plants.
With soil solarization, a sheet of plastic is used to cover the soil surface, allowing the soil to reach temperatures that are lethal to many pests and weeds.
Look who came to visit while I was working on my garden! This picture is crappy as my camera click scared him away!
Another task on my to-do list before getting seriously started with gardening – is to raise the bed up higher so there is less bending. After having knee surgery a few years back – I need to be extremely careful with my knees also –
AWP HP Gel-Zone Non-Marring Rubber-Cap Knee Pads
Affiliate link:
In other good news – the State of Florida has graciously given me permission to garden in my front yard as well. This subject of the state is most grateful. <sarcasm>
Do you garden? In the country? Suburbs? What kind of garden do you have? Balcony container garden? Fully tilled plot? Square foot / raised bed garden? What are some of your challenges with preparing your garden? I look forward to your input!
Resources for the Southern Gardener:
http://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/care/pests-and-diseases/pests/management/soil-solarization.html