I have sown the first seeds of the season. In my main best soil, I made rough rows, and I sprinkled peas in them. It is a variety that is used both for food and as a green fertilizer, and I am only sowing it for the second purpose here. They should grow a bit before the end of May, when I can finally plant various squash/pumpkins, corn, and beans in their stead. I won’t work them into the soil; I will just chop and drop them in place.

And then I was working on this.

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

Like I said in the last article, I tilled a new approximately 21 m² patch. I intend to try to grow naked oats in it.

First, I bought organic naked oats in the fall to try them out in the kitchen. I liked them as a substitute for rice, so they are a viable addition to my food even if I cannot process them into anything other than whole grains (like flakes or flour). With that being decided, I tried to see if they germinate, to test if they are a viable crop in my garden. Unfortunately, they did not germinate at all. I was searching the whole winter for a supplier that would sell me organic naked oats in a small amount, but all the webshops I found were selling the grains from the same supplier. Until two weeks ago, when I coincidentally found another supplier. I bought the seeds, and they had 95%  germination rate. So I calculated how much I need to sow on my patch, I divvied it into 20 cups and went on to sow 20 rows.

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

I do not have any sowing thingamajig (yet), and the soil was worked for the first time, so making the rows was not exactly easy. I kept hitting pieces of turf the whole time, and my pile of stones grew by another three buckets. In the end, I had to make a row with a hoe, sprinkle the seeds in it, cover them by digging the next row, etc. I ended up with a really nice, flat, 3×7 m mini-field in the end.

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

The soil is not dry, but not too wet either, so I watered it a bit, and I will probably water it a few more times until the seeds pop out. After a cold and somewhat snowy winter, the spring is now abnormally sunny and warm.

I really hope it goes well and I get some meaningful harvest out of it. If it goes tits up, at least I have already got another 21 m² of arable land, which should be easier to work in subsequent years.

So far, I have managed to work in the garden without hurting my back this year. Let’s hope that holds.