MENU  Home(Denali Seed) Introduction
 Packet
Annual Flowers Packet
Perennial Flowers Packet Herbs
Packet
Vegetables
Order Seed Gardening Resort Info
|
PREPARING A GARDEN ON PERMAFROSTSome northern families will be starting new gardens on soils that have not been cultivated before. In many cases the soil will be underlain with permafrost, making it very cold with practically no drainage. When a new garden site is on permafrost, choose an area with a little slope to it if possible. Remove the moss and surface vegetation (the insulation) to allow the soil beneath to begin thawing. Because there is no drainage in frozen soils, begin trenching the garden area as soon as the surface shows signs of thawing, making a herringbone pattern, with the trenches not more than four feet apart. As the soil continues to thaw, deepen the trenches so that the water drains from the garden at the lowest point. During the first season the soil will be very cold and somewhat moist, but crops of lettuce, radishes and some of the other short-season crops can be planted with fair success. New soils with high organic matter will undergo heavier-than-normal decomposition the first season. This will cause nitrogen starvation in the plants being grown. The visual indications include plants with yellow-green foliage and poor yields. To help alleviate this problem on new soils, broadcast a one-fourth to one-half pound of nitrogen in the form of 33-0-0 or 45-0-0 fertilizer per 100 square feet. Adding organic matter that is not fully decomposed will compound, not help, this problem. After the first season, 2 to 4 pounds of complete fertilizer such as an 8-32-16, 16-16-16, or 10-20-10, should be adequate. |