We presently have super saturated wet soil conditions with the record rains of Apr/May. If we get a dry, warm, sunny, windy period, it will still take another week or 2 to dry out enough to rototill (clay takes a long time to dry out).
Looking at today's “long range weather website predictions crystal ball” the 3rd week of May looks promising to rototill.
We will post on the NAGA website the date when rototilling is actually completed.
FYI: I'll be doing "soil moisture tests" to tell us when the soil is ready to rototill. (ie dig down to a depth of 6 inches, grasp a handful of soil and squeeze it into a ball. Poke one finger into the ball's center. If the soil falls apart easily, ...then the soil moisture is perfect for rototilling. If the ball does not crumble or break apart in large chunks, ...then the soil is too wet to rototill.) Of course if we don't get favourable soil conditions for rototilling, we'll just have to aim for the best day and rototill sometime before the May 24th Long Weekend, ... the traditional safe date for planting of gardens in the Ottawa region.
By Jim Koss, May 9/2017
