Kathy Purdy describes her “mud season”. I loved her description of our ‘cold climate’ spring. When I lived in the city, the muddy thaw that segues winter to spring was never so noticeable, but once I moved to the country…. that muddy time consternated me.
Here, the water is table is high, for one thing. For another, the lack of sidewalk made muddy trails inevitable. Those early years, when I had a passle of kids, meant that there were boots sucked into mud and waiting on the back porch to be cleaned… and a trail of tracks through the house. The first thing I learned was to cover bare earth that led to the driveway. Grass works well, but stepping stones were better. I tried sliced logs, but those proved dangerously slippery. Commercial quality door mats helped, and removing shoes at the door is good-if you can get kids and husband to do it.
I don’t know how many high heeled shoes were ruined in the days that I still wore those to church, sinking into mud on the trip from house to the car.
Unlike Purdy’s land, mine is flat and prone to ponding even when the ground is unfrozen. Without the deep ditches this land originally was not capable of cultivation until deep into summer, but with ditches to carry off the excess water the mud season only lasts to mid spring.
This is why fall cultivation, plowing up the ground and leaving it to frost heaving, was a practice that allowed for timely spring planting. Different practices: raised beds, mulch, increased fall planting, using grass swales, are all useful to navigate the season.
I do hate cleaning all that mud off my shoes, though.
Technorati Tags: mud season,
johanna_lea says
March 16, 2009 at 5:41 pmin the midwestern cornbelt, all across into iowa and south to missouri (?)the great big farm tracts and landlot lines
were criss-crossed with tiled drain fields and run off wells. sort of like giant
french-drain system. the old settlers put them in and the farmers still maintain them. sounds like even
perfect topsoil has its downside.
however, i challenge you to redclay
mud wrestling. that rusty color really stains, even your hands and barefeet!
Ilona says
March 16, 2009 at 8:31 pmYou’d win the mud wrestle hands down, I’m afraid. This wet prairie land was once such deep and fertile soil- even years of modern farming practice hasn’t depleted it completely ( but it isn’t what it was).
It was used for grazing until they deep ditched and drained it. Now it grows VERY tall corn and lush soybeans. Recently there is more hay and wheat, but corn is still king here.
Well, I see the South has it’s own “mud season”.
johanna_lea says
March 17, 2009 at 4:16 pmit is the most snotlike slick
mud that i have ever seen, people
are xtreme mud-bogging fools.
but every 4 wheel drive has a winch. stuck is guaranteed.
the great thing about redclay is
its tiny cohesive particles make
a transplanting dip, that works
on everything.i’ve used redclay
“slip” with everything,from delicate seedlings to bonsai
deep pruned roots. it seals and protects the roothairs too,
i think. have had zero loss since
i learned about it from an old
gardening granny. i dont have grandkids, but from this old gardener to my old friend the
gardening granny, that’s the red
clay story. i will send a little bag of dirt if you’d like to try it out…or perhaps you know of a clay patch near you. just take a spoonful,(powder it best you can) and add enough h2o for a wet,sloppy slurry.j
johanna_lea says
March 17, 2009 at 4:20 pmit is the most snotlike slick
mud that i have ever seen, people
are xtreme mud-bogging fools.
but every 4 wheel drive has a winch. stuck is guaranteed.
the great thing about redclay is
its tiny cohesive particles make
a transplanting dip, that works
on everything.i’ve used redclay
“slip” with everything,from delicate seedlings to bonsai
deep pruned roots. it seals and protects the roothairs too,
i think. have had zero loss since
i learned about it from an old
gardening granny. i dont have grandkids, but from this old gardener to my old friend the
gardening granny, that’s the red
clay story. i will send a little bag of dirt if you’d like to try it out…or perhaps you know of a clay patch near you. just take a spoonful,(powder it best you can) and add enough h2o for a wet,sloppy slurry.
johanna_lea says
March 17, 2009 at 4:28 pmi realize i am wordy, but i try
not to repeat myself. dont know how i managed to post it twice.
mea culpa. -j
sunny here today, woo-hoo!