Getting the Greenhouse Ready

Greenhouse #1  ---  The crop has been harvested, the crop residue and weeds removed. These went into the compost piles. So the greenhouse was empty, the soil bare. As most of you know by now, I don't like to have bare soil. So until I had time to revitalize the greenhouse, I covered the soil with a light layer of county mulch, enough to keep the soil completely covered. 

Now I'm getting the greenhouse ready for replanting. The next step was to top the beds with a 3 inch thick layer of compost and till it in. But before I tilled I checked the soil pH, which was too low. Not surprising because I'm working with fairly new soil. A dusting of wood ash plus a sprinkling of dolomite lime will help this. Then I tilled this into the top 4"-6".

After tilling, the next step was to moisten the soil. In fact, I watered it well at a rate of one gallon per square foot. This got the entire tilled layer wet, plus some of the sub layer. 

I've watered the left side (the soil looks darker). Next I'll water the other side. 

I'm not done. Next step-- mulch. Whipping out the lawnmower, I harvested 6 trashcanfuls of clippings. I used them all, well mulching this greenhouse. 

One side is mulched. I did the other one right after taking this photo. 

 Now it waits in readiness.