Preparing the soil

The future tomato bed has been created by putting a layer of spent straw, compost and soil together with some leaves. It will not be required until April, May this year but preparing it now allows the garden worms to aerate the soil and create a good growing medium for the tomatoes.

The bed will have bush tomatoes  from Siberia in an effort to grow a heirloom variety that produces fruits early in a colder climate. The plants will be interspersed with basil and parsley as companion plants with a coreopsis in the background to attract beneficial insects.