2020 gardens

[smurfy]

apparently its never to early to think about the next garden!!!!!! 2 days ago got my first seed and garden catalog...……...jungs!!!!!!!!

[bobberineyes]

Looking forward to it, going from waist high raised bed and a patio full of pots to cutting in a big o regular in ground garden. It was nice weeding the raised bed but it doesn't get the sun it once did. So if you guys got any pointers I'm all ears.

[smurfy]

well being your in the "burbs" i'm sure you gotz lotza a wabbits……...I recommend a fence for starters!!!!!!

[Mike89]

or a trap and have wabbit dinner!!!!

[fishingstar]

I got the results of my soil sample back already. 

I noticed a steady decline in production so I sent a soil sample in to the u of m.

Got it back about two weeks later, I need to add a lot of nitrogen.

[smurfy]

18 minutes ago, fishingstar said:

I got the results of my soil sample back already. 

I noticed a steady decline in production so I sent a soil sample in to the u of m.

Got it back about two weeks later, I need to add a lot of nitrogen.

Used coffee grounds is a good source of nitrogen. So is the fertilizer milorganite. And it's relatively cheap.

[Grainbelt]

Last spring I was able to get 3yr old composted horse manure and spread about 2 -3" deep on top of the gardens and let the crawlers work it in. I didn't till for the first time ever last year, just ran my diamond blade hoe across the top to kill weeds. When I planted my small plants, I couldn't believe the amount of earthworms and crawlers in a hand trowel's worth of soil. The garden did very well last season. If you can find a farm with horses they are happy to share the wealth.

[bobberineyes]

I'm taking all the dirt out of the raised beds for the new garden,  should one kill the grass, dig it out or just cut it real short then blend in the rest?

[Grainbelt]

You could set your tiller shallow and step it down each pass till you got it the way you like. 

[Mike89]

got a farmers seed and nursery catalog today.. I don't even have a garden!!!  darn good colorful pictures!!!  

[smurfy]

On 12/26/2019 at 12:25 PM, bobberineyes said:

I'm taking all the dirt out of the raised beds for the new garden,  should one kill the grass, dig it out or just cut it real short then blend in the rest?

that depends on how hard you wanna work a it. even if you dig it out your not going to get all the roots. i know the first year after tilling virgin ground for a garden you need to spend a pile of time weeding, and trying to keep the ground loose.

 

i'd roundup the area you want. i've been told after 10 days you can plant. the same guy........a farmer, says the minute roundup hits the soil its toast.;   thats what i would do. and add fertilizer. i used to use either cow, turkey or chicken manure right from the manufacturer. but found it contains alot of weeds. so i know use either 10-10-10 and/or this milorganite. 

[bobberineyes]

A guy at work said the same thing about round up, but I  wasnt sure. What about all the freshly killed grass just blend it in with the raised bed dirt and fertilizer with the tiller? Thinking on running some kind of treated edging around it , we have some pretty stiff metal products at work I can zip tie hardware cloth or something to it. Maybe a homemade gate to get in and out...good thing one has time yet before the spring. 

[Grainbelt]

@bobberineyesRoundup and treated edging? Is this going to be a food plot? Neither of those products are healthy for you or your loved ones to ingest. Chemical fertilizers tend to damage the micro organisms in the soil which are needed break down the nutrients that can then be used by your plants. Once your soil becomes a miracle grow junkie,  you're having to continually add it to get results.

 

I've been using home compost if I have enough or compost manure if I don't in my gardens for 28 years and get bell peppers the size of cantaloupe.  

 

Another choice is to let the sun bake the ground with a plastic film but that would intrude on your growing season.

 

An 18" tall 1" diameter chicken wire fencing is all that is needed to keep the rabbits out during the growing season. 2" diameter will let the young bunnies get in. Menards has green fence post with little hooks made just for installing the chicken wire with ease. The price for these materials is affordable but you can certainly dress it up nicer.

 

Veggies out of your new garden will go great with your awesome grilling and BBQ! 

[Grainbelt]

Diamond blade hoe makes weeding pretty easy and quick. You push and pull on top or just under the soil surface to cut weeds. I hadn't seen one before I bought the house, it was in the garage. I looked for years for another, I finally got one on Amazon. Now Mrs. Grainbelt can join me.

[smurfy]

2 hours ago, bobberineyes said:

A guy at work said the same thing about round up, but I  wasnt sure. What about all the freshly killed grass just blend it in with the raised bed dirt and fertilizer with the tiller? Thinking on running some kind of treated edging around it , we have some pretty stiff metal products at work I can zip tie hardware cloth or something to it. Maybe a homemade gate to get in and out...good thing one has time yet before the spring. 

yea you can just till it in, the dead grass.

 

I just tought of it but I've been tilling in my fallen maple leaves for years. I throw potatoe peelings, banana peeling, you name it to for fertilizer.

[bobberineyes]

That's great advice, both of you guys. I'm kind of a newbie when it comes to it yet. Heres a pic that's coming down ( 5yrs old) not much sun anymore but sure was a nice working  height.  It's made of cedar so I spose I could piece out the 2 ×4's for a border. No shortage of bunnies here too but its them friggin squirrels and chipmunks that get in my pots and the raised bed, as long as they cant climb fencing I should be good. Dont own a tiller yet but I'll be looking. So do you guys just fertilize once in the spring or do you give the plants a little help during the growing season?? Really appreciate your input..

Edited December 31, 2019 by bobberineyes

[smurfy]

Look green grass. I usually fertilize in spring and a couple times during the summer. Not alot but some right before a rain.

[Grainbelt]

I fertilize just once in the spring unloading my compost bins with the stuff that has broken down to a soil looking composition with 2 -3" of compost on top of the soil. The worms eat it and burrow back down and release the goods. Plants love the goods.

 

One year, many years ago I threw in a foot worth of not well or at all composted leaves and tilled them in. It was the worst garden I ever grew. Troubles germinating and growing. I have cedar edged boxes so I tried not to damage the wood by not tilling 8" from the wood. When I would look at the garden mid-season the plants in the center that got the leaves had small spindly plants and the edges of the boxes had nice plants. I learned to add only broken down compost material that year and certainly not in the volume that I did. It took a couple years to straighten out.

 

You may consider renting a tiller. It's a once a year use machine that has a carburator. If you do decide to bust grass with one, get a rear tine tiller. You will get quite a workout with a front tine.

[smurfy]

I took the left composting a step further last fall. When I had all the leaves I wanted in the garden I used my lawnmower and mulched them up.

[smurfy]

went into the fleet farm in Alexandria yesterday.......they had garden seeds out!!!!!!!!!!

[Mike89]

seen that this morning, right beside snow blowers too!!!!

[smurfy]

anyone know if that greenhouse fire in monticello is the green house that supplies fleet farm??????? i've had good luck with ther plants, and like to support them because there close to home!!!!!! 

[snagfinder]

Probably jumped the gun a bit but I tilled the garden last night. It looked so nice. Now hopefully it don't get snowed on.

[smurfy]

22 minutes ago, snagfinder said:

Probably jumped the gun a bit but I tilled the garden last night. It looked so nice. Now hopefully it don't get snowed on.

i still have a snow drift in mine!!!!!!!!!!

[Mike89]

2 hours ago, snagfinder said:

Probably jumped the gun a bit but I tilled the garden last night. It looked so nice. Now hopefully it don't get snowed on.

or were that bored!!!