Gardening 2022

[snapping turtle]

Any one resorting to mulching? This year I was going to try to just weed, but it appears, everything is growing in our garden area, wanted or not. So I may just use a rotted round bale and smother all the unwanted plants.

I mulched around many plants. If you look into how the sun destroys the benefit of micro nutrients in the soil more would. The rest I just till under or there is a part of my yard without many weeds that I will dump grass clippings right into the garden. Me I hate weeding. Have to do it.


I get good results production wise in the old garden. If I can keep my wife from planting just flowers In the old garden next year maybe can compare the two. New garden will be more of a food forest in coming years. I have a tree service neighbor who said he can get me lots of chips. 6-8 inches deep with raised beds for some things. Trees and bushes. Then I will have one area for regular garden rows of corn and beans mainly. I stink at growing corn .

 

[wcd]

I mulched around many plants. If you look into how the sun destroys the benefit of micro nutrients in the soil more would. The rest I just till under or there is a part of my yard without many weeds that I will dump grass clippings right into the garden. Me I hate weeding. Have to do it.


I get good results production wise in the old garden. If I can keep my wife from planting just flowers In the old garden next year maybe can compare the two. New garden will be more of a food forest in coming years. I have a tree service neighbor who said he can get me lots of chips. 6-8 inches deep with raised beds for some things. Trees and bushes. Then I will have one area for regular garden rows of corn and beans mainly. I stink at growing corn .

I would tell you what we do for corn but it may come across as crude. But it always does well.

We have lots of branches but the branches get turned into wood chips for the Goat Barn.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Any one resorting to mulching? This year I was going to try to just weed, but it appears, everything is growing in our garden area, wanted or not. So I may just use a rotted round bale and smother all the unwanted plants.

I've never been successful at stopping established weeds with mulching. I do usually mulch around the tomatoes. Haven't done it this year and I can tell.

Maybe cardboard or plastic will work, but I would just use a good stirrup hoe. They work very well, then mulch

 

[Jaybird1980]

I would tell you what we do for corn but it may come across as crude. But it always does well.

We have lots of branches but the branches get turned into wood chips for the Goat Barn.

That's all I use is grindings. I don't cover the whole garden because it makes working the garden harder. I usually do around the hardest plants to weed around, and then work that into the soil at the end of the season

 

[Jaybird1980]

I did use weed fabric a couple years, but I bought the cheaper stuff and it was kind of a pain to use and fell apart by the end of the season.

 

[wcd]

I did use weed fabric a couple years, but I bought the cheaper stuff and it was kind of a pain to use and fell apart by the end of the season.

Yeah and your dogs might think it’s fun to get in there and tear it up….ask me how I know lol.

 

[tim87tr]

I've never been successful at stopping established weeds with mulching. I do usually mulch around the tomatoes. Haven't done it this year and I can tell.

Maybe cardboard or plastic will work, but I would just use a good stirrup hoe. They work very well, then mulch

I used cardboard last Fall for the new ground garden and added bags of cow manure and soil on top. First year but seems to be minimal weeds. Expanding the ground garden and plastic fence with scrap wood "deer deterrent" top rail for next year. Next phase is electric fence as others have posted.

If you noticed on the last picture, bottom right, the strawberries have been eaten by the deer around the perimeter of the raised bed. I didn't have a fence in front of it before and used to have a car parked in front. Once the car wasn't there and we now have a baby deer, the baby must have gone inside and had a snack.

Youtube has no-till or cardboard garden videos. My Dad started no-till farming in West Central Indiana in the early 80s before most and it was quite effecient.

 

[d.kaufman]

Harvested some garlic today

 

[Jaybird1980]

My asparagus is loaded with Huntsman Harvestman , probably at least a hundred.

Anyone know if they eat asparagus beatles or eggs, because I have been battling them little buggers this year. I sure hope they do.

 

[KokomoDave]

Nothing like eating blueberries fresh off the bushes. Now if I can keep both GSDs from eating them all!

 

[KokomoDave]

Coming along...

 

[snapping turtle]

My asparagus is loaded with Huntsman, probably at least a hundred.

Anyone know if they eat asparagus beatles or eggs, because I have been battling them little buggers this year. I sure hope they do.

View attachment 207994View attachment 207995

That is why they are there

 

[wcd]

Nothing like eating blueberries fresh off the bushes. Now if I can keep both GSDs from eating them all!
View attachment 208040

How long did it take your blueberry bush to produce?

 

[Jaybird1980]

That is why they are there

That's what I figured when I seen all of them. I couldn't think of a different reason when I seen so many in one location.

I actually typed Huntsman and meant Harvestman, didn't know if that was part of their diet.

 

[KokomoDave]

How long did it take your blueberry bush to produce?

I was lucky as I bought mature bushes left-over from 2 years prior and it produced that year. It's the one pictured.
My other one is smaller but a different variety of bb that I bought from Gurnsee in the early fall. It produced the next year. It wasn't a little one when I got it but they gave no info on how old it was. I used plenty of sand and some pine needles as they like acidic soil. I also use Miracle Grow and a dead fish in the hole for nitrogen.
Sorry I couldn't be very specific.

 

[wcd]

I was lucky as I bought mature bushes left-over from 2 years prior and it produced that year. It's the one pictured.
My other one is smaller but a different variety of bb that I bought from Gurnsee in the early fall. It produced the next year. It wasn't a little one when I got it but they gave no info on how old it was. I used plenty of sand and some pine needles as they like acidic soil. I also use Miracle Grow and a dead fish in the hole for nitrogen.
Sorry I couldn't be very specific.

Thanks we have some came by some smaller cuttings and three years later they are just starting to look like bushes.

 

[2in1evtime]

Any one resorting to mulching? This year I was going to try to just weed, but it appears, everything is growing in our garden area, wanted or not. So I may just use a rotted round bale and smother all the unwanted plants.

I save all my grass clippings and use it for mulch then it gets broken into the soil after harvest. has been working well for us the last few years!

 

[wcd]

I save all my grass clippings and use it for mulch then it gets broken into the soil after harvest. has been working well for us the last few years!

I put out a large round bale hopefully to help mitigate weeds and to help with water retention we are going on two weeks no rain temps at almost 100 daily.

 

[2in1evtime]

I put out a large round bale hopefully to help mitigate weeds and to help with water retention we are going on two weeks no rain temps at almost 100 daily.

We had some rain here yesterday, we had been watering last couple of weeks, we have water tanks set up for rain collection and it makes a difference, the mulching also makes a big difference in soil retaining moisture besides holding back weeds! We have had a hard time with our lettuce this year, most of the seed didn't sprout after multiple plantings, thinking we were delivered old seed this year.

 

[wcd]

We had some rain here yesterday, we had been watering last couple of weeks, we have water tanks set up for rain collection and it makes a difference, the mulching also makes a big difference in soil retaining moisture besides holding back weeds! We have had a hard time with our lettuce this year, most of the seed didn't sprout after multiple plantings, thinking we were delivered old seed this year.

That may very well be. We always get our seeds from the Amish up in scottsville.

we have Rain barrels that were meant to collect it off the gutters. Which I modified, I took five gallon buckets and cut a whole in them so that it would help collect it.