Learning How / field preparation

[Anonymous Poster]

Bird,

I've got a (11 hp?) Honda-powered Bearcat chipper, so I'll try the tilled-in chips idea.

I understand "moldboard", but what's a "double-buster"?

Larry

 

[Bird]

Aaah, Larry, the terminology sometimes changes with time and location. The "moldboard" was a "turning plow" when I was a kid (just turns the soil over - left to right on the only ones I've seen), and the "double buster" is also known in my area as a "bedder" and Tractor Supply Co. (where I got mine) calls it a "middle buster" (15" plow that cuts a furrow, throwing the dirt both directions). It's a great tool for digging the potatoes fast, but can also be used to create "hills", especially if you have a two bottom one, and even just for tearing up the ground prior to tilling or disking.

And Muhammad doesn't require that you already own a tractor to be a member here./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>I'll register ( shortly!) when I HAVE some equipment to tell you about </font color=blue>

Heck, Larry -- I was a Gold member before I finally bought my tractor.

C'mon in, set a spell. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks Bird..."double-buster' it is then - turns the dirt both ways!

Muhammed doesn't require a tractor for membership..right. BUT, I require a tractor, etc. to "tell you what equipment I have", no? No equipment...nothing to tell. ( I'll be tellin' you plenty, soon!)

I'd be stickin those "smiley face" things all over this stuff, but I can't make 'em work.
One more thing to learn!

Larry

 

[Bird]

Larry, read the "FAQs"./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Bird

 

[stevepio]

Best I can do is tell you my limited experience. 26hp 4wd CubCadet tractor. 5 1/2 acres, not all garden yet. Well drained sandy soil, had been hayed for years - pretty well compacted.

First pass with single bottom moldboard. Bought a 6' disc harrow. Ran the sh!& out of that until a weed or grass didn't DARE poke it's head up. I managed to read a short book on organic gardening and basically it said that if you have time to cultivate a lot to keep the weeds down then you can skip the roundup step. Since the garden is sill fairly reasonable size, I use a small tiller attached to my ryobi weed wacker to till between rows and plants.

Worked pretty good last year. I probably should do a soil analysis to see what else I need. My corn was disappointing and I'm told that usually means low nitrogen.

Best of luck and have fun!

 

[DFB]

Adding organic admendments to the soil is good. I've read that excessive amounts of wood chips will deplete the available nitrogen in the soil

 

[Bird]

DFB, that's one thing I'd really like to know the facts about. When I started putting wood chips on my garden, a neighbor came over and told me that would take out the nitrogen, so I'd need to add some. I've also heard that certain types of trees, or chips, would harm the garden. Well, I lost track of how much wood chips I put in there from my brother's place (oak, cedar, wild plum, hickory, and who knows what else), but then a neighbor was removing some cedars and I hauled all the stuff I could pile on a 5' x 10' trailer (16 loads) and dumped all around the garden, and eventually got it all run through the chipper. Then the crews were out here trimming trees along the power lines, and they dumped me 3 big truckloads. Of course, I did put my rabbit manure a couple of years and a couple of truckloads of old cow manure in it, too, so maybe that countered any loss of nitrogen. At any rate, I couldn't be happier with it. And I'll take all the wood chips I can get.

Bird

 

[DFB]

Hi Bird, kinda figured that would get a response from you. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I don't write 'em, just read 'em. Like you say its nice to know what the real deal is. Fact is I've used lots of chipper material too. Composts fine especially if there is some green mixed in. Your soil certainly must be quite prosperous with all the material you've added. DFB

 

[RobS]

Maybe we should start a new thread on composting...

I too have heard that wood chips, lawn clippings etc. suck up nitrogen as they decompose. It does make sense to me. I wonder though, does the composting process stop at some point (it probably does)? Is there available nitrogen in fully composted material when added to a garden? I was thinking of mulching our pine trees with tree trimmer chips this spring as a weed control, but now I'm not sure that would be a good idea. Maybe I should get the chips and let them decompose for a while before I use them. Any ideas?

Rob