Opening up land for a garden and orchard

[BCrouse]

You do realize that what you have brush hogged off, if left in place, will compost out and "build the soil" to make better soil, don't you??

Sell the plow to the scrap man, and buy a "quality" tiller! lol A tiller is MUCH better tool for incorporating green matter...

SR

When I've got $2000 to drop on a "quality tiller" I'll let you know. Until then, this is what I have to work with. All the plant matter has been plowed into the soil. Its still there.

Believe me Id love to get a tiller, its just not possible at the moment. I would love to hit that newly plowed field with one.

 

[BCrouse]

I used a post hole digger to put a 4 foot deep, 12 inch diameter hole under EVERY tree I have ever planted.
Whether it has done any good or not is open to debate.
In each hole, I always back-filled with compost.

I did the same process under grape vine plants,,,
I have NEVER had a grape survive.
Hopefully, the failure has been due to the destructive Japanese beetles, not my poor techniques..

I have even cored rows under my garden,,, out of boredom.

The garden has been heavily mulched, so, again, I have no way to know if the holes have helped.

Did I say heavily? I meant H E A V I L Y !!,,, :confused2:

I AM KINDA CRAZY WHEN IT COMES TO MULCH,,, :laughing:

You do look like you enjoy some mulch. =]



Auger/post hole digger is what I was thinking for planting all the trees. Im not sure I can drive a big enough auger bit to just plop them in, but it would help to get a nice channel of compost underneath them. Then I could shovel out the top section. Not sure how big the root ball on the trees are going to be yet.

 

[flusher]

For the small number of trees you're planting, rent a tractor with a PHD that can drive a large auger or hire it done.

 

[BCrouse]

For the small number of trees you're planting, rent a tractor with a PHD that can drive a large auger or hire it done.

With 28hp PTO, looks like I can drive at least a 12", possible a 24".

I might end up putting some fencing around the garden area. Not sure ill put actual fence posts in for that though.


I might end up renting a mini-excavator for another project. Might try and plan to have the orchard prep done and use that to dig some holes too. Still in the planning phased at the moment.

 

[BCrouse]

BC, have not seen a clear view of the point on your plow but I think you need a new point on it. They are made for the plow brand and size so you must buy for your plow.

Plow point. Took a few days to snap a pic.

 

[ProjectKing]

Nice looking plow! Can you adjust the coulter front to back at all? I thought that the center line of the coulter should be inline with the plow tip.

Glad you got the tractor into low range. It will be much happier!

 

[BCrouse]

Nice looking plow! Can you adjust the coulter front to back at all? I thought that the center line of the coulter should be inline with the plow tip.

Glad you got the tractor into low range. It will be much happier!

Thanks. The price was right and the paint was cheap. =]

Nope. I wanted to do some adjusting and realized it was a piece of welded on angle, with a hole drilled in it to accommodate mounting. It actually wasn't too bad where it was, aside from getting rocks jammed between it and the plow a few times, it seemed to do the job. My last furrow has a nice flat edge/wall.

Yah. Much happier and speed consistent.

 

[BCrouse]

To keep this thread moving forward away from my mistakes, which I have a few, i have purchased a piece of secondary tillage equipment. A 62" rotary tiller.

After reviewing with my financial planner (wife) it was decided to just buy a tiller. Not the original plan, but it happened.

I had been scouring CL and a few local listings for a few weeks for either a tiller or disc, nothing was coming up, or if it did it wasn't much cheaper than new. So I ended up buying new. Its one of the EA gear driven tillers. Its really an Ansung TerraForce from what I gather. Based on my soil type and tractor, the suggested model from EA was the ERO62.

ER062 - Everything Attachments 62 Gear Drive Rotary Tiller

Its currently en route to my closest freight terminal. Im excited to put it to work.

 

[BCrouse]

I got some rotary tiller time today.

It was hot out. Real hot. I was wishing for a cab with A/C.

After one run with the tiller

Kicked up some sizable rocks.

Two passes with the tiller.

Did I mention rocks? I only picked the ones that were softball or larger out. Theres still a lot of smaller rocks in there. Maybe some larger ones lurking still

After the second pass I put some lime down


Heres after the third pass

Panorama

Theres still a lot of roots sticking out. Debating if I should take the landscaper rake to it still.

 

[nybirdman]

Doesn't look bad for the first year;it will get better for sure.