2020 gardens

[Sonny580]

Anybody thinking about the 2020 season yet? Ideas you have that you want to try? varieties, methods, fertilizers, etc?
Not going to be able to have my 4.5 acres this year. MIGHT be able to do this little yard garden, don't know for sure yet! The big garden will not be planted so I probably need to plant a crop of some sort for plow down green manure in it. -- either that or mow every 3 days, which I am not able to do!
Still fighting prostate cancer , trying to recover from that and so far still no bladder control so I am limited how long I can stay outside before diapers run over and down the legs! lol! bout an hour and a half, tops, so not much getting done!

We still want to plant a few onions, cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, green beans, etc, AND of course the sweet corn patch for our neighbor! lol! he gets the seed, I plant and spray, then harvest, so not a lot of time spent on that area.
We won't have the 5,000 onion plants or 900 sweet potato plants like we usually have, and there won't be the great give-a-way that we have done for the last 25 years!

 

[RalphVa]

Just garden bottomless. Yeah, I do that this time of year. Even gardened naked with a catheter in place.

I’ve a couple new areas where I want to put a couple inches of the local Panorama Paydirt down and even atop a couple raised beds. Used a couple inches of it in 2018 on an area and got 23 butternut squash from 2 vines.

Gonna try some blood meal as N on okra.

Ralph

 

[ovrszd]

In regards to bladder control. My Cousin was struggling with this. Had minor surgery and a "valve" implanted. When he needs to go, open the valve by pressing his finger on it. Let off and the valve shuts. No dribbling or diapers. Might want to ask your Doctor about this?

 

[ovrszd]

Hopefully my good friend Mike (oddballs) will come along soon and join in this conversation. He's a Master Gardener!!!!

 

[RalphVa]

I'm a master gardener and still volunteer one morning a week on the horticulture helpdesk.

Don't know what you're spraying on corn. The main, and generally the only, problem with corn are the ear worms. You take care of them by going around and putting vegetable oil onto the silk after it turns brown (e.g. after pollination), with an eye dropper.

Here in central Va, we plant our potato pieces and pea seed on St. Paddie's Day. One month later, the corn seed can start, 2 rows at a time spaced out about 10 days between 2 rows of seeding until around mid June. This is unless you want it all harvested at once to have a huge effort in harvesting, husking, removing corn, canning. We just picked ears as we needed them to eat. This spreadout of seeding gives you corn for a long period of time.

Of course, you can start your cole crops growing inside around mid March to mid April. Then your tomato plants. I've had so much trouble with bugs in the cole crops that I skip them: you have to be really dedicated to putting BT on about every week, etc. to keep the bugs off cole crops. Also buy my tomato plants from the MG plant sale. Only need 2 or 3, as we don't can them. Tomato plants seem to be the favorite of clients who call in.

Only fertilize with non chunky mulch (like from leaves or near compost) or compost. Otherwise, vegetables will just grow lots of top growth and be too happy to bear fruit. Get calls about this all the time. If you use "Miracle Grow" or similar fertilizer, you'll be married to it, because it kills all the microorganisms in your soil.

Water good but don't over water. Use your finger into the soil to tell how wet/dry it is.

Ralph

 

[Sonny580]

I worked in parents garden when young, later had my own little patch, then had a big garden ever since so I do know my way around plants. Farmed til I got down too.
Plan this year is the small 65x100 or so garden here close to the house. It will do for us and there will be no give aways this year. For the last 20 years we always grew extra produce and hauled it to the mission and 2 food banks. This year, can't do it.
One of the Amaryllis here is blooming. Will start a few tomato and cabbage seeds during March. usually have good luck starting them here in the house then transplant when weather warms up.

 

[mapper]

Sonny, a friend of mine has had a similar problem since his prostate surgery, he recently switched to an external catheter, it has taken a few weeks to figure out the best one for him, but he is much happier with it than with the pads and diaper route.
Getting old is not for the weak!

 

[RalphVa]

I worked in parents garden when young, later had my own little patch, then had a big garden ever since so I do know my way around plants. Farmed til I got down too.
Plan this year is the small 65x100 or so garden here close to the house. It will do for us and there will be no give aways this year. For the last 20 years we always grew extra produce and hauled it to the mission and 2 food banks. This year, can't do it.
One of the Amaryllis here is blooming. Will start a few tomato and cabbage seeds during March. usually have good luck starting them here in the house then transplant when weather warms up.

View attachment 642815

"Small 65x100" garden? Ouch.

Don't forget the diluted urine I mentioned in another post. Very good source of natural nitrogen, plus a few other things in it. Correct that post: dilute your urine 10/1 before using it to take the N down to below 2%.

Ralph

 

[Sonny580]

Ya, 65 x 100 is the baby garden ,--- our regular garden is 4.5 acres that we have had for the last 14 years. --- Before that it was 1 acre, That's why we moved to this place so we could have space for gardens.
I plant rows from 4 feet apart to 6 or 7 feet for sweet potatoes. Regular potatoes, sweet corn, onions,beans all get 4 feet. Bigger tiller goes down these rows and plants have room to spread later which they do. I don't crowd stuff!

This doctor wont do any other control methods so I am stuck, oh well.---- also I am stuck with him as he is the only one around doing the prostate work.

 

[herm0016]

We got our seeds yesterday, and will be setting up the kitchen garden for starting them soon. everything is planed out for where and when. we have a 12x28 in the ground, 2 4x8 raised and a 5x12 raised. several squashes, several tomato, onions, egg plant, greens, giant green beans, melons, several peppers, among others.

 

[oldballs]

First off...........It's my understanding that a "Master Gardener" is one that has taken classes and gets a certification as such. I have no such training. However, like many here, I have gardened for many years, most of which were without a tractor. Having been raised in the city in a small crowded neighborhood, I started from scratch when moving to this rural area.

Each year gardening gets tougher and tougher as I grow older. Now with the tractor/tiller one tends to plan/plant more that one, by oneself, can maintain.....clear thru picking and distribution.

Anyway, my 50 x 100, I plowed and tilled last fall. It is ready now and I'll probably dive into it just like every other year.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[ovrszd]

Mike is a modest man. Hopefully this thread will continue thru the growing season and he will post some pics. He's a Master.

How old are you Mike?

 

[oldballs]

Just past 87 years a couple months ago. God has blessed me. Thanks for your compliments Richard.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[RalphVa]

Got lots of masters of gardening out there who don't have "master gardener" titles. Go, man. That 50x100 ain't small.

I went and got a yard and a half of Panorama Paydirt, by a local outfit that collects all the leaves from town and lots of tree peoples' shreddings and turns it into mulch, compost and soil. I bought the soil. Redid the slope east of the swimming pool in 2018 by cleaning it out and more or less sterilizing it and then put 2 or 3 inches of this stuff on it. Got 23 butternut squash from just 2 vines that I put seed in for there in that stuff.

Put some on my remaining 2 raised beds (rest of them are in asparagus now) that I grow other stuff in this afternoon. Got a new area right by the outdoor shower. It'll get a couple inches of Paydirt. Then my skinnied down old "asparagus" patch that never really made any (but it's fine in those raised beds) will get a couple inches, too. Removed the soaker hose from it this afternoon. Will scoop out some of that soil and put the Paydirt in where I scooped.

Ralph

 

[oldballs]

The Soil............mine was good to start with. Some of TBNers are envious when they post about the many rocks, sand or clay that is native to their region.

A couple years ago I bought the Cyclone Rake to assist with the huge trees around my property. After a couple seasons I had to dump the leaves elsewhere, as the garden was getting too many to suit me. Lots of pine needles mixed in too. I probably should get a soil analysis now. I'll bet all that stuff has changed the character of my soil.

But I am getting used to living in an imperfect world as I get older.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[RalphVa]

Hope you piled up those leaves and pine straw so that it'll compost good. That's all I do. Just make a pile. Put the kitchen non meat leftovers in there, too. Even not collecting my around 100 bags of leaves from the silly town people who throw them out (a local outfit has this source sewed up now with curb side vacuuming of the leaves), I seem to have collected quite a pile this season from our declared war on invasives. Got lots of shredding/chipping of them and has made about the same pile as I get from my leaves and a little bit of limb chipping.

Ralph

 

[hayboy48]

Anybody thinking about the 2020 season yet? Ideas you have that you want to try? varieties, methods, fertilizers, etc?
Not going to be able to have my 4.5 acres this year. MIGHT be able to do this little yard garden, don't know for sure yet! The big garden will not be planted so I probably need to plant a crop of some sort for plow down green manure in it. -- either that or mow every 3 days, which I am not able to do!
Still fighting prostate cancer , trying to recover from that and so far still no bladder control so I am limited how long I can stay outside before diapers run over and down the legs! lol! bout an hour and a half, tops, so not much getting done!

Some great reading here. My story is at 71 I do almost everything with a rolling walker or hanging onto something with one hand due to nerve damage in the legs. On the tractor, just bought a 2011 4025 Mahindra to help out the 67 135 MF I have had for 45 yrs, I can do almost anything I want. I am down to a little over 2 acres of mostly open pollinated corn and peas and most of that is give away also. Looking forward to the day when bread cast on the water comes home and it fells good doing it. Will be serious about getting corn ground ready in a couple of weeks if it stops raining. Scares me to death thinking of our kids and grans doing something like this. GOD BLESS Have a great day.

 

[Sonny580]

This should last till next year. More horseradish made and in the fridge! Keeps over a year in there. Had a few people get some roots to grind and some crowns to plant.
Was going to plant spinach yesterday but it rained enough to make mud, so no planting this week. plenty early anyway, but I have best luck if I plant it real early here.
Have most of the yard gardens raked off and ready to plow as soon as it comes time,----a bit early yet for us.
The powered wheelbarrow is about half done, --- looks like it might work o.k. Don't have the big tiller ready yet, gotta unpack it out of the shed an slap it on the WD again this year. --- Not the greatest tractor for tiller use, but with this small amount of ground this year, it will do.

 

[chas0218]

Ok have a question, the last few years our garden has be okay nothing like I would have liked. I'm going to get a soil test to see what it is lacking but my question is about the soil type. We have clay, hard clay, and bedrock so how would any of you combat growing in clay? This stuff is tough and stays soft only by watering. We water at night for about an hour or until the soil is nice and soaked by the end of the next day the soil is dry and cracking.

Anyone grow a garden in this soil type and have any pointers? I was thinking of having a couple loads of topsoil brought in and mixing it with a tiller. The garden is 25x100 so nothing huge just looking to get some vegetables maybe sell a few on our stand.

 

[oldballs]

Hi chas,

It make take several years to get some better soil.......that is if you buy/mix that load of top soil and then keep adding any compost that you can come up with.....e.g. composted leaves etc. as mentioned above......then there may be some horse or sheep manure that a neighbor would like to get rid of. I would think that after a couple years you would be pleased with the results. IIRC.. I even added some sand to mine. I used a walk behind tiller for years, and still do some times. Then there is lot of hand hoeing that keep the dirt/weeds loosened up. :2cents:

Right now I'm nursing a sudden back pain....even bought a brace yesterday....maybe that'll help. Real muddy here right now anyway.

Cheers,
Mike