2022 gardens

[jyoutz]

I was going to plow the garden this weekend, but we had rain all day Monday, then snow all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Looks like another few weeks before the fields are tractor ready.

 

[fishdrivel]

You can grow greens in shaded conditions.

Lettuce, spinach, bok choy, kale, cilantro? what else?

 

[jyoutz]

Lettuce, spinach, bok choy, kale, cilantro? what else?

Onions, chard, and many other veggies will grow in partial shade, but they won’t develop or produce like they would in the sun.

 

[Doughknob]

I use my troybilt horse for a 400sq ft garden. Sweet corn and peas this year are planned. So wet here every spring, planting doesn’t happen til May.

 

[jyoutz]

I use my troybilt horse for a 400sq ft garden. Sweet corn and peas this year are planned. So wet here every spring, planting doesn’t happen til May.

I usually plant items that can handle a light freeze in mid April: potatoes, greens, onions, and broccoli. Then I plant the frost sensitive plants and seeds in late May.

 

[Sonny580]

Cabbage and green beans do o.k. here under the trees, also radishes. The only thing that do do the best is tomatoes, they grow and turn red, BUT taste like store bought ones! lol!

 

[Bill Guenthner]

A few years ago we started building raised beds and buying dump truck loads of good dirt. I hate that I'm actually paying for dirt, but the red clay that we have turns to concrete in summer, no matter how much water it gets!!!

It's still a work in progress, but we seem to be figuring it out a little more every year. Right now, my wife is working on adding a layer of pete moss and cow manure to the beds, and then covering it in old hay. I'm not sure how many she will get done, but a little is better then none.

Instead of spraying the walkways, I've started covering them in red mulch. I have 6 pallets in there so far, and I'm going to buy another 6 pallets in the Spring when they go on sale for $2 a sack plus my military 10% discount from Lowes. This makes weeding super easy. It also makes walking around there nicer since there is no mud to deal with.

I built the fence last year. Two of our dogs decided that the garden dirt was fun to dig in. They all kind of tore it up, but it really got bad with those two. Now they patrol around the garden!!!


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This was last year during a rain storm. I was trying to get a picture of the rain, but I like how the garden looks too!

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You can renovate clay soil by tilling in Sphagnum peat moss that comes in those compressed square bales. I put one for every square yard and till it deep. It’s acidic so will want to mix in ag lime. I do that year two.

 

[jyoutz]

You can renovate clay soil by tilling in Sphagnum peat moss that comes in those compressed square bales. I put one for every square yard and till it deep. It’s acidic so will want to mix in ag lime. I do that year two.

In much of the interior west adding acidity to the soil increases productivity. Our soils definitely already have too much lime.

 

[Sonny580]

gardens are still hangin on. getting a light rain now. Been trying to haul water all summer. Weeds and bugs are a real problem this year too.
a few pix of things at this point.
Onions about ready for harvest/processing. carrots and beets starting to get ready. radishes long gone and turnips have 1 more setting to harvest. greenbeans in full production. tomatoes setting green ones---LONG time before they will be ripe. potatoes need more water than I can carry so not sure what they will make.

 

[jaxs]

Hauling water for a garden that size would quickly convince me to cut down on amount I planted following year.