Rennovating a garden

[Foozle]

Good advice above...
1. soil test before doing anything, to get a baseline.
2. Add organic matter (i.e. leaves, manure, grass clippings. Till them in in the fall and they have the winter to break down and become worm food.
3. When soil test comes back you may choose to amend those nutrients or see if the organic matter has provided enough nutrients to make a difference. Chances are and depending on what you are growing, it will make a difference.

If you add organic matter and you are concerned that the breakdown may deplete the soil while it is breaking down, plant peas or beans in those areas the first year, or add nitrogen like urea (45% Nitrogen) on top the surface to aid in the replenishing of the nitrogen, especially for corn and other high nitrogen feeders. Don't add wood chips, mulch or any organic matter that would take more than six months to break down. They will steal the nitrogen from the soil during their breakdown. A worm cannot help you break down a wood chip, in six months, but it can help you break down a blade of grass and a leaf. This is why folks have worm farms. I put the organic matter in my garden to bring the worms, they bring the worm castings.

I have never subsoiled my garden, not that I shouldn't, I know farmers do it so it must be good. Most veggies don't go below a foot deep. So in lieu of subsoiling, get some organic matter on that soil and work it in this fall.

I lot of how you need to amend depends on what you are putting in the garden too.

What do you normally grow?

It is just a general garden, so I grow a variety of things, including: Okra, corn, squash, tomatoes, beans, watermelon, cucumber and cantaloupe. I have about 8 inches of top soil, then hard pan. It seems that the garden doesn't retain moisture well, so am assuming the hardpan is causing that. I wasn't sure a subsoiler/app would penetrate deep enough, so thought removing the top soil and replacing might work better. However, if not necessary, that would definitely save a lot of work to just subsoil/app through the top soil.

 

[Foozle]

I recommend an All Purpose Plow and a soil test.

I'm planning on correcting the nutrient issue with compost, manure, etc.

If your soil pH is too high or too low, compost and manure will be limited in adding nutrients your plants can absorb.
You may be low in a trace nutrient, still important. Where I live in Florida, supplemental Boron is usually required for optimum plant growth.

Dirt Dog - All Purpose Plow / Field Cultivator REVIEW + PICTURES

Dirt Dog All Purpose Plow / Field Cultivator Dirt Dog Model APP 66-5 Total Width 66", Working Width 62", Five Tines, Weight 284 Pounds, Paid $835.00 (2010) Field Cultivator: A Three Point Hitch mounted, secondary tillage implement, used to perform operations such as soil aeration...

www.tractorbynet.com

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A Kubota L5740 can draw a seven-shank, 66" wide APP to 14" depth through DAMP soil. $1,400 delivered.

An APP will break up your hardpan.

Fred Cain 7 Shank Field Cultivator with 66in bar

Fred Cain 7 Shank 3 Point Field Cultivator with 66in bar, Ripper, Tillage Tool, jitterbug, field plow, Bermuda grass plow, break new ground. Free Shipping

www.everythingattachments.com

Thanks for the response! I'll look into the APPs.

I did a couple soil tests on the garden. Good01 and Bad01. The Good01 was taken from a part of the garden that still actually does well, while the Bad01 was taken from a part of the garden that won't hardly grow anything well anymore. I plant corn or okra, for example, in a long row and it does great in the "good" part of garden and then the plants get smaller and smaller as the row approaches the "bad" part of the garden. The results of the soil test didn't appear that different to me, so not sure why the two areas perform so differently - unless I'm just not reading correctly.

 

[WVH1977]

I use a sub-boiler. I like it because it breaks up hard pan but does not pull clay/hard pan to the surface. I was plowing my Granny's garden one time and went down to deep and turned over the hard pan on top of the surface. My uncle was not happy about that. You don't want clay/hard pan on top of the ground.

I have a new garden now. Second year and I am having issues getting my butterbeans to grow. It is producing other vegetables but I know it is missing something. I need to test my soil as well and I am going to put a cover crop down this fall. I am also planning on getting a load of cow manure from my cousin to put down this fall.

 

[2manyrocks]

Good compost material will help with water retention. The suggestion to plant a fall cover crop is excellent because you are essentially growing your own compost.

Watch out for what you haul in. It may be full of weed seeds that later germinate in your garden.

 

[Foozle]

I have a really old John Deere subsoiler I inherited but have never used it. Not sure if and how well it would even work, and whether I might damage it trying, so am nervous about trying. Thoughts on whether this might work on back of my Kubota? I may also want to sell at some point - not sure how much of a market there is for this kind of thing.

 

[jeff9366]

Oooooh....... Ahhhhhh.....

" I don't have a subsoiler attachment, but I suppose I could buy/rent one".

Why were you fooling us?

Your implement is a subsoiler, which pins to your tractor's rear/center drawbar via the pictured front yoke. As this (gauge) wheel mounted subsoiler can articulate independently from the tractor, the subsoiler will maintain an even soil depth as the tractor passes over minor bumps and through minor swales.

The "controls" are to adjust subsoiler depth and to lift the foot free from the soil at the end of a row, when ready to turn about, then subsoil in the opposite direction. There is probably a shear-bolt in the mechanism somewhere. Your subsoiler controls may need a Blaster solvent soak to loosen rust, then greasing.

You are lucky to have this old-school, iron implement. Implement weight is an advantage in ground contact work. Your 4-WD tractor will pull it 'no sweat'.

INSTRUCTIONS:

https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf08342828/pdf08342828dpi72.pdf

Rear/Center Tractor Drawbar // USE TODAY

For brute pulling tasks I use the rear/center tractor drawbar as my preferred attachment point. Photo #1 + #2 I never remove the 3/8" clevis-mount Chain Grab Hook from the rear/center drawbar. I usually pull heavy loads with 5/16" Grade 70 chain, which is a secure fit in the 3/8" Chain Grab...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[CalG]

No-till tool for clay soil: daikon radishes – Soil Groundwork

soilgroundwork.com

Cover crop. MULCH heavily with any weed free vegetative material, but don't turn the mulch in.

Do your garden area in sections so you can still garden ;-) or take a year off. In the Southern states, It might just be the off season can get it done.

There are many useful "how to" videos on mulching. We go through PILES of shredded hardwood leaves every year, because we HAVE piles of leaves and a tractor mounted shredder ;-) Mulch REALLY helps with water retention. Left on top of the soil, there is no problem with N2 depletion, and it encourages earth worms.

 

[jeff9366]

I know the Fred Cain manufacturer is located in Danford, KY.

What is the business name?

A Google search for DANFORD, KENTUCKY yields nothing.

 

[jeff9366]

I did a couple soil tests on the garden. Good01 and Bad01. The Good01 was taken from a part of the garden that still actually does well, while the Bad01 was taken from a part of the garden that won't hardly grow anything well anymore. I plant corn or okra, for example, in a long row and it does great in the "good" part of garden and then the plants get smaller and smaller as the row approaches the "bad" part of the garden. The results of the soil test didn't appear that different to me, so not sure why the two areas perform so differently - unless I'm just not reading correctly.

Possibilities in random order:

1) Lack of nitrogen

2) Excess Calcium
Why does my soil have too much calcium?
Normally, the higher the calcium level, the greater the soil clay content. Recent limestone applications may result in higher calcium levels. If the soil pH is maintained in the recommended range for the crop grown, calcium deficiency is very unlikely.

Can you give vegetable plants too much calcium?
Too much calcium in your garden soil can go hand in hand with a high pH, which means the soil is too alkaline, which then affects the absorption of the macronutrients contained in other fertilizers. The way to determine whether you need to add calcium to your soil is a professional soil test.

What plants need a lot of calcium?
Calcium is essential for all plants, but the following are especially responsive: apples, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cherries, citrus, conifers, cotton, curcurbits, melons, grapes, legumes, lettuce, peaches, peanuts, pears, peppers, potatoes, tobacco, and tomatoes.
(( Corn and Okra are NOT on this list.))

3) Compacted soil limiting root growth.

4) Too much lime applied.


I am not an experienced farmer. I am an experienced gardener. Above results from Google searches.

 

[jaxs]

I have 150' x 30' garden I've been planting for over 20 years. Over time it has become less and less productive. I think I have a couple issues. One is nutrient depletion and the other is a rock hard subsoil. I'm planning on correcting the nutrient issue with compost, manure, etc. As to the subsoil issue, it seems my garden dries up very quickly and I suspect the water just runs off since it can't penetrate the subsoil. Also, the plant roots likely can't penetrate the subsoil either. I've been reading about double digging a garden to loosen the subsoil and I'm wondering if I can use my tractor to assist with this, since most videos I see use a hand approach, which would take forever for me.

I was thinking about scraping all the top soil off the garden and piling along the out edges of the garden with my tractor. My question is what would be best way to break up the subsoil before replacing the top layer? The easiest way would be to use my pto tiller, but not sure that is healthy for the subsoil. I don't have a subsoiler attachment, but I suppose I could buy/rent one. I know people use broadforks manually, but I'm not sure I could even get one to penetrate the subsoil given it is like concrete. Either way I was going to put some compost down before tilling/breaking up the subsoil, then replace the top soil. May need to use a wheel barrow for that approach as I don't think I want to drive my tractor over the garden at this point or ever again in future - I think years of tilling with my heavy tractor has caused the subsoil hardpan issue to begin with.

Any ideas are welcome!

Thanks

I have a really old John Deere subsoiler I inherited but have never used it. Not sure if and how well it would even work, and whether I might damage it trying, so am nervous about trying. Thoughts on whether this might work on back of my Kubota? I may also want to sell at some point - not sure how much of a market there is for this kind of thing.

Foozle I was so taken aback by you posting that picture, I went to search your profile and see if you had other bizarre postings. Looks like you haven't said much lately so I have to take your word you aren't just messing with us with coming here all coy like saying you have this hard soil and no tool to deal with it then drag that beast out of the weeds claiming you've let it set because you are afraid you might harm it if you use it. Then comes the cherry on top about selling it. So YES,if you are in earnest with everything you've said,by all means take a torch to it and sell it for scrap before you lose a hand trying to hook it up to a tractor or stagger into it possibly killing yourself.