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.

 

[Sonny580]

wind storm hit the other day,---did a number on the gardens and fruit trees.

 

[Sonny580]

finished the onion harvest. got a lot of 2 pounders this year. all of the water carrying paid off for sure! We need rain!
First planting of sweetcorn done, now to chop the stalks down. last planting might make corn but if it dont rain it wont pollinate so I might try the old water spray trick that usually works! lol!---LOTTA extra work just for corn! lol!

 

[bmaverick]

finished the onion harvest. got a lot of 2 pounders this year. all of the water carrying paid off for sure! We need rain!
First planting of sweetcorn done, now to chop the stalks down. last planting might make corn but if it dont rain it wont pollinate so I might try the old water spray trick that usually works! lol!---LOTTA extra work just for corn! lol!

Did you keep the onion stalks ? Our grocery store sells those too. Great in salads and winter soups.

 

[bmaverick]

wind storm hit the other day,---did a number on the gardens and fruit trees.

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WOW, that looks crazy to the south of me below Rochelle, IL. I'm at the tip-top of the state in Beloit. All that missed us.

 

[Sonny580]

I leave the stalks on them to cure them. IF you cut them off,---they wont cure or keep very long. Ya if you were going to use them right away it wouldnt matter. We usually have a ton of cutoffs when we freeze dried the crop but this year we didnt run the freeze drier on anything. Too many other things got in the way and it takes a LOT of time running the dryer. Gotta babysit them round the clock when they are running.
We got high winds and no rain out of the clouds in the pictures but north of us 11 miles they got 3" of rain in 1 hour.

 

[nyone]

Last year's garden really got over run by weeds so last fall I went down the road to the local town who's residence put there leaf bags out by the road for municipal pickup 1x a week. I got 120-130 leaf bags and used my lawn mower to mulch them up. In the late spring I pealed back the leaf mulch and the amount of earth worms was amazing. We have terrible rock hard clay here that dosnt grow anything. This years garden has been amazingly more fruitful and has next to no weeds.

Anyone that has easy acess to leaf debris in the fall I would collect it. I'm even going to make baskets from garden fencing this year to collect more.

 

[DJ54]

Finally got my tomatoes, peppers, and cotton mulched last week, when we got a few cooler, and dry days. At least one less section of the garden to have to cultivate, and hoe around plants.

 

[Sonny580]

summer went by so fast I didnt have time to get on the computer!
Anyway we are now into fall harvest and doing sweet potatoes.

 

[Sonny580]

Here is kind of a catch up of the summer/fall harvest so far. Sweet potatoes did o.k. BUT only 7.25 pounders this year. Last year we had 10.5 pounders and quality is down on everything this year. Too dry/hot during the growing season and I couldnt haul/carry enough water to do much good.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Beautiful crop!!! I am jealous of you gentlemen and ladies with huge crops every fall.

We have a small garden that keeps me happy, but one of these days I am going to go huge and have piles of veggies to put back every fall. There is nothing better than eating your hard work all winter long.

Great job!