Gardening prep question....need your advice please!

[kubota4me]

I have a couple of questions in regards to getting my garden ready for next spring. I have designated a garden on my land with the approximate dimensions of 120 ' x 100 ' with the potential to enlarge it more if I wanted. I had a neighbor plow it last spring with his farm tractor with the idea I would then till it and work it. Heart surgery got in the way of that so the garden was put on hold for another year. I am starting to plan again now for next year. I will be erecting an 8' or 9' fence around the garden because of problematic deer.

I either want to purchase a really good tiller or put the money I would have put in the tiller in raised beds. I am 58 years old and I don't know how my back will hold up over the years bending over gardening. I had some thoughts that if I didn't go the raised bed gardening route, I could make the rows far enough apart so that I could take a rear tine tiller and cultivate between the rows making weeding less tedious. With raised beds, I could sit on an edge or rail of the raised beds and therefore be less taxing on my back. Mulching would also help.

In regards to tillers, the only tiller I ever saw that looks like it would hold up would be the old professional Troy Bilt tiller that was mostly cast iron, but they don't make that tiller in that quality anymore. The BCS is really nice, but is 3k-4k. I could buy a three point tiller for that price for my Kubota L4400 tractor but wouldn't have enough room to turn around in the garden or till between rows after the garden started coming up. I originally thought the Husqvarna DRT900 was a great tiller for the money, but some reviewers that purchased it called it cheap.

Any thoughts you had regarding whether to invest in a nice tiller or go the raised bed route would be appreciated.

 

[Western]

I have a 60" tiller and being great and all, you really only use it a few times a year. It is great though when tilling the whole garden prior to making rows. You may want to consider a small light weight tiller, that is what I will get this Spring.

1st thing I would do though is get a soil sample, just so you know what you're dealing with. If you need lime, you will want to get that put out right away.

This thread will probably be a BIG one:laughing:

 

[dave1949]

Raised beds are very productive while lowering the amount of maintenance (weeding, tilling) needed. I keep enough peat moss and organic matter in ours to easily turn it with a spade or hoe while standing beside them. We have two, each 5'x10'. They are three 2x8's tall filled at least to bottom of the top 2x8. Easy to work.

Crops like sweet corn, squashes, melons, green beans, un-staked tomatoes--are not good candidates for raised beds IMO. You can use trellis and such to compact their space needs, but I plant those in a regular garden.

120x100 is over 1/4 acre. That's a lot of garden if it is just for your personal use. I would do what you need to do to limit the work required. Allow room to turn the tractor + tiller around outside the garden space within the fence for example. More fence one-time, less work forever. The same applies with watering. You can set-up semi-permanent runs of piping to attach sprinkler heads or drip lines to rather than dragging hoses around off and on all summer.

Most gardens fail or are less productive because the owners under-estimate the work load I think.

 

[HarryN]

I love gardening too! Worst thing about it is the weeds. They grow faster than any vegetable - LOL
I prefer to have wide spaces so I can cultivate between rows. Makes gardening way more enjoyable.
I'm also getting to old to want to spend all day weeding.....
"Western" has a good point regarding soil sampling. Gets you off on the right foot since it's a newly worked ground.
Good luck and have fun

 

[econometrics]

I will second dave1949 on suggesting raised beds - if you are looking at planting basic vegetable garden plants. Do a Google search and you can see some really well-done examples from people who have done this.

I know quite a few vegetable farmers in the area who exclusively use raised beds, and they rave about it.

The other nice thing about raised beds is that if you want to move your garden(s) at all - it's simple! Just move the boxes!

Another option is to use a disk harrow. I planted a small garden this past year using my 6' Frontier disc. I put some extra weight on top and made about 5-6 passes. Our soil type works well with this type of tillage.

 

[randy41]

raised permanent beds is the best way to go in the long run. if you avoid tilling you avoid bringing the seed bank to the surface where they will germinate. fill the raised beds with top soil and compost. top them up every year with more compost or shredded leaves. you want the beds to be soft and fluffy from not being walked on. you can florida weave and/or stake tomatoes in a raised bed with no problem. rich soil and irrigation are essential to success. 1/4 acre of raised beds is a lot.

 

[JakeBrake]

My suggestion is that you start small. It's a lot easier to till and plant in the spring than to take care of the garden in the summer when it's 95 degees and the weeds are running wild.

I have a 1976 Troybilt Horse tiller that I bought new. I would not want to main a 120' X 100' garden in the summer. But you are a youngster of 58! I'm ahead of you by 10 years. I've also had my heart issues.

Let me repeat that, around here, heat is a killer in the summer. Don't bite off more than you can chew.

I've never used a tractor powered tiller but it appears to me that my Kubota L3830 would be hard to manage
in a 120' X 100' garden surrounded by a deer fence.

 

[Western]

Agree with the guys on the size, that is a BIG garden, doable sure.

One thing I have done with my gardens, is a removable fence at one end. makes plowing/large tiller easy. I didn't do this with my new garden because of slope issues, but regret not addressing that.

I have used raised beds for a few "specialty" type plants, but can see the benefits for sure. Start-up cost may be higher though. Probably the best way to manage water use too??

 

[charlz]

Lots of gardening threads on TBN to read up on. I have mentioned in some of them before I use 'drive on' raised beds. No wood sides etc just 4' wide mounds. I have a 4' tiller for my B7100 and when it is time I just drive down the beds and till them up. I started out with 4' of bed, 4' of grass, 4' of bed etc. Over the years the beds have gotten slowly wider to the point I need a row hipper to pull them back up. I used mounds because we flood irrigate here and I needed a way to move water through the garden and one down the field. If you are just going to use drip or sprinklers you could leave them flush with the surrounding areas and not have 'bed creep'. If you plant grass between the rows use one that does not spread by rhizomes. That will keep it from moving into the beds during the summer. On the beds themselves I use drip for daily watering. I ran a 1" 'mainline' under ground across the head of the beds and have a 1/2" riser to each bed. Then I can lay out as many rows of drip as I need, 1 for single row crops like pumpkins, 3 or four for multi-row crops like corn.

The size you have it quite large and will be a lot of work tilling with a walk-behind. You might look at one section with some permanent raised beds and some for crops best planted in blocks like corn.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Huge garden area... Huge.... how many people you planning on feeding? We have a 50x70 and it is raised beds and it produces a ton of food. Are you into canning?

I did raised gardens beds for the wife, using slab cedar (2X12X 8 foot) They are 2 foot high, but recessed into the ground for support. IMO, and this is my own opinion, it doesn't do that much to save your back. You are either on your knees or stooped over anyway.

But lots of benefits to raised beds...

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Lot of good information stated above.

What crops do you plan on planting, what attachments do you have for your tractor, how many people will the garden support, will you have help?

If this is only for two people and you don't plan on selling or giving away the extra I would start a little smaller. How much gardening experience do you have? You said you sat this section aside for a garden spot which leads me to believe this is you first garden or has been a while since you had one. I could be totally wrong but that info is good to know.

They do make a small seat on tires that can be used for raised beds or rows to help with the bending over part. That is tough all the bending over; I am 54 and don't like it

Knowing what crops you want would help with raised beds or regular type garden as some crops can be trellised, beans, peas, cucumbers, etc.

Also, where are you located? Some areas you can plant a second crop around July so if you wanted to start out smaller but mid season you wanted a bigger garden you could plant a new area and still have time to get a great harvest.

Tiller is a tough call, both would be nice to have.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

randy41,

I don't want to hijack this thread in any way but how many high tunnels do you have?

David

 

[kubota4me]

Huge garden area... Huge.... how many people you planning on feeding? We have a 50x70 and it is raised beds and it produces a ton of food. Are you into canning?

I did raised gardens beds for the wife, using slab cedar (2X12X 8 foot) They are 2 foot high, but recessed into the ground for support. IMO, and this is my own opinion, it doesn't do that much to save your back. You are either on your knees or stooped over anyway.

But lots of benefits to raised beds...

Have you ever heard of a prepper? Go out and look at some of the stats of how much land/garden space it takes to support a family if SHTF. I can, I stock dehydrated foods, freeze dried, band aids and bullets. Now do you get the drift??

This area will also contain a few fruit trees, so this space will seem not-so-big very quickly.

 

[kubota4me]

Lot of good information stated above.

What crops do you plan on planting, what attachments do you have for your tractor, how many people will the garden support, will you have help?

If this is only for two people and you don't plan on selling or giving away the extra I would start a little smaller. How much gardening experience do you have? You said you sat this section aside for a garden spot which leads me to believe this is you first garden or has been a while since you had one. I could be totally wrong but that info is good to know.

They do make a small seat on tires that can be used for raised beds or rows to help with the bending over part. That is tough all the bending over; I am 54 and don't like it

Knowing what crops you want would help with raised beds or regular type garden as some crops can be trellised, beans, peas, cucumbers, etc.

Also, where are you located? Some areas you can plant a second crop around July so if you wanted to start out smaller but mid season you wanted a bigger garden you could plant a new area and still have time to get a great harvest.

Tiller is a tough call, both would be nice to have.

This is my first garden since moving to the country. I've gardened in the city for quite a few years, only much smaller in scope. I have a mower, landscape rake, landscape back blade, and several other attachments but no tiller. I may invest in a cheap one bottom plow.

 

[NorTracNY]

I started with row gardening. I slowly converted to raised beds. I produce more in less than 40% of my original garden space. Start small as expand. You really need to learn how to do raised beds over the course of a few years. You also need to understand how many beds you have time to maintain. I'd also recommend getting a good broadfork after a few years the beds get compacted. A good broadfork is easy to use and does a great job at loosing the soil again without turning it over too much.

 

[randy41]

IMO, and this is my own opinion, it doesn't do that much to save your back. You are either on your knees or stooped over anyway. .

i'm 63. yes to this.

david-i've got 4 tunnels and a little greenhouse for starts. if you look at facebook at all there's a lot of pics. search for Indian Valley Farms.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Why not start with both. Try a couple of raised beds and do the conventional rows. This way you can see which you like and which produces the most. I have 6 raised beds 12' x 5' and also plant 2-3 acres of row veggies and such.

I have a rear tiller for the tractor and it is great but for many years I used a single turning plow and disc to get the garden ready. I still use the plow and disc for certain areas.

I also have an old Troy build horse. I high gear is is fairly fast and will use it between the rows especially early in the season. I also use a single row cultivator for weeding until the crop gets to big or spread out.

If it were me I would look for the plow and a used disc to start with and go with the Troy build type tiller.

If your back is an issue look at something like the picture below.

You can also get the silt fence material without the stakes to lay between rows to help suppress weeds. IT is tough stuff and can be used for several years. I can buy a 3' x 100' for $10-$12 a roll. I have also seen it use as a row cover and take a torch to burn holes in it for the plants to grow through. You would need to use irrigation under it if use this way.

Another thing with raised beds you can get PVC and attach it to both sides in a hoop fashion and put plastic over it to get an early start and extend the season.

 

[RobertN]

We have raised beds. Soil is bleh and rocky at our place. So raised bed, with mix of our soil, planting soil from nursery, and LOTS of compost, has worked well. It is also a lot easier on the back and knees.

My wife is Master Gardener; I am big proponent of checking out the classes and materials from your local Master Gardeners and University extension. My wife teaches the soils class here, quarterly.

Someone mentioned already, a soil sample. That will help you figure out what amendments your soil needs; takes the guess work out.

We got a Bearcat 3pt chipper/shredder for the tractor; my wife chips/mulches EVERYTHING from the garden and property. You can never have too much mulch... or compost.

 

[charlz]

You can never have too much mulch... or compost.

It is amazing how fast compost disappears.....

 

[corl]

Lots of good advice given. Since you have a big garden planned and more space available you might want to consider a 3 point tiller the width of your tractor and do every other row planting. Plant a row and then skip a row. Skipped rows are the width of your tiller. Planted rows can be any width that is necessary. A garden bedder can give you raised beds in a regular garden situation. That way you use your tiller for weeds and save your back. Easier than raised beds if you have the space. I have been gardening for 40 years and have been using the every other row planting for 3 years in my market garden and it is remarkable how much labor it saves. Nunamaker Farms - Nunamaker Farms in West Grove, Pennsylvania - Home