Small Garden Recommendations

[Rara Avis]

Glyphosate is soil inactive. Once it hits dirt, it has no effect, no carry-over, and is neutralized. It's only effect is on LIVING plants. It won't kill grass if it's dormant.

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/weeds/w253/w2...htm#GLYPHOSATE

This is the current pointer...
North Dakota State University

 

[Rara Avis]

Sure Paul, that's what they say. My faith in that has been more than a little undermined by all the times they've gone "oops, wasn't so harmless after all".

Including a whole lot of herbicides and pesticides that were "perfectly safe" until they were found to cause cancer by the boatload.

I use a lot of toxic stuff when I have to. I try not to use it when I don't have to.

Well, unless you are growing ALL of your own food you are being exposed to plants that were grown in soil whose weeds, et al have been treated with GLYPHOSATE more often than not...

 

[Charlesaf3]

Or if you eat mostly organic, which I do. Tastes better too.

And stuff I put in my soil I'll be drinking out of my well down the road. Rather use a hoe/tiller/plow what have you.

 

[RedDirt]

Once I get a round tuit I plan to put in a 16 to 20 x 60+ garden. I'll fence the sides but use farm gates on the ends. That way, spring and fall, I can open both ends and run my tractor straight through, turn around outside the garden area and run straight through again.

 

[Botabill]

It just amazes me why we Canadians keep gardening. You guys down south are eating stuff and we haven't even planted half our crops yet. Just put in my tomatoes this week.

 

[Knight9]

Botabill,

I hear you on that one! I have potato plants just popping up, some barely visible carrots, pretty good radish tops, onions, and some peas popping up. Half these guys in the warmer climates are EATING goodies already! Yikes!!!

 

[WayneB]

If you are talking small garden, why not just build a few raised bed boxes and use good loam and manure mixture for your small gardening needs. I have several large gardens, but also four raised bed box gardens. Plus is they are close to the backdoor, can hoop enclosed them for early planting, and we grow all of our table lettuce in them. Also so Tomatoes, that will produce early for salad use.

Concentrated gardening is easier to weed as well, Just a thought!

 

[schmism]

id see if a neighbor had a bottom plow. A small 1x12 on the back of a yamar would be just the right size to turn the sod in that size of an area.

Then just till with a walk behind troybilt or simular.

For our larger version 2 15x60' gardens i find my mantis style tiller to be a very valuable tool for tilling in between rows. Really cuts down on a lot of hand weeding and keeps the chemicals out of it.

 

[Jim-Satoh]

My garden, I use Eraser to kill all grass-- weeds and so forth. You can not get this on trees or plants that you do not want killed. It works thru the roots and will not kill unless sprayed on directly. I bought a 8.5hp rear tine tiller thru Sears on line for $ 599.00, its great. I have a small tractor with a roto tiller, but the Sears tiller will work fine. You may have to go over it more than once. My land is nothing but clay and rocks and it grows great gardens. Do not add to much compost than the soil will get too loose. The 8.5hp tiller will till the soil to a fine mixture. It makes a 17" bed as it tills. The Eraser I use a hand sprayer and hold the wand close to the ground to prevent blowing the mixture.

 

[tony123]

You should consider some of the used Japanese tillers. I picked up a Yanmar 4' tiller for $280 !!! It does a great job, and I'm confident that it will be around long enough to till my 12x60' garden longer than I'll be around to plant it. Heck, you can't find walk behinds for that kind of money, and this gives an excuse to use the tractor.