Tilled the garden yesterday.

[slydog]

Tilled my garden yesterday to prep for planting after Easter. Then covered most of it with black visqueen. Sprayed it with Roundup about a week ago. Trying to get an early start on the weeds! I also bought some Preen pre emergant granules at the Co-op. The fellow there said I could grow anything except corn and strawberrys if I use it. Has anyone ever tried it?

I am planting a row of turnip/mustard greens on one side of my garden tomorrow. I'm assuming that since I am growing them from seed, that the Preen would keep them from germinating also. Would that be correct? (going to read the label in a bit, while I'm watching these Boston Butts I'm about to put on the grill!)

After tilling yesterday the ground was still fairly wet, especially in one corner where it always seems to retain the most moisture. I am thinking of hauling in a few p/u truck loads of Pro mix (that may be a regional name for it, it is like sand and mulch all mixed together) to add to the garden and till in. It is a little gummy overall I'm guessing due to a lot of clay. Would that help, or do yall think I should use something else?

 

[PBinWA]

Peet/Peat Moss would be good or some well aged horse poop. You are ahead of schedule so you can amend the soil like crazy. Sand wouldn't hurt either. I'm not sure of the ProMix - we get stuff called 3-Way up here and it is pretty dense and sandy - good for lawns not so sure about veggie gardens. I'm also skeptical about what they put in that stuff. Lots of old scrap construction lumber from what I can tell. I always find strange bits of chewed up garbage in the stuff. I like Horse poop - it's been naturally filtered.

The best thing I ever did was get a little soil test kit and worked to get the ph set-up just right. The garden was real happy that year. I'm doing it again this year.

 

[shoppintractors]

Ken,

We still have lots of snow on the ground here..so..I'm a bit envious.

Here's a brain teaser:

The "Related Links" Ad that shows up above your post picks up on key words in your post and then displays ads relating to your post......at least I believe that's the way it goes.

I've attached the ads that were displayed when I clicked on your post.

I'm trying to figure out which key words it picked up on.

hmmm........

Don

 

[JJT]

"It is a little gummy overall I'm guessing due to a lot of clay. Would that help, or do yall think I should use something else? "

Anything organic will help. I've had great success with aged cow manure and tons of straw bedding. I've also added composted leaves, wood chips and sawdust. I wouldn't bother to add sand. You can add clay to sand to build up the soil, but adding sand into clay is a losing proposition.

 

[billbill1]

Ken, I don't have a tiller for my tractor anymore but plan to get another one in the future. I made a compost pile out of all of the folliage from the garden (corn stalks, onion tops, anything green) and used the tiller to turn the pile every couple of weeks. Keep adding and turning the pile for about a year, you'll have the best soil you can get, start mixing it in with the dirt all over the entire garden and keep making more compost for future use. I also like to take grass clippings from the front yard to mulch my plants with to keep the weeds down and to help retain moisture, then I till it into the soil at the end to the growing season. It really keeps the soil fertile.

 

[slydog]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The "Related Links" Ad that shows up above your post picks up on key words in your post and then displays ads relating to your post......at least I believe that's the way it goes.)</font>

Hahahaha...I believe you are right. And I have absolutely no idea what keys words it saw to put all that together! Well, if your a gardener those weeds are a horror, and they d**n sure make you want to rant and rave. I can only guess that it was the "germinate" and "butts" that produced the other result. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Thanks for the advice guys! I have a friend with all the free horse poop I can haul. Plus lots of leaves I'm raking from my yard. Guess I will give that a go! With all the leaves, which I believe are somewhat acidic as they break down, do you think it is a good idea to add a bag of lime or two also before tilling them in? Garden is approx 30x30.

 

[PBinWA]

Get a pH test kit - I think they are around $10 and test the soil. That will tell you how much lime to add. Skip the guess work.

 

[slydog]

Gotcha! Will look for that at Loews.

 

[MMM]

Subsoil it, add ag gypsum, and lots of compost. I'd stay away from grass clippings due to seeds. Especially if you have bahia grass anywhere around.

 

[rdln]

You @#$%@#%@#$%@#$%@^&$^&#(
southerner. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I Walked on the ten inches of snow thats on top of the 12 inches of frost where my garden once was today.