Time to start the garden...

[MF243RedTop]

Sliced the entire spot with the subsoiler first.. then put the JD bottom plows to work .
The hardpan wouldn't let me go as deep as I wanted to the last time I rolled it over .. well I could stop the tractor this time if I wanted to with the bottom plows..
Beer time

 

[jaxs]

What's the story on lighter colored soil in spots and how does it effect plants?

 

[5030]

That is sandy loam just like what we have up here. I'm not even thinking about a garden yet, we have about a foot of snow on the ground presently.

 

[Citydude]

Middle may early June here for planning. I envy the people in the South sometimes.

 

[MF243RedTop]

What's the story on lighter colored soil in spots and how does it effect plants?

Sandy clay soil/hardpan below the black silt topsoil .. area hasn't been broke for several years and the hardpan was creeping up. It's in a relatively low spot that's been built up over time .. hardpan is close to the top of soil ..

Just add lime and potash as needed... Breaking hardpan helps keep moisture to plants in dry times.

 

[MF243RedTop]

Decided it was time to trash the old 20 gauge aluminum electric fence wire.. deer were tearing down constantly... It had done served it's purpose for many years .
Went with 12.5 gauge high tensile fence this time... Constructed a little homemade spinning jenny out of just some 2x6, angle, pipe, shaft and some small scrap plate ..
Worked great..

Screwed it down to the back of the golf bed...

 

[Rustyiron]

I'm going for frozen vegetables this year

 

[MF243RedTop]

Wow, I'll be dropping seed later this month or first April .. just got a little rain yesterday on the garden after the bottom plow and harrows.. were still getting some near frost temps here at night but 60---70's during the day.. S GA ..

 

[MF243RedTop]

Got 5 strands up and slightly tensioned... Need to wait for my new corner posts to set up a bit more before tensioning it on up

 

[MF243RedTop]

Got flagging tape on all 4 sides.. I've found this to be as effective as those that run 2 different rows of fence for deer since they have no depth perception... Has worked very well in the past ... if you don't mind the look ... Cheap easy and effective.

The slightest wind movement and the tape flutters in the wind ..

 

[MRTOES]

Decided it was time to trash the old 20 gauge aluminum electric fence wire.. deer were tearing down constantly... It had done served it's purpose for many years .
Went with 12.5 gauge high tensile fence this time... Constructed a little homemade spinning jenny out of just some 2x6, angle, pipe, shaft and some small scrap plate ..
Worked great..

Screwed it down to the back of the golf bed... View attachment 787941

When the deer get to thinking they have the upper hand in the south we string up some cheap barb wire on insulators for the positive fence wire and an un-insulated (grounded) one close to it so they try to crawl between.

 

[MF243RedTop]

When the deer get to thinking they have the upper hand in the south we string up some cheap barb wire on insulators for the positive fence wire and an un-insulated (grounded) one close to it so they try to crawl between.

Still debating about running a ground wire here in the middle haven't had one in the past... And it's kept the deer at bay... But I've got enough wire left over for 1 more run around the garden ..
Ill have to move the strands some to incorporate it... But might still do it ... The fence as is has worked well in the past.

I've seen them get a running start .. drop on all fours and slide under the bottom strand if it's not low enough... Hungry

 

[Yander]

Was in Rural King today and they had a bunch of seed potatoes and onions and other seed. It's putting me in the mood to start thinking about getting some cold weather crops in.

I wasn't going to do potatoes this year but you know, I just might.

Looks like your deer fence took some work, looks like it would work. I do have a lot of deer but they seem to leave my garden alone for the most part. They like chard and got most of it last year. But they left my corn alone.

I need it to dry out and I might just plant some snow peas this Saturday if it does.

 

[jyoutz]

Middle may early June here for planning. I envy the people in the South sometimes.

I usually till and plant cold weather garden plants (onions, greens, potatoes) about the third week of April and plant warm weather things after Memorial Day. April is looking iffy this year because we’re still getting snow showers and the ground is far too wet to work the soil.

 

[5030]

So are we. In fact snow is predicted for tonight with below freezing temps.

 

[jyoutz]

So are we. In fact snow is predicted for tonight with below freezing temps.

Yeah, we’re forecast for 22 tonight and 16 tomorrow night. Spring seems a long ways away.

 

[Yander]

I often get too ambitious and plant too early I planted corn twice last year.

It's way too wet here too and soil temps aren't there yet either so it's going to be a few weeks.

I probably will put something in the raised beds this weekend just to see what happens.

I need to get some stuff started indoors.

 

[MF243RedTop]

I often get too ambitious and plant too early I planted corn twice last year.

It's way too wet here too and soil temps aren't there yet either so it's going to be a few weeks.

Living in S,GA I can literally plant 2 gardens a year if I wanted to.. but that's way too much work and way more veggies than the 2 of us will ever need.. usually can fill the freezer with 1 crop of everything..but

I did plant spring and late summer/fall red potatoes last year and made 2 crops..

 

[Yander]

We can do early spring cool weather crops, summer crops and another late summer planting of cool weather crops. If we use just one layer of cover we can grow some things all winter (i.e. Kale, lettuce & Spinach).

I had a Kale plant right behind my garage in a planter up against the garage which faced the south and that plant lived through an entire winter of below freezing, single digits, snow and everything winter threw at it. We ate off of it the following spring. Amazing how cold hardy they are in raised beds. It couldn't survive my chickens though.

 

[MF243RedTop]

We'll cull the leaves on the greens just to feed some to our chickens .. they eat them up..