What do I need to make a new garden?

[Eastinlet]

Let me see if I have this right.

Use soil additives if needed
Plow
Disc Harrow
Drag Harrow
Cover crop
Crop rotation

Did I get that right?


Edit; I see that I've moved up from new member to member.

Well the first 3 items could be covered by the general term of tillage. Using a tiller they would be accomplished in one step. You do whatever it takes to make the soil mellow and prepare a seedbed. In my light soil I could plant after plowing and disking except for a rough surface. I often run a light drag behind the disk to level and smooth.

Cover crop or "catch crop" in the fall covers the soil and scavenges excess nutrients to be re-used by the crop when the tissues later decay. i use winter rye because it makes good growth in cool weather. Some guys fall plow and let the frost break up clods (soil is bare), but this is usually in heavy soil.

What I like to do in fallow is to plant 2 successive crops of buckwheat followed by oats. The oats are left to winterkill and protect the soil. This smothers weeds and cleans the field while promoting fertility. Not surprisingly, this is called a 'smother crop'.

Rotation involves both time away from a crop (i.e. potatoes could use 3 years) and the order in which crops follow one another. Potatoes do well after corn, for instance, or corn follows red clover. Often a rotation in the NE is several years of hay then corn-oats, etc. This helps break disease and pest cycles and generally improves the soil.

A great way to make a garden in new ground, if you have room and time, is to open twice as much as you need. Lime if needed. Then disk for part of the summer at 10 day intervals to kill emerging weeds. Plant to smother crops and end up with an overwintering ground cover. By the next spring the ground is in fair shape for tillage and planting, and you smother-cover one half while you garden the other. Then rotate gardens each year thereafter.

 

[NathanatFork]

Wow, great replies! To answer a few questions on the garden, Im not doing it to save money. Just want to be more self sufficient. I do plan on having my soil tested. Havent done it yet but will be done. Then Ill find out what
I need to add to my soil. Id rather not use weed killers. Im hoping to mow the grass short and then scrapethe ground pretty tight with a blade or the Front end loader. Then, turn the soil enough to kill out the grass. Not sure how well it will work but if it doesnt, ill do it different next year. Im in north east TX. I had not thought of having someone come in with a larger tractor and prepping the soil for me. Would probably be a good idea as I have a compact 23hp tractor and may have trouble getting down and turning the soil as it needs to be the first time. I found a whole bunch of small 6 inch plow heads in a pile when I moved here. Been thinking of welding some type of frame to put them on to hook up to the 3pt hitch. Not sure how well that will work though. Seems like there are several different opinions as to what one implement would be best to buy. But, if it was something like a tiller that cost more than a few hundred dollars, I would probably try to find a place to rent it or hire someone to come in like was suggested. I was hoping everyone would name the same implement so that it would be easy, lol.

 

[Botabill]

There have been some great methods posted here. The comment that what works in one area may not work in another hits the nail on the head. If you plan on a big garden or small one is another consideration. I used a walk behind tiller for years but now I have a single furrow plough that I can pull behind my 18 HP tractor. The tiller is great to produce a fine seed bed but it has it's downsides as well. First it mixes the soil too finely which excellerates the decomposition of vegetable matter in the soil so your 'good tilth' doesn't have as long a life. Also you can't easily till in cover crops because the tines get filled with plant stems and debris. In my heavy clay soil cover crops are really helpful to improve tilth unless you have a ready supply of good aged manure to add annually to the garden. I'll still use the tiller (walk behind is more useful for most gardening I do) but I'm excited that I can now use a plough for special applications. I've never gardened commercially so my experience is limited to small gardening for fun... not profit.

 

[Timber]

sod is best removed rather than turned under. if your garden is under 1 acre I would remove the sod and bring in a load of clean soil & turn in what ever nutrients it needed. I would also set up a compose area. 3 large bins big enough for your loader to work in. always 1 is empty to turn the other 2 into. compost is usually clean soil cow manewa is best and lime to break it down.

 

[WayneB]

I am assuming this is your first garden experience and you have the land (space). Gardening is a major commitment from the time the seeds or plants hit the ground. I always look at it as who will win the weeds or me. In the number of years I have been doing this I think the weeds, woodchucks and deer a slightly ahead.

If the soil that you are planning to use for the garden is a new area I would suggest that you make it no larger than you can handle. I would recommend that you break it up into multiple plots. By doing this you can plant certain crops in one plot, such as corn in one, potatoes in another, greens for salads and tomatoes in another. By doing this I find it much easier to fight the weeds and after a period of time you will know the harvest times and what crops will be finishing first so you can either till them under and cover the area with something else to eat, or replant the same crop (lettuce is a good example of multiple plantings each year)

Recommend that you have one plot that would have a cover crop. I use buckwheat in my gardens because it grows quickly and I can usually get two or three crops during the growing season, then I use winter rye for the fall cover. (this is that olde crop rotation idea)

Learn how to pick weeds! Leave them in the garden and they will reward you many times over with seeds. You can control weeds with mulch, I prefer that over plastic and certainly over any chemical sprays.

If you live in farm country you might want to look for some manure that you can buy and put in the garden. Make sure it is aged! I prefer sheep, chicken or cow manure over horse, but each to his own.

As for power tools it takes time to acquire the toys we need for gardening. I think if you could rent a plow or someone to come in and do the plowing the first time that might be a way to go.

Once the garden is established I would think for a home garden a rear tine tiller might be all one needs. I have a 30 year old Troybilt tiller that I continue to use to prep garden plots with. Manual tools would include a spade, garden rake, shovel, axe, hoe, the list goes on and on.

Oh and you just as well go ahead and get the fence post hole digger at the same time because when that first deer or woodchuck is spotted eating your favorite lettuce you will become a hunter!

One thing for sure if you plan on turning the soil over by hand you might consider canceling that health club membership or at least taking a month or so off from your morning workouts.

Rmember there really aren't any green thumbs out there, just brown knees. This is going to be fun!

Make sure you start a journal and keep records of everything you do in the garden. Don't forget to put the cost of the seeds and other items you purchase into a ledger. This will be helpful to you once you start enjoying the benefits of your efforts.

You will know just how much that cucumber cost you! Oh yea there is the fact that you grew it yourself, no chemicals, didn't come from China, all the good things. You can also visit all of your friends and bring them squash (the size of baseball bats) and tomatoes, you will have enough to feed the entire neighbor and just about every soup kitchen in three towns.

 

[mapmaker]

As I work to expand my garden plot one thing I found to work very well is to place an old tarp or black plastic sheets over the area you want to create a garden in. Do this in the spring and leave it until the next spring. This will kill off most of the weeds and leave you with a nice place to start planting. Its not fast but it works great.

 

[RalphVa]

You don't need a post hole digger to put up a fence as protection against animals. Buy 4 of those drive-in-the-ground metal fences for the corners. Use old rubber tubing to insulate these posts. If you get more ambitious, you can put in 4 wooden 4x4 corner posts with stand-out insulators. Then buy those plastic fences with metal tips at TSC that are made for electric fencing. You just use your foot to push them into the ground about every 15'. Then string 2 strands of electric fence wiring, one at 4' and another at 4 to 6". Then string a strand of fish line in between. Get yourself a good electronic fence charger with built in solar panel. This fence will keep out all varmits. Has worked for me for 7 years.

I do my own pH tests using a kit bought from Lowes. Unless you live west of the Mississippi, you'll likely need to add lime. Potatoes will love it initially whether you lime or not. Others veggies will appreciate being nearer to about 6.5.

I had some leftover plastic from various sources. So, I cut into strips and laid along between rows. Can't drive the tractor between rows now, but the weeding is simplified. In the past, I've used cardboard and newspapers. They all became dirt the next year. I use very careful and very limited applications of weed killer at times but mostly pull or hoe the weeds. Plant benas and squash around corn to help use space and to control weeds around the corn.

Ralph

 

[Jim-Satoh]

I am new to the forum, but been gardening for many years. I use lime to soften the soil also. fertilizers if used too must will cause your garden to grow nothing but bushy plants. My garden is about 1 acre and too me gardens need to be worked year round spring, summer and fall. I purchased a S-470 Buck with a 4' roto-tiller that allows me to ride and till instead of a walk behind tiller. I use my walk behind tiller after planting to keep grass and weeds out of the middles. My roto-tiller makes beds about 2-3 " high, basically a flat surface which to me is better than rows. Here in Arkansas it gets hot and you need to keep plants close too the water supply, raised beds or rows dry out too quickly. Beds you can plant much more stuff, but some things I keep in a single row, like corn, peas, beets and Tomatoes. Cabbage, collards, turnips and things like this, I sow them in a bed. My small tractor will get stuck in loose ground that has been plowed, I just till the hard surface, once to break it up and a second time before planting. I do not use the big thread off road knobbed tires, they cause too much damage. My tires will not damage or make ruts in my yard. I mow about 3.5 acres, so I keep it pretty smooth. You must love the taste of a home grown veggie verus store bought and you must love the outdoors. Too a lot its cheaper to buy things at a store, but I supply my kids and give the neighbors veggies also. I love my garden, just walk outside and pick-it. Another thing I learned is you can grow a lot of things on a fence. Cucumbers is the main one. You can also grow tomatoes hanging down from burlap bags also. The garden channel, Paul James--I like too watch him, you can get some good hints .

 

[4720 OWNER]

Had a similar problem, grass, clay, hard pan. I happen to like raised beds 2 arms length in width and however long you want and enough of a border to rest weary bones on and balance a beverage of choice. Save newspapers, get wheelbarrow of water, soak newspapers in water briefly, lay down on sod 12 layers or so wet, cover with manure and dirt about a foot or so deep and level as you go. Grass does not grow thru it, little equipment needed, will turn out tons of veggies, can put in vertical posts for cukes and such and make a nice screen as well for the summer. Also can always add more in the future or turn a bed into bushes or something if too much.

 

[greggh]

Wow, great replies! To answer a few questions on the garden, Im not doing it to save money. Just want to be more self sufficient. I do plan on having my soil tested. Havent done it yet but will be done. Then Ill find out what
I need to add to my soil. Id rather not use weed killers. Im hoping to mow the grass short and then scrapethe ground pretty tight with a blade or the Front end loader. Then, turn the soil enough to kill out the grass. Not sure how well it will work but if it doesnt, ill do it different next year. Im in north east TX. I had not thought of having someone come in with a larger tractor and prepping the soil for me. Would probably be a good idea as I have a compact 23hp tractor and may have trouble getting down and turning the soil as it needs to be the first time. I found a whole bunch of small 6 inch plow heads in a pile when I moved here. Been thinking of welding some type of frame to put them on to hook up to the 3pt hitch. Not sure how well that will work though. Seems like there are several different opinions as to what one implement would be best to buy. But, if it was something like a tiller that cost more than a few hundred dollars, I would probably try to find a place to rent it or hire someone to come in like was suggested. I was hoping everyone would name the same implement so that it would be easy, lol.

Welcome to TBN. If you are wanting to go more organic in your garden you might try Natural Organic Gardening Living Plants Pets Trees Lawns Crops Insects Flowers and Home - DirtDoctor.com - Howard Garrett - The Dirt Doctor.
This site is dedicated to organics and how to preserve the soild without the use of pesticides. Good luck in your gardening.