Prepping the garden for next year.

[Prater 75]

Just curious what you are doing with your garden during winter. I just added calcium and magnesium and tilled it in. Last years soil test recomended the calcium. I read where you should add the calcium well before planting, not sure but I know a few people that added calcium right before planting and had a terrible garden year. Hopefully I am early enough since it will most likely be March before anything else goes in the garden.

I am hoping to get a few trailer loads of compost added this winter and if the ground is not too hard I plan to till it often. I want to keep all the plant material mixed in good and try to keep the soil arreated if possible.

Any suggestions for what I should do to make the garden better next year?

[Jim_M 178]

I harvested the carrots, cabbage, kale, swiss chard and the last of the beets on Friday. Saturday I tilled the gardens, put 6" of aged manure on them and tilled it in. I have one more round of leaf collection (maple), I'll probably scatter the little pieces that are left after going through the trac vac on the gardens and till them in early next spring.

[rick 215]

I tilled the remains under, put the 10" plough on the 314-8 and almost doubled the size of the garden. My son-in-law that lives in town is going to garden with me next year. I will put two years worth of composted leaves and this years leaves on the garden and till them in. I always look forward to spring! It's time to thin the deer herd and I am looking forward to that, too!

[6wheeler 585]

I have one of my gardens that is in some pretty crappy ground. Before I bought the place the P.O. tore down an old barn and the fill he put down was very gravelly and almost seemed to have ground asphalt in it. So for 3 years I have had the neighbor bring me down his horse manure (he beds with shavings) and spread it on that garden in the fall. Usually 4 loads, and then I plow it in. The wood shavings compost rather quickly and it really has mellowed that ground. Next year will be the first year I am going to put only tomatoes in that garden. I think it is mellow enough and has good drainage so I think they will do fine in there. The other 2 gardens will get plowed about a week or so before planting in the spring. This takes care of any weeds that have sprouted and makes a relatively weed free garden. But, that can also be a double edged sword. Because, if the ground is kind of wet it can get very hard after spring plowing. But, If I can disc it and field cultivate it shortly after plowing it turns out good. I don't add calcium to mine. I think I am getting all I need from the manure. I have been toying with the Idea of taking soil samples and bringing them in the extension office for testing to see where we are on potash and sulfur. I also spread some sweet barn lime on them every 3 years to control Ph and it seems to be working (we have alot of Black Walnut trees and they tend to make the ground acidic around them). I would recommend some good old fashioned manure instead of all the fertilizers that are out there now. Pat

[IthacaJeff 151]

I'm trying no-till gardening techniques this year Laying down cardboard, then leaves, then whatever

mulch and manure I can get hold of. Maybe only do about 1/4 of the garden as getting the "topping"

of leaves/compost/manure is taking longer than i thought (plus, I've yet to replace my truck and

getting loads in is iffy.

We'll see how she works.

Jeff

[6wheeler 585]

Keep me posted on this Jeff. I am very interested in that technique. I have heard of people doing that with newspaper and compost but not cardboard. I also read where a guy puts down a manure compost mix and waters it good then covers it with black poly until planting time. I guess it kills off all the weeds and helps the compost break down. I thought it needed air to do that, but I guess not.

[Tankman 3,515]

According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, gypsum will be the most used material for gardens and

farms for the next 100 years.

Inexpensive, improves drainage, and more.

Here in PA I use what's called a "Golf Course Mix." Half dirt / half sand. Works great for

the home garden.

Besides drainage improvement, the sand holds the warmth in early spring. Plant earlier. Keeps the new plant "little feet" warm, again, earlier planting. Sand or gypsum do not affect the pH of your soil.

I frequently pile, and I mean pile, sand around the house. Earth swallows the sand, water follows. This reduces the hydraulic pressure "water pushing against the foundation."

[Prater 75]

I have thought about adding sand to the garden to help break up some of the clay. I will also get another sample of the soil sent to the local Agg extension for a test to see if there is anything specific I need to add.

[redidbull 54]

Normally I just pull up the old stuff and cover the garden with leaves and till them in in the spring. But the past 2 years in a part of the garden I plant garlic. I have been looking for some other fall crops but will prob just put the leaves on it. In the spring I will get a yard or two of top soil and add it with some compost. My garden is small but I think I will plant a bigger one this year. Jim

[Tankman 3,515]

Hear of Jersey tomatoes? No such thing!

The Jersey tomatoes are bigger 'cause:

1) Longer growin' season, sand keeps the plants feet warm

2) Sand improves drainage, the plant roots chase the moisture, grow roots down resulting in larger plants

3) Less chance of bacteria, water drains, bacteria like moist

4) Sand doesn't change the soil pH, won't kill the lilac your Mrs. loves

I studied agronomy years ago, turf grasses will grow thick roots, weeds can't get a foot hold, bye-bye weeds.

You can shovel the sand everywhere, first rain, gone into the earth.

[GlenPettit 1,714]

I've tilled down the garden with all my leaves, and then put in 5-6 yards of "Double-cut mulch", it's the assorted left-over mulches from our local landscape suppliers, mixed old mulches chipped down to no more than 1/2" pieces. Cheap ($5/yd), looks almost like dirt, easy to spread, tilled in, most of it breaks down over Winter, residue is gone by mid-summer, adds organic. The soil is really alive over the winter, breaking down all the leaves, stems, etc., a mulch on and in keeps the soil warmer and working better.

Suggestion: rather than removing small rocks from the garden, I take an anvil (RR rail piece) and maul, then smash those rocks into dust (in and all around the garden on my knees in the summer **). That product is called 'Rock Phosphate', it leaves all the good things in the soil. You can buy it by the small bag in Organic stores, for a lot of $$$, or just make it yourself.

The reason most rocks are roundish is that the plant root hairs attach and dissolve the nutrients from the rocks, sharp edges make it easier for the roots. This is what the Romans introduced, and they did in Europe, before chemical fertilizers. Chemicals are faster, but Iim trying and be real organic.

** Great Stress reliever too. They say people who are in the dirt, the soil a lot, are healthier, less ill & resist germs better, "so dirt must be the reason I'm healthy", or so I tell my wife..

[Prater 75]

Do you cut the mulch yourseld of does the landscape supplier cut it? I have quite a bit of old mulch I used for erosion control to take to the garden but I was worried it might not break down. Its cypress instead of cedar.

[GlenPettit 1,714]

The landscape supply does the chipping in their huge machine, and they load it for me. Even though I do have a "mighty-mac" shredder-chipper, it is a lot of work to make a yard of shredded chips, just the gas for the tractor to run it may cost me $5, plus more than an hour/yard to shred it.

I think cypress is a slower decomposing wood, but it will still break-down; smaller pieces break down quicker and soils with high organic content have more microbes to speed things up, manure speeds things up, but dry soils slow things down. Use the Cypress; till them in now, if you can till again early in March, and then till again when you plant, they should be quite small by then. If any concerns, just do an area. Over the summer, the bigger slower pieces will continue to break down. Keep your soil alive & working.

The most fun part of Gardening, is experimenting, trying new things, trying new ways.

What worked great one year, may be a total failure next year, even though you did everything exactly the same each time. "Mother Nature"!

Glen

[Tankman 3,515]

I have thought about adding sand to the garden to help break up some of the clay. I will also get another sample of the soil sent to the local Agg extension for a test to see if there is anything specific I need to add.

I was sending soil samples to Penn State every couple of years. Always came back he same.

Needed 50 lbs. of lime per 1000 sq. ft. minimum. Added lime in the fall, slow acting stuff but, was ready for spring. Till leaves in and always loaded up wih sand. Always worked the soil when dry.

Those egg plants were huge! :-)

[IthacaJeff 151]

I've managed to cover about 1/5 of my garden with the no till method (my garden is about 60' x 80').

First I used the 416 to mow as short as I dared (rocks and furrows in the garden), then spread out

whatever compost was in the bin (including the non-composted stuff). Got cardboard from various

sources, including what we've been collecting. We had to get leaves from various sources because

we have no trees on the property. Mostly from the kids doing service work for the church and then

bringing the leaves home. Covered the cardboard with the leaves. Even though there is plenty of

free manure around here, I've been unable to secure a trailer at the right times and when my kids

have been available -- it has been a REALLY busy year for the family.

So, we'll see how the soil turns out. No tilling, just keep heaping on compost. But, I kinda missed

taking out the 310 with the tiller. . .

6Wheeler and others, I'll keep you posted in the spring.

Jeff

[Prater 75]

I tilled in about 7 bags of mulched leaves in the area I plan onions, just trying to loosen the soil in that area. I tilled the rest of the garden just before todays freeze. I hope to kill some of the potato bugs that are burrowed in the ground by tilling on decent days and keeping the soil rotated during freezing spells. No idea if it will work, but it is still fun to jump on the wheelhorse and till away my stress.

[brandonozz 168]

Hey Steven, I don't know much about potatoe bugs but I hope it works for you. I wish that would work with squash bugs!!! They are my nemesis over here in Mannford. I don't use any pesticides on my garden but when the little long nose suckers show up I give them a good bath with dawn dishwashing detergent. They just love that ..... NOT!

[Prater 75]

brandonozz,

Those squash bugs killed our squash and zucchini every chance they had, until fall. We planted after the bugs started going dormant and I put nearly 30 pounds of sliced squash in the freezer. I would have had more but the early frost we had this year damaged my plants.