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chorusguy

three questions for now

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chorusguy

New gardener.  Turned over the soil and tilled it.  In one bed I overseeded with rye.  The soil has clay so I got some nice dark screened leaf compost and am putting about six inches of compost on the ground.  1. When I get it covered, should I till it in, turn it over, or let it go as is? 2. Where do you get your seeds? 3.  How did/do you keep the critters out?

 

Thanks

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chorusguy

First picture is what I started with after the tilling.  It's been sitting since the fall.  Second picture is where I am now.

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Phil854

Looking good I would till it in and plant in that for this year  Then add more mulch in the fall. Couple years of this and your soil will be in great shape.

 

The seeds can be purchased at home and garden centers and small home town hardware's. They can be purchased in those envelopes but it is cheaper to buy in bulk (usually by the scoop or the bigger seed like beans and corn is sold by 1/4lb , 1/2lb , and by the pound )  

 

As far as critters  get some 2ft tall chicken wire at your local TSC or Rural king.  Drive some stakes in the ground around the garden and stretch the chicken wire around the stakes and wire it to the stakes,

Hope this helps  and good luck

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elcamino/wheelhorse

If the critters  climb the fence try a 22 long gun.:ph34r:

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oliver2-44

Since it's you first year I would till in the leaf mulch before planting.

After my plants have sprouted and are a few inches tall I  put down about 4" of grass and leaf mowing's that from the yard. This top cover helps hold moisture in and does a great job of keeping the weeds smothered out. Early summer I might add a few more inches of clippings. Then in the fall I till this in. (Kind of a composting in place routine)

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Factory Dog

I was just wondering if a tiller will be able to penetrate that much mulch and still adequately mix it with the existing soil?  Your compost looks very nicely broken down!  Something I have seen done around us to improve heavy clay soils is to till in some sand, but it is also more abrasive on tiller tines.  I would agree that mulching your garden during the summer and tilling it under in the fall is one of the best things you can do to improve soil quality, mulching is a win-win activity.  Please send some more pics when you get her done!

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chorusguy

I was thinking that maybe I would turn it over and then till it.  Does thatake sense?

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Factory Dog

Many years ago we made the mistake of spreading manure way to thick and we ended up having to plow before tilling it in, which worked pretty well.  Do you have a plow for your horse?

Oooooops sorry, I overlooked your other post!  I guess you do have a plow. 

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6wheeler

I would till it in for now. Wait til fall to plow it. For seed? Its a personal choice. Local hardware stores carry them or your local elevator/feed mill may have them too. Any garden center . I order some of mine online because I plant some Heirloom seeds (for plants I can use my own seed next season). A little tip for ya? Put your un-used seed in the fridge in an envelope. Seed stored at around 35 to 40 deg.F. will keep a long time. I am planting 4 year old popcorn seed this year. For the critters? Fence or .410, both work for me. Also, look into natural repellants. I haven't used anything but that for years. Tobacco tea is a great insect repellant that doesn't hurt the beneficials. If you do have heavy clay soil? Work some sand into it. It will make your root crops (carrots, potato's, beets etc.) do much better. Plant your cover crop late summer and leave over winter. Plow in the spring. Green Manure is good. Plus depending on what you plant? The long rooted rye and such make excellent "tunnels" for your actual garden plant roots to follow down deeper.    Good Luck

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Retired Sparky
On 2/1/2016 at 9:08 AM, oliver2-44 said:

Since it's you first year I would till in the leaf mulch before planting.

After my plants have sprouted and are a few inches tall I  put down about 4" of grass and leaf mowing's that from the yard. This top cover helps hold moisture in and does a great job of keeping the weeds smothered out. Early summer I might add a few more inches of clippings. Then in the fall I till this in. (Kind of a composting in place routine)

oliver2-44 is right.   Grass clippings are high in Nitrogen and good for the plants as it decomposes .   If you were to use saw dust or wood chips it would attract bugs, also as the wood chips decompose they will rob the soil of  Nitrogen.   Check your neighbor hood to see who has a garden. ( A good way to make friends.)  Your state extension service will give you help.  A little on line for search for ''seed catalogs'' will find a lot in your part of the country.   Good luck and have fun.  B)

Edited by Retired Sparky

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WNYPCRepair

I don't know about putting the wood chips on the garden. I actually think it is OK as long as you have enough green matter mixed in to add nitrogen back. 

But definitely start a pile of wood chips if you can get it for free. You want it from trees that are still in the green leaf phase, so the leaves provide the green matter. If you mix grass clippings and kitchen waste (vegetation only) in a nice pile, keep it damp but not wet, and turn it once a month or so to get air in, you will end up with a nice pile of compost. 

I had the ditch in front of my house filled in, and the county used dirt that must have come from the county dump. It had all kinds of garbage in it, from clothing to a driveshaft. No kidding. The level was about a foot below the road as well. I found a tree guy next door, and asked for all the mulch he wanted to part with. Ended up with about 2 feet deep the length of the ditch, about 4 feet wide. That was last June. I just went out to see if it needed turning, and when I stuck the fork in and turned it over, I saw that I had some nice dirt, the chips were just the top inch or so. 

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JAinVA

chorusguy,

         To keep deer and dogs out of our garden we surrounded it with a 5 foot high fence.It also keeps out the bunnies that love the newly emerging plants.Squirrels

and raccoons destroy any corn we have tried to grow.We made a PVC and chicken wire enclosure to keep the squirrels out of the tomatoes.Works good.I posted a

picture this fall of the leaf harvester we use to gather leaf mulch.We put a 2"to 3" layer over the entire garden to eliminate weed growth after the plants get tall enough.

At the end of the season we till those in.Luck,JAinVA

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chorusguy

Is 5 feet really tall enough?  Thought it had to be more like 8 feet.

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JAinVA

Deer can jump even an 8' fence.A five foot fence will keep deer out as long as nothing is chasing them.I have a small herd of does that will lay next to the fence

and never had one in the garden.We used to have a three foot fence and they just stepped over it.JAinVA

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WNYPCRepair
41 minutes ago, JAinVA said:

Deer can jump even an 8' fence.A five foot fence will keep deer out as long as nothing is chasing them.I have a small herd of does that will lay next to the fence

and never had one in the garden.We used to have a three foot fence and they just stepped over it.JAinVA

 

 

A 6' fence will keep them out if it is slanted outward at about a 60 degree angle. They can jump high or long, but not both together. A solid wood fence will to, as they won't jump if they can't see the other side, but a 6' solid fence isn't the best for a garden. :)

 

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WHX??

For the fence I use a solar powered  electric fencer with one row of fence wire about three feet up. The fence wire looks like baling twine with fine steel wire in it. If it needs to be extended you just tie it back to together.  The deer seem to know its electric and stay away. A few times I have seen where the deer tryed to step over it but were zappd and turned back. The really nice thing is it can be easily taken down in spots to get in a tiller or mulch. Don't have the bunny population much anymor as the cats keep them away but another row of wire could be added lower to the ground for them.

 

Ditto on the grass clippings... the more the better.

 

My garden is fairly small but may have to get bigger now that I have this.

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