The Garden Thread

[ponykilr]

Let’s see and hear about those vegetable gardens.

I turned over mine at the beginning of April.
Then the disc got its turn and I let it sit.
We can’t safely plant til the first of May here.

The plot is about 25x50

This morning I used the disc again and then used the row hiller/cultivator to pull up my rows.

We planted one row in Half Runner Green Beans, one row is different cuke varieties, one is different pepper varieties, and one is different tomato varieties. We have 4 Sugar Baby watermelons in there too.

I plan to do 2 rows of corn off to the side of this plot.

 

[ManglerYJ]

We are doing raised beds a little differently this year. Last year, we lost a bunch of veggies to local animals (we had deer, a rabbit or two and other animals in the beds) so we decided to raise the beds to a height that would make it diffiicult for all but the deer. It also makes them easier to work instead of constantly being on the ground on knees. The tops of the beds are now hip height and the boxes are about 11" deep.

We have planted a BUNCH of tomatoes (two 12 foot beds with about 7-8 plants a piece of beefsteak tomatoes plus a smaller section for cheery tomatoes), green beans, sugar snap peas, zucchini, summer squash, an entire 12' bed devoted only to green peppers, basil, oregeno and another 12 foot bed for cucumbers.

 

[Paul]

Glad to see you back @ponykilr
Why did you leave this forum the last time?
And ask us to delete all your posts?

Just curious,
'Dre.....

 

[awheelterd]

Mine is disced but I haven't run rows yet. Trying to decide if I want to worry with vegetables this year or just plant it all in sunflowers and let it ride.

 

[ponykilr]

Glad to see you back @ponykilr
Why did you leave this forum the last time?
And ask us to delete all your posts?

Just curious,
'Dre.....

Hey Paul.

I didn’t like the thread with the nudity to be honest. It in my view puts a negative face on hobbies. A few gun boards also have them and it makes me wonder how it is perceived by those on the outside looking in.

I don’t want to give the impression I am some sort of prude, I’m not at all. I’m a father and grandfather and see value in being what I teach my family to be.

I have come to realize that it is what it is and not perusing those threads is a better option than not being a part at all. This is a great group that shares information, physical help and is very like minded and I’m glad to be part of it.

 

[Loganwayne]

buddy bought some land that had about an acre area hilled from the PO growing hemp, but hadn't grown anything on it in two years. i mole board plowed it twice to try and clean it up some and then hit it with the disc. picked up rock... so many rocks, big rocks. got most of the big ones out now except one that is HUGE so i planted around it. then used the tractor tiller and hit it three times to get everything good and broke up. @McCracken's old tractor been putting in some work. my little tractor isn't 4wd or heavy enough to really do much since the garden is partly on a hill and my dads tractor isn't at this property yet. got almost everything planted this weekend, will wait till June to plant pumpkins for all the kids. next year i will be buying a bedder/hiller. i know my corn and bean rows arent anywhere near straight because of the way the land lays.

 

[ponykilr]

buddy bought some land that had about an acre area hilled from the PO growing hemp, but hadn't grown anything on it in two years. i mole board plowed it twice to try and clean it up some and then hit it with the disc. picked up rock... so many rocks, big rocks. got most of the big ones out now except one that is HUGE so i planted around it. then used the tractor tiller and hit it three times to get everything good and broke up. @McCracken's old tractor been putting in some work. my little tractor isn't 4wd or heavy enough to really do much since the garden is partly on a hill and my dads tractor isn't at this property yet. got almost everything planted this weekend, will wait till June to plant pumpkins for all the kids. next year i will be buying a bedder/hiller. i know my corn and bean rows arent anywhere near straight because of the way the land lays.

When we broke up this plot initially, we hauled enough football to baseball rocks to outline our entire ornamental bed and our fire pit area plus part of another area. This is rocky ground but once loose it grows things very well, clay can be great when organic stuff is added over some time. It holds moisture and has a lot of minerals.

Row hiller or bedder is worth its weight in gold. Mine is set up to bed and then cultivate by moving the bedder up out of the way. I do want to add a furrower for planting beans and corn but an old broomstick does ok to LOL.

My garden tractor is a small Shibaura diesel 4x4 and it pulls a big single bottom plow and a 16 disc harrow well in the plot but for breaking new I have to use an International 424.

 

[ponykilr]

We had HARD rain last night. Gotta check on the new plants.

 

[Loganwayne]

When we broke up this plot initially, we hauled enough football to baseball rocks to outline our entire ornamental bed and our fire pit area plus part of another area. This is rocky ground but once loose it grows things very well, clay can be great when organic stuff is added over some time. It holds moisture and has a lot of minerals.

Row hiller or bedder is worth its weight in gold. Mine is set up to bed and then cultivate by moving the bedder up out of the way. I do want to add a furrower for planting beans and corn but an old broomstick does ok to LOL.

My garden tractor is a small Shibaura diesel 4x4 and it pulls a big single bottom plow and a 16 disc harrow well in the plot but for breaking new I have to use an International 424.

my tractor is a 2wd Mitsubishi 14hp i think. it pulls the row cultivator good, but it wants to work its way down the side slope. it being 4wd i dont think it would have any problems. even the big tractor needed 4wd to keep it from working its way down the hill. its gets pretty steep on one corner.

i hit a rock Saturday that stopped the tractor but felt it move. we dug it up but it was to big to get in the bucket so i ended up pushing it outta the garden. half the spot doesnt hardly have any rocks except a few really big ones the other have is full of rocks baseball sized.

a hiller was on my list just didnt have time to fab one up and im not paying 500 for a new one when i got enough stuff laying around to make one minus the discs.

 

[JoshRountree]

We had HARD rain last night. Gotta check on the new plants.

Do you ever run a tiller on your garden? Or is the plow and disc good enough?

 

[ponykilr]

my tractor is a 2wd Mitsubishi 14hp i think. it pulls the row cultivator good, but it wants to work its way down the side slope. it being 4wd i dont think it would have any problems. even the big tractor needed 4wd to keep it from working its way down the hill. its gets pretty steep on one corner.

i hit a rock Saturday that stopped the tractor but felt it move. we dug it up but it was to big to get in the bucket so i ended up pushing it outta the garden. half the spot doesnt hardly have any rocks except a few really big ones the other have is full of rocks baseball sized.

a hiller was on my list just didnt have time to fab one up and im not paying 500 for a new one when i got enough stuff laying around to make one minus the discs.

My hiller is a tool bar I bought from a lady in Fancy Gap that had cultivator tines on it. I bought round hiller mounts and hiller discs from Agri-Supply in Garner and had my daughter pic em up when she went to visit family. I have under $200 in it. It ended up being set wider than shown.

View attachment 345403

Do you ever run a tiller on your garden? Or is the plow and disc good enough?

No tiller, disc harrow with scallops in the discs. Set aggressive and go each direction.

 

[Loganwayne]

My hiller is a tool bar I bought from a lady in Fancy Gap that had cultivator tines on it. I bought round hiller mounts and hiller discs from Agri-Supply in Garner and had my daughter pic em up when she went to visit family. I have under $200 in it. It ended up being set wider than shown.

View attachment 345403


No tiller, disc harrow with scallops in the discs. Set aggressive and go each direction.

that was my plan to cut up an old 3 point that i have add a longer tube and get disc from agri-supply. then ive got some rolling spider cultivators from the tobacco farmer that we hunt on that he took off that are still decent. will probably still add some kind of regular cultivators for under the tires and off the hill.

 

[Dawnpatrol]

My dad built a few raised bed planters and has been prepping for the garden since winter. Already has tomatoes, peas, and potatoes showing.

 

[ponykilr]

Just picked up a pound of Kandy Korn seed corn from Southern States this morning.

Corn, Kandy Korn (SE) Hybrid

Outstanding for long, late harvest.

www.burpee.com

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

Built a decent plot last year, but fought bermuda all season, and hard rains that ended up washing all the dirt to the bottom.

Decided to start over this year. I cut in 5, 50ff x 6ft beds, with enough gap between the get the mower/tractor. I hilled the centers and hope that I can edge to keep out the bermuda. Expecting the late frost and lack of rain, I havent gotten plants in the ground yet, but this week is looking promising.

 

[Loganwayne]

Checked the bees and garden after the hard rain everything good and no washes

 

[83oldyoda4x4]

Checked the bees and garden after the hard rain everything good and no washes

Damn you grow rocks as good as we do. lol

I'D like to get some bees at some point but i need to learn a lot more before i try i think.

 

[Loganwayne]

Damn you grow rocks as good as we do. lol

I'D like to get some bees at some point but i need to learn a lot more before i try i think.

the bad thing is those are the smaller ones i didnt feel like picking up.

Bees aren't to bad but there is a pretty big learning curve. two years ago i lost all my hives in early spring for some reason. i think it was the week or so days when it was getting 75 then drop down to 25ish the next day. but in honestly they are pretty expensive to start off with, to get two hives setup and the equipment your looking at right at a thousand dollars. you can get it done a little cheaper with used hives but then you run the risk of bringing in beetles, wax moths to a new hive.

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

the bad thing is those are the smaller ones i didnt feel like picking up.

Bees aren't to bad but there is a pretty big learning curve. two years ago i lost all my hives in early spring for some reason. i think it was the week or so days when it was getting 75 then drop down to 25ish the next day. but in honestly they are pretty expensive to start off with, to get two hives setup and the equipment your looking at right at a thousand dollars. you can get it done a little cheaper with used hives but then you run the risk of bringing in beetles, wax moths to a new hive.

Ive got a friend who looses half of his hives each year, for one reason or another. Not sure if its operator error or what, but it has been way too expensive of a hobby for him. If I can catch a swarm, I will probly get into them.

 

[ponykilr]

I see plenty of wild honey bees around here and I think I succeeded in getting rid of the European Hornets so I think I will be ok to just let the wild bees and butterflies do their thing.

 

[WARRIORWELDING]

My dad built a few raised bed planters and has been prepping for the garden since winter. Already has tomatoes, peas, and potatoes showing.

Would love to any and all details about bed design, covers, ground prep for beds, and so on.
Really what I want to try.
Drop lines and irrigated regularly? Raised bed seem to drop moisture quickly.

 

[Loganwayne]

Ive got a friend who looses half of his hives each year, for one reason or another. Not sure if its operator error or what, but it has been way too expensive of a hobby for him. If I can catch a swarm, I will probly get into them.

ya i didnt have a hive last year because i was fed up with loosing them. if i can get this hive going good i can split next year and im always looking for a swarm.

 

[Dawnpatrol]

Would love to any and all details about bed design, covers, ground prep for beds, and so on.
Really what I want to try.
Drop lines and irrigated regularly? Raised bed seem to drop moisture quickly.

Let me know what specifics, but he lined the beds with heavy duty landscape fabric, and found a good mix of soil. He wanted soil that drained well and wouldn't flood in hard rain. The covers are just pvc pipe that uses semi-transparent outdoor cloth to protect against frost (like a covered wagon), and to shade plants like lettuce. The beds are positioned near the house where he has several outdoor water faucets near, so he waters them regularly. He also has a few soaker hoses.

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

ya i didnt have a hive last year because i was fed up with loosing them. if i can get this hive going good i can split next year and im always looking for a swarm.

Caught a swarm last spring. It did great all summer and fall, and was strong going into winter. Those rascals swarmed middle of winter, during a cold snap. Left a hive full of honey. No signs of pests in the box.

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

Would love to any and all details about bed design, covers, ground prep for beds, and so on.
Really what I want to try.
Drop lines and irrigated regularly? Raised bed seem to drop moisture quickly.

Best Ive found is to build a self-watering box, or bottom watering box. It has a pool of water in the bottom to feed to plants, and an overflow to keep from drowning them. The 2-300 gallon cubes cut in half seem to be a great way to start them, depending on how big you want to go. Around here they seem to sell for more than I want in a garden box.

Also, if you are wanting to grow root crops or something more than greens, it really needs to have soil in it, vs just compost. The root veggies and bigger plants like to dig deeper.