- Joined
- Dec 7, 2017
- Messages
- 46
Getting "garden fever" so tilled up our main garden spot yesterday. Anyone else getting anxious?
--Dwight
--Dwight
www.dixondale.com--this link didn't work.I got dried out enough last Saturday to disc up my Onion patch for this spring. Onion sets were ordered from www.dixondale.com, first batch due first week of March, 2nd batch due last week of April.
I try and plant by the moon signs and this times with the signs good. I also plan to use the early onions as green onion, or early ones to eat thru the summer. The last batch hopefully will ripen in late September and will be cured for fall/winter storage.
Thank you. I love onions and maybe it is the clay in my soil or something else, I have never had luck growing large onions like I would like to.www.dixondalefarms.com
Sorry about that. Try this one instead.
BTW, I've bought from them for the past 3 years. I've never found onions that perform like these. They also have a newsletter you can sign up for and they sent out tips and tricks in it about once a month or so. This is one company I have been very impressed with.
Thank you. I love onions and maybe it is the clay in my soil or something else, I have never had luck growing large onions like I would like to.
Thank you. I love onions and maybe it is the clay in my soil or something else, I have never had luck growing large onions like I would like to.
Go to Home Depot, Loews, etc, and get some builders sand, it loosens clay soil,you want course sand. Just dig it in about 10 ''. Or put in lots of wood sticks and leaves which will break down and feed the soil plus condition it,but that takes a lot of work. I'm about to get busy on mine but will dig deep to lay down small sticks and logs then add leaves.
I do a layered raised bed. Old cardboard boxes, minus tape and staples. Place flat, layer with thick layers of leaves or grass clippings, compost, leftovers from the chicken coop . Water between each, cover and let all compost until spring. This makes the toughest clay light and easy to work.
I often dig in the leaves in the fall. By spring, they are mostly decomposed. It is free fertilizer, isn't it? I do know that sand helps to loosens soil, but I have never used any. I need to do that every spring until the soil is loose.Go to Home Depot, Loews, etc, and get some builders sand, it loosens clay soil,you want course sand. Just dig it in about 10 ''. Or put in lots of wood sticks and leaves which will break down and feed the soil plus condition it,but that takes a lot of work. I'm about to get busy on mine but will dig deep to lay down small sticks and logs then add leaves.
After two years of toil, and working in the garden 8-10 hours every day, my wife and I have decided it's just not worth it. No one can possibly, humanly, or even realistically eat as much squash as our garden enjoys producing.
The amount of time, water, and gasoline needed to pump the water just doesn't equate to the value of a home grown tomato.
We have proven to ourselves that we could grow food if needed and desperate, but again, to us, it's just not worth it.
We grow a great deal more than we can eat. That is why we can EVERYTHING. We use raised beds to increase the growing period and to make it easier to control the soil condition. Water is an acceptable cost for the produce we get. We don't use gas tools or equipment, it's all done by hand. For us, it isn't about proving anything, it's about having quality food stored and used and keeping the means to reproduce it next year with seeds from the garden. We just ate the last of the sweet potatoes grown in 2015 the other night. We have shelves of canned goods from last year and the year before. I have been using tomatoes that we canned two and three years ago for this last year. If the stores closed down tomorrow we have enough food to easily make it to the next harvest and beyond. That is what this is all about. A supply of quality food that is renewable for the foreseeable future. We are looking forward to raising our own meat to balance the stores of produce that we have. Right now we have some canned venison and beef but not near enough for a year. The freezer is full but that requires electricity and if the power went out today we would be busy for the next week canning it all.
It's always something.
But at least your soil is perfect. Hopefully the weed seeds will not be getting all comfy.
To me, tomatoes and cucumbers are the most important veggies anyway.
I can't seem to grow potatoes.We want to try potatoes this year in container or tub. Going to try the hay no dig also.
My Spring fever has gone down.
The temps dropped to the 30s for a high to the teens at night.
Suppose to be that way for a week or 2.
Does anyone know of a good place to have my soil tested?
There is a place in town that will send it off but they charge $50 and that seems like a lot.
Maybe it's not that expensive I just don't know.
BackL I'm going to try potatoes again, like you had no luck with them. Did have some sweet potato do good but didn't find that out till I was turning the soil and there they were. Giant sweets that we forgot about some 2 feet under. Have no idea what we did but it worked.I can't seem to grow potatoes.
I have tried several years and they just don't grow well.
I tried the straw method and had the same poor results.
Good thing I live in an area with abundant produce stands.
Now that I think about it I planted potatoes last year and I never dug them up.
I might have a bunch in the ground. I'll try to check tomorrow.
My weed problem was due to my new tractor and tiller and me being overzealous using my new toy.
But it was just so much fun and very satisfying looking at the garden area all smooth and freshly tilled.
I tilled the weed seeds in and they grew like weeds.
I am going to burn everything early this Spring then go to war with the weeds with weed killer before I plant.
I think I am even going to use some black plastic.
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