'Ground prep for 2021 gardens' thread

[Greentored 3,214]

What're you all up to in the gardening off season to be ready for 2021? I cant be the only one working the soil for a better product next year (or am I) so here's a thread of us.

Let's see those Horses at work!!!

 

Edited November 24, 2020 by Greentored

[Greentored 3,214]

2020 recap: Last season was the first garden on my new property and first 'real' garden ever, and was a helluva learning experience. First and foremost, NC clay is like trying to work concrete, period. IF anything grows, good luck getting it out. The carrots came out like baby potatoes, and aside from a massive crop of snap peas and some decent green beans and red taters, everything else pretty much failed. Enter '2021 soil prep'. 

Purchased a PH meter and found levels to be in the 7.5 area- alkaline, which is not the norm for clay in this area. Lesson #1- dont go by the book- test your actual soil.

5-6 weeks ago, I hauled in two heaping 6x12 trailer loads of manure from my sisters horse farm, plowed and disc'd it in. At the same time, all shredded paper from the business, coffee grinds, ash from the fire pit are all going in the garden as well. Soil PH is now acidic at about 6.0 and should settle down.

This past Saturday, 'lawn duty' 1277 got a side discharge deck, mulched and mowed the yard leaves into piles, and Hoss dragged them to the garden by the tarp load, leveled them off, and plowed them under. After a month of on and off rain, the soil normally turned back into concrete, to the point the plow wouldnt 'suck' in too well. Now, the ground was actually softer, and the plow needed a ton of adjustment to keep from burying itself completely and stopping Hoss in his tracks!

Guess what else? I uncovered a couple worms!!!  This is a VERY good sign, and something I've never seen in this garden!

[Sarthurs01 824]

Little buddy and I worked the c81 at my coworkers new house! We still need to get are pumpkin patch turned over before it freezes. 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

Be careful what leaves you plow into your garden oak leaves seem to be harmful to growing heathly green grass so I would assume likewise to gardens unless they have been "composted" before hand, yes horse manure seems to be the go to around here as well as organic poultry litter (no ammonia) pine shavings and peanut hulls but be carefu you can add too much... I was gonna till mine under after getting a dump truck load of horse manure but my eMax is in the shop and sold my WH tiller combo, so it looks as though it will be spring before I retill.

[ebinmaine 67,626]

20 hours ago, Greentored said:

manure *********** a couple worms!!!

So basically what we're getting from this is you're playing around in a pile o crap. 

 

 

 

I like how you put 3 exclamation points after worms. I've done the same here. My side-hill yard was made of "fill" (bank run gravel) when the house was put up in 2002. Until the last 2 or 3 years there hasn't been many worms or nightcrawlers at all. I get a might bit too excited for a regular human when I see them and Trina has been known to show them to me. 

What kind a demented pair shows each other stuff like that??

 

 

I do like what you've got going on there Scott. I'd say it's a lot of hard work but to folks like all of us it's just more playtime. 

Should be better results for you next year. 

 

 

There just ain't any tillable areas on this property. 

Our own garden is still going to be raised beds for the foreseeable future. Next year we'll add at least 2 or 3 to the existing 7. Maybe relocate a tad to grab more direct sun. There will be a little more light already because of the backyard clearing we've done and we'll be taking out a few more trees. 

 

More experimentation towards our goal of being more and more self reliant and independent with each passing year.  

 

[Greentored 3,214]

19 hours ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

Be careful what leaves you plow into your garden oak leaves seem to be harmful to growing heathly green grass so I would assume likewise to gardens unless they have been "composted" before hand, yes horse manure seems to be the go to around here as well as organic poultry litter (no ammonia) pine shavings and peanut hulls but be carefu you can add too much... I was gonna till mine under after getting a dump truck load of horse manure but my eMax is in the shop and sold my WH tiller combo, so it looks as though it will be spring before I retill.

That was a major concern, but when I ran the PH meter around the areas where the oaks have killed off the grass, things were actually slightly alkaline instead of acidic. Figured id roll the dice that the manure testing in the 6.0 range would help cancel out the slight alkalinity of the leaves.

The hardest part is going to be leaving this sit for a few months so the worms and organisms can do their work. After the first week of Dec I need to stay out of there with the plow ha.

[Greentored 3,214]

5 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

So basically what we're getting from this is you're playing around in a pile o crap. 

 

 

 

 

Whether its working on old cars or catching it from the woman, I'm pretty much in the crap on a daily basis

[charging10 233]

I like to plant winter rye in late fall, plus we throw all our halloween pumkins and  vegetable scraps  on garden thru winter before turning soil in spring.

[haydendavid380 759]

Garden season 21 is rapidly approaching. When are you guys in the midwest going to start turning soil? About another month?

[charging10 233]

I turn the soil about mid to late april getting ready to plant around mothers day.

[Pullstart 62,912]

Question for y’all... cut the big stuff and plow it under?  Burn then plow?  Benefits either way?
 

 

[ebinmaine 67,626]

14 minutes ago, pullstart said:

Question for y’all... cut the big stuff and plow it under?  Burn then plow?

'Round here no one burns a field. 

 

Bush hog it. Chop finer if possible. 

Then turn it under. 

[Pullstart 62,912]

6 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

'Round here no one burns a field. 

 

Bush hog it. Chop finer if possible. 

Then turn it under. 

It does look like the whole field, but just the garden plot.  It got a little overgrown since last plowing...

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,626]

If there's nothing too serious in there I'd mow it, mulch it, and turn it. 

[Pullstart 62,912]

2 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

If there's nothing too serious in there I'd mow it, mulch it, and turn it. 

there’s some sunflower stalks about 3/4” thick..

[Tractorhead 9,064]

Some type of (grass) roots will regrow very fast, even if you remove it, it grows from arround quck back into your field.

some plants build very quick very large roots under the soil.

 

I several times have heared „ you must disinfect the soil or it will regrow extremly quick.“

Meh - nice idea‘s but i don‘t wana use any Glyphosat or chemical‘s like that, where my meals are grown.

 

So i decide to do it my Way.

 

 

First was a mowing all down, with the mulcher.

next step was done 2x times,

i shred all with the tiller in max speed and tracta in lowest possible speed on the Tiller just on top surface to loosening the roots.

 

  

 

than i rake the whole field to remove of the most of the old topsoil out of my little field, than repeat this process with deeper settings again. Lost topsoil first time i fill up with composted earth. 

After field is prepared once direct before planting i use Cowdung and mixed it under with the tiller.

 

The final Stage is the Planting plow.

I do that tiller / rakecombo each year what works for me pretty well.

 

 

   

 

 

 

That will last about half year free from any massive regrown grass, than it begin to regrow.

Keep the topsoil free from any regrow grass for a longer periode i think,

just can be solved by chemicals Or continouse mechanical remove of regrow, other things will not work that long.

 

[ebinmaine 67,626]

9 minutes ago, Tractorhead said:

i don‘t wana use any Glyphosat or chemical‘s like that, where my meals are grown

Why not??

I eat that stuff all the time and I turned out just Great!!

 

 

 

 

 

[Tractorhead 9,064]

Chemicals like glyphosat is here allowed only under strong rules and only by commercials,

but it is stricktly prohibited for any private use.

 

When i like to disinfect myself, i do it with a good Beer or a liquer or other stuff, but i don‘t do it with glyphosat,

so maybe a good Beer will also help - huh. 😂😂😂

 

But use therefore a good beer, that‘s a waste of ressources. 😎

So instead i will further disinfect myself.🍺

 

Prost! 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

We planted strawberries around the house today in the "flower bed" ground still really wet under the mulch, too early to till here maybe a couple more weeks yet, but I will try to get some photographic evidence of the big orange tiller in action.