Gardens/plots for 2018

[2ndhalf]

Im not quite ready to starting thinking of gardening but I hope to try a couple weedless raised gardens this year

1) never tilling or otherwise disturbing the soil, so dormant weed seeds stay asleep, away from light and air; 2) designating permanent areas for walking and for planting to avoid compaction and the need for tillage; 3) maintaining a thin mulch of weed-free organic material to snuff out any weed seeds that blow in or are dropped into the garden by birds; 4) using drip irrigation whenever watering is called for to avoid promoting weed growth in paths and between widely spaced plants.

 

[RalphVa]

I like potatoes and I used to be out every day killing potato bugs. I don't like pesticides and the organic type don't work well. This year I tried potatoes under row covers. The wind caught them but that was due to not using enough dirt to hold them down. They do work. I would get potato bugs landing on the covers trying to get in.
I think this will be a better year. The covers and the hoops come from Johnny seed. We use bio degradable plastic to hold down the weeds.
Here is a pic from last summer. View attachment 534845

Use spinosad-containing organic pesticide to irradicate Colorado Potato beetles. One manufacturer calls it "Colorado Potato Beetle killer". Personal experience. Spinosad will also kill Mexican bean beetles and all the caterpillars that BT will. Completely organic.

Ralph

 

[RalphVa]

I do what 2ndhalf said, except that I use soaker hoses instead of drip system.

This year, I plan to order some peanuts and asparagus beans from Burpee. They have the best asparagus (e.g. long snap) beans. Tried some from Southern Seed Exposure in 2017. They weren't as good. Some lady asked the extension office about growing peanuts in Virginia. That hit me: I haven't tried them since putting in my raised beds!.

Ralph

 

[RalphVa]

Timing is everything to grow peas in Virginia. I've found the last 2 years that putting them in at the same time as my potato pieces on St. Pattie's Day works well. I just sow them and let them flop. May put up some supports this year.

Then about mid August for fall peas. Haven't figured that out well.

Ralph

 

[RalphVa]

Anyone have the secret to growing okra in raised beds? Mine haven't ever grown very tall. This year, I plan to put some mushroom compost inside like a spool for bathroom tissue into the ground with a couple okra seed to see it that works.

Also cannot grow corn worth a **** either in or around my raised beds. Used to have gobs of okra and corn in the bottom land where my big garden used to me. After CHF, just cannot manage that.

Ralph

 

[Sonny580]

Might pay to get a soil test kit and test your soil.--See if it is missing something.--You can also pay a test lab to do your samples!-- I prefer to do my own, but that's just me!! LOL!!!
Our okra here usually gets from 3' to 6' tall.


This is a pic. of one of our sweet corn stalks from last year. ---- this is open ground in a 5 acre plot. thanks; sonny580

 

[Code54]

Check with your local extension office - here in WV our extension does free soil tests.

 

[RalphVa]

Might pay to get a soil test kit and test your soil.--See if it is missing something.--You can also pay a test lab to do your samples!-- I prefer to do my own, but that's just me!! LOL!!!
Our okra here usually gets from 3' to 6' tall.

View attachment 538236
This is a pic. of one of our sweet corn stalks from last year. ---- this is open ground in a 5 acre plot. thanks; sonny580

I've had it tested twice. Says everything is perfect. Okra in the bottom land got OVER 6' tall. I'd have to bend it down to get the top pods. Here in the raised beds, I'm lucky to get them to grow to 18".

Ralph

 

[oldballs]

Gardening as we get really old and infirm is a beeach.....but I'm still planing to get at it this season again.. All this tractor equipment seems to make me obligated to a large garden. Guess I better start thinking about a smaller patch.:thumbdown:

 

[RSKY]

Thanks. I've heard that one has to be careful with sand - that it can turn clay into something similar to concrete. We needed a temporary place to hold some small trees so I augered some holes around the edge of the plot. When I looked into one of the holes the sides looked like a smooth clay pot that had been fired in a kiln!

Also be careful where you get the sand. A local golf course bought some to put on their greens a few years ago and killed most of them.

 

[Budweiser John]

Good looking corn there Sonny !

Sonny, care to weigh in on your successful corn growing adventures?
We love sweet corn especially the Burpe red corn variety but I don稚 seem to have the formula for growing those blue ribbon ears shown in the catalog.
I grow everything else in raised beds that measure 3 X 6 X 3 high and will never go back to bending over.
The raised beds have been very successful over the last three years.
B. John

 

[oosik]

Well - after 20+ years gardening out here - I gave up. Too old to pull weeds and then fight with the native wildlife over production rights. However, last year here on TBN, I learned of a product called a "pocket gopher cage". Over the 35 years I've been here - we have had all sorts of fruit trees. We have come to expect a 50% or more loss to the pocket gophers. This year I will plant two homestead type apple trees and find/make/use a couple of these cages and hope it works.

Growing fruit trees here is the same as trying to get a liberty ship loaded with munitions from New York harbor to England - during WWll. I've got attacks from below - pocket gophers - and above - deer, racoons and porcupines.

 

[2ndhalf]

side dress your corn with liquid 45 nitrogen when it is about a foot high. 1. use a hoe and put a 2" furror between rows 2. dump a small stream of 45 down the furrow then cover it.

pray for light rain. Did this one year as advised by my FIL farmer. Had more corn than we could eat and freeze so gave gobs of it away

 

[Sonny580]

I use a lot of orsie poo from the guy down the road, plus a lot of 12-12-12, and 10-10-10 and whatever else comes my way!
In the fall I sub-soil 36" deep in two different directions, then moldboard plow 14 to 16" deep. In the spring I till a time or two with the 72" KK tiller, then plant.
Last year, I was given some RR sweet corn seed and that's what you see in my pix.



here is another pic. of over the top of the 1 acre section of the plot. thanks; sonny580

 

[Budweiser John]

I use a lot of orsie poo from the guy down the road, plus a lot of 12-12-12, and 10-10-10 and whatever else comes my way!
In the fall I sub-soil 36" deep in two different directions, then moldboard plow 14 to 16" deep. In the spring I till a time or two with the 72" KK tiller, then plant.
Last year, I was given some RR sweet corn seed and that's what you see in my pix.

View attachment 538438

here is another pic. of over the top of the 1 acre section of the plot. thanks; sonny580

Good advice, thank you.
One other question, what about weed control?
We have a continuse supply of well composted horse poo which I use in copous quantity but since a horses digestive system does not destroy the weed seeds we are constantly fighting the weed battle. My compost pile heats up really good but the weed problem rages on.
B. John

 

[Sonny580]

Weeds may not all come from the poo.--I am sure a lot does, but we had weeds before the poo use.
The RR sweetcorn last year was planted, sprayed LIGHTLY with roundup 2 times and nothing else except harvest! The RR varieties do spoil you!! LOL!!!
In our other gardens, I use Me-too pre-emerge and Preen with good results.--Now I don't over do it on the amount that I apply either.---The Preen goes on during the season with applications as needed. I know I don't use the amount recommended!
The cultivation in the gardens are still needed to keep ground loose and weeds at bay! (somewhat!! lol!!).
I don't know if chems. could be added to the piles to help kill weed seeds or not, never tried it.--The bigges't problem is keeping the piles turned!--I use one of the skid loaders most of the time. The tractor loaders are usually somewhere else when I want them, plus skid is faster! thanks; sonny580

 

[Budweiser John]

Thanks for the insight Sonny. I’m going to do some soil testing this spring to pinpoint where the decency’s are. I suspect the sawdust horse bedding may be using up the nitrogen as it continues to decompose.
B. John

 

[2ndhalf]

Thanks for the insight Sonny. I’m going to do some soil testing this spring to pinpoint where the decency’s are. I suspect the sawdust horse bedding may be using up the nitrogen as it continues to decompose.
B. John

Saw dust on top the soil is fine but don't mix it into the soil or the wood chips will actually deplete the soil of nitrogen as it is breaking down the chips.

 

[Billy Bee]

First time ever, I lost a lot of my Ambrosia sweet corn to ants. I kept the coons at bay and had a good crop,but probably 80% had ants in the ears. Never had that before. I'm not opposed to using Sevin or dish soap,whatever works. I don't get beetles or corn borers,this is my first insect infestation. They are small red ants. Don't really want to have that happen again. Any ideas? And yes,Sonny I'm thinking about this years garden even as I look upon the 6" of new snow. Got to be spring someday. Usually can plant cold weather crops about Apr. 15,corn is usually after May 15 but hey, I can dream.
Thanks,
Bill

 

[oosik]

Billy Bee - there must be something organic that you can mix up and spray on the ground and lower on the corn stalks. I sure would not give up on corn if ants are your only problem. When I had a garden - either the coons or deer had to designate a member for traffic control. It would get so bad in the early evening you could hear the high speed collisions and see the survivors staggering off. The grunts, squeals, snorts and growls were the participants attempting to move part of the "players" to other areas of the garden.

They had absolutely no manners and took no hostages...........