Gardens 2011

[kmcconaughey]

So I get home from work and head out to the garden to check a few things and I notice something didn't look quite right in one of the garlic beds. I walk over to investigate and notice that several of the garlic stalks look shorter than they should?? I give one of them a slight tug and out of the ground it comes with no garlic bulb attached and the end of it appears to have been cut!

pocket gophers!

I proceed to check for more and find a total of 25 stalks with "missing" garlic bulbs! Even though it's a few weeks early, I decided to harvest the 116 remaining garlic bulbs from that bed. I check in the morning to see if I've got him/her or not. I sure hope I can get him/her before he/she eats any more.

 

[kweaver]

Taint nutt'n worse than a gopher in yer pocket with bad breath !

You miss a bath or is that a gopher in your pocket ?
====================================================

Kathy's tomatoes are history. Never really did get going good then they just started dying. Man I miss our huge garden at the farm ...

 

[dcharette]

Richard, do you have anything other than the cukes planted in the sand?We have bought a lot-1.33 acres and will be building next spring.It is all sand,I have nice soil now so i'm just wondering if there is anything that will not grow in the sand.I'll try to add as much soil as possible with out going broke.
Has anyone ever seen a potato grow from the stock.I've got 2 veggies which look more like tomatoes than potatoes growing from a potato plant.I'll take a pic this weekend.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Dave, I know you asked Richard but I'll offer that what you want to add to your sandy soil to improve it for gardening is organic matter. Tree leaves being one of the easiest forms of organic matter to gather and add. In the fall rake them up, get them from friends and relatives or even strangers. One type to avoid however would be Black Walnut leaves, they have a chemical in them that prohibits growth of plants. My favorite leaves are Red and/or White Oak leaves. Then just dump a pile of the dried leaves in the garden, run your mower deck through them to chop them up then till them in to the soil. This is called "Sheet Composting". Do this every fall and before too long your sandy soil will be transformed. Compost, if you can get some, is the best organic matter to add as it has already broken down. However, unless you make your own it's not usually readily available. If you stockpile extra leaves, you can let them rot down and turn into leaf mold which is great for soil improvement. Be sure to start a compost pile to toss green plants (weeds) and kitchen scraps into, except meat. Lots of info on the web about composting.

If your potato plants have potatoes exposed to the sun, the skin will be green and could be somewhat toxic. So do not eat the skin from them. The rest of the potato would be safe to eat though, so make sure to remove all the skin.

 

[kweaver]

When making compost and/or putting leaves directly onto the garden it helps to add nitrogen as the decay process requires lots of nitrogen and will actually make the soil loose nitrogen.

When we had the big garden before we moved from the farm I'd make 4 compost cages out of wire 4 foot diameter and 4 foot tall and after the plants quit producing I'd cut them down with a walk behind sickle mower and throw everything into the cages.
When I hauled corn stalks to the cages I'd run them through a chipper / shredder first , a 1-ton flat bed truck at a time.

Layer it with dirt , nitrogen , leaves , lime , garden left overs , grass clippings , salesmen ... just anything that would decompose.

<font color="ff0000">I read that leaves out of the woods was bad as the leaf mold was a bad thing</font>

 

[kmcconaughey]

KENtucky, the nitrogen is only tied up for a short time while the leaves break down. I've never had any issues in my garden. For tomato or pepper growing, too much nitrogen in the soil = lots of plant growth and few fruit. Adding a little bit of nitrogen would be OK but too much is worse than not enough. If you were to till in wood chips then yes you'd want to add nitrogen as that would tie up the nitrogen longer term.

I have 3 compost bins that are made from chain link fence panels. Each "bin" is about 8'x 6'.

Where did you read that leaf mold is bad?

 

[kweaver]

Kraig - As it's been 17 years since we've had a garden I had forgot that when you use wood in the compost that's when to add nitrogen ... and Charlie think's he has CRS ...

After I posted that I happened to remember that I also chipped up wood and added to the compost cages hence my need for nitrogen.

Where did I read about leaf mold ... it was either in my composting book or Gardening mag subscription.

That , I do remember reading as I thought I might have gotten myself in trouble 'cause I did go to the woods and scrape up soil from the woods.

 

[kmcconaughey]

KENtucky, google leaf mold...

Here's an old photo, my compost bins can be seen in the background. This area is now hidden behind my shed, a row of red twig dogwoods and red pines.

 

[rtunison]

Hi Dave. I think Kraig and Kentuck answered you question very well.

I grow out of containers called earthboxes.

http://www.earthbox.com/resources/instructions/

Good luck with your gardening!!

 

[kweaver]

Reading the highlights just now in my composting book it didn't mention leaf mold at all so I guess it was the gardening mag.
It does say however that dried leaves loose most of their nitrogen.

Here's pics of a nitrogen activators topic ... sorry PC quit recognizing my scanner

from this book

 

[kweaver]

 

[wshytle]

All of this talk about making compost is making me want to shred something. It's close to 102* out right now so not a good idea.

Kraig-

Is that the 125 before the days of the killer kohler?

Ken-

Throw in a lawyer or two and get some high priced compost. They say manure is one of the best additives.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Wayne, that would be my #1 125. The Killer Kohler is in my #2 125. In any case that was in pre Killer Kohler days, circa 1993 or 1994. Here's a photo taken the same day with both 125s. #2 125 has the cab and Dexter Rotary broom.

 

[lhinds]

Well it has been above 100 heat index here this week. But the garden is producing good. We have picked about 12 bushels beans this week. Got about 50 dozen ears sweetcorn ready to harvest this week. Sure makeing the neighbors happy.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Dave C., I was thinking about your sandy soil over the weekend. Sandy soil is usually nutrient poor so adding some fertilizer would be a good idea. Don't over do it though. It might be a good idea to have a soil test done, that will tell you what nutrients are lacking and how much to add. They are not too expensive, your county extension agency should be able to provide that service.

Luther,

The nasty hot humid weather we were having has finally moved on and I was able to get out into the garden on Saturday and do some sorely needed weeding. Lots of wild flowers in bloom too. The basil is looking good. I'm several weeks out from getting any tomatoes. With all this hot weather they have not set much fruit. I also decided it was time to harvest the rest of the garlic before the gophers get any more of it.

"Bee Balm" aka "Wild Bergamot", a form of Monarda.

Gray Headed Cone Flower

I need to point out this nice rain gauge that a forum member sent to me.

 

[dcharette]

Thanks Kraig for the info,adding leaves to the sand shouldn't be a problem.There alot of mature soft maples in the area.I've got Maples,white ash,mountain ash,apple,basswood and white birch on the property.I've also got 3 laying hens so I have access to add nitrogen to my composter once we move.Right now I add the hen waste to my composter at home.
That is a good idea,I think I will get a soil test done to see what the earth is lacking in nutrients.
Kraig, is that zuchini in the wire growing cage?Nice garden and crop of garlic!
I will be going into town this week, I'll get some pics of the cub work.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Dave, yes that is zucchini. I have lots of home made tomato cages and I put some spare cages on a couple of zucchini hills. It helps keep the deer away and it is a good incentive to pick the zucchini before they get too big to fit through the 6"x6" wire mesh.

I did make some larger cages that I set over cucumber hills. Gives the cukes a place to climb and keeps the deer away. I need to make more large cages specifically for the zucchini and other plants. I keep finding more uses for the cages. It's just concrete reinforcing mesh.

 

[wshytle]

Kraig-

So they charge for soil testing in Wisconsin? It's still free here in NC. I guess that will change once they figure out how to make a dollar with it.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Wayne, not sure if the county here charges for it or not. I've never done large scale fertilizing of my garden and everything seems to grow well so I've not felt the need to have the soil tested.

I do a little spot fertilizing, a spoon full or two of an organic fertilizer in the planting hole, when I plant my tomato and pepper plants and that's all they get for the entire growing season. I do till in finished compost and chopped up leaves so they soil does get amended but not with a broad cast fertilizer. So far so good... FWIW my area is listed on soil survey maps as being a sandy clay loam. In my garden the soil certainly fits that description. approximately 12" to 16" below the top soil is a clay lens. This clay lens makes the soil hold moisture quite well. I wish the lens was wider spread, as in under my lawn. The majority of my yard is not blessed with the clay lens and thus drains like a sieve. I rebuilt the fence on the north property line many years back and of the 20 or so post holes I dug all were coarse grain sandy soil under the 6" or so of top soil. I found one tennis ball size rock that's it the rest was all sand. I guess the garden is placed in the best spot.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Not too far from the garden is my shed. No clay lens under it either. Here's a photo that shows the sandy soil in that location (and of most of the property.) This was taken when I built the lean-to onto the shed and dug the post holes for the pole barn style construction.