2012 Garden Off To A Start.

[jasperflyfisher]

Last year was my worst garden in years. Wet spring made me plant late, and my young plants fried in the heat. I gave up after i harvested my corn. I hardly got any tomatoes and very little okra. I did however get a bumper crop of beets. I will not be planting any beets this year.

[jdmidwest]

Waterman, if you can find some old well rotted sawdust and work it in, it will help loosen the clay. Make sure it is rotted, fresh sawdust is not good because it heats up as it decomposes.

There are stables around here that use rice hulls or wood shavings in their stalls and you can find some nice manure with extras for looseness. Otherwise, compost lawn grass and leaves and till it in. Some sand never hurts along with lime. Plant a green cover crop on the garden in the fall with something like clover, wheat, or rye and till it under early in the spring to add organics.

Ness, I don't know what the size of your raised beds are, mine are 2' x 12'. I use storm door glasses I picked up from a remodel one time. I picked up a few old glass shower doors from the farm today for my other raised bed I made last fall.

[ness]

My raised beds are 4x4 and 8x4 -- two each for veggies, then a couple other for asparagus and raspberries. Are you using the just glass to warm things up? I've got some pvc hoops I can stick on when I need them for veggies.

[jdmidwest]

The glass warms up quicker and I can control the temp and moisture better by opening them up. Kept the snow off of them so I can plant my lettuce today.

Hoops are a good idea for frost on a row crop.

[ness]

Yeah, not gonna get nearly as much heating effect from the hoops. But I start everything indoors and move it out when it warms up. Hoops go on naked and get covered when the temperature dictates.

Are you starting seed or doing seedlings with the lettuce? How much clearance between the glass and the soil?

[Njardar]

put two trailer loads of horse $$$$ on last weekend and it is mellowing as I write this. Question for crowd how long does the manure aid your garden. put alot on for several years and this is third since last batch. My soil seemed to go right back to ridgetop clay in three years. It can't wash out cause I've got the whole garden surrounded by rr ties. I'd like to have nice soil before I'm 90. Is there anything else I could add to help. Put leaves on every year as well.

Hope the $$$$ was well aged, I once made the mistake of using stuff that was not well composted and I had every weed known to man.

[jdmidwest]

I planted lettuce and radish seeds today to get the garden off to a bang. The beds I covered on Sat. had dried out nicely and the dirt worked up fine. The rest of the garden is a mud pie.

Ness, The glass heats up the soil and gives me a head start on the cole crops. It also helps control the temp and moisture. Last year when I set them up, I put a remote thermometer and monitored it from the desk. It would heat up greatly even on a cold day and hold the temp well above the outside temp later on into the night. This helps the germination. The glass is about 6 inches above the dirt line, My beds are made from 1x12x10' scrap boards that some of our product was crated in. I filled them with store bought topsoil and manure about half way. They are on a slight slope in the back yard facing the south. They get full sun all day.

[awhuber]

Hey JD

any recommendations on which potato to plant. Seed potatoes are in and there are 6 kinds???

[jdmidwest]

I like the yukon gold, it has a flavor that already suggests that it is buttered. It is a russet of sort with a yellow inside, makes a nice baked potato, or in green beans. I like little red potatoes also, I cook with them all summer on the grill and in stews. I use russets for frying or chips.

I buy my potatoes fresh at a local produce store. I don't really have room to grow them and any place to store them. Red potatoes were what we grew on the farm growing up, they stored well in the cellar thru the winter with a little lime on them. You have to have pretty loose organic soil to grow them.

[awhuber]

I like the yukon gold, it has a flavor that already suggests that it is buttered. It is a russet of sort with a yellow inside, makes a nice baked potato, or in green beans. I like little red potatoes also, I cook with them all summer on the grill and in stews. I use russets for frying or chips.

I buy my potatoes fresh at a local produce store. I don't really have room to grow them and any place to store them. Red potatoes were what we grew on the farm growing up, they stored well in the cellar thru the winter with a little lime on them. You have to have pretty loose organic soil to grow them.

I like the golds, too. I have a great garden spot at some property we bought from some amish folks. We closed too late last year to do potatoes. Think im goinig to try Yukons and reds this year. My sweet potatoes did real well last year.