2017 garden thread

[BilletHead]

   Guess we should get the season started. First of all I am not going to listen to that Ness guy and start tomatoes and peppers too early again this year . After Tho1mas said it soon is time though for lettuce and onions. Wanted to amend the soil in the big raised beds. I have a friend who lives in Wichita and every year he has a big garden. He gathers all of the fallen leaves in the neighborhood that his neighbors will give him. He dumps them into his garden and tills them in. He does this in the fall and I wanted to try but did not get it done until the last few days. The little toy tiller ground them in well . Here is one of the beds with eight or more inches of leaves,

   The other one that I have tilled the leaves in,

  Both look this way now and I will turn and grind them in a few more times before the season planting. This should fluff up the soil and begin to break down. I should of done this like last Fall but hey I get busy and have a one track mind during that part of the year. If I can find the bagger and cover for the push mower I think I will mow and mulch some leaf piles and break more down to till in,

BilletHead

[tho1mas]

Be careful which leaves. Do not use any walnut leaves or stems or you will not have a tomato crop. Only weeds and blue grass like walnuts.

[MOPanfisher]

Often you will need to add some lime if you are adding oak leaves, they have a tannic acid that will lower the PH.  I am hoping to get my cold frame cleared out, fluffed up and maybe almost ready to plant some lettuce, radishes, spinach etc. it in very soon.

[Stein]

Still frozen up here in NE but I did get 100 garlic planted last fall.  Plant Halloween, harvest 4th of July is the rule of thumb.

[BilletHead]

   Oak leaves from the back yard. And yes know may have to add some lime. Nothing much grows under my front yard walnuts. I really don't like them too much any more,

BilletHead

[ness]

Dialing it back this year. Lots of maters, beans and beets. Cutting out carrots, onions, leeks, chard, garlic, spinach and peas. They never seem to do real great and they're readily available. Still deciding on chilis, lettuce and some other stuff. 

Picked up a yard of compost today for the beds. Probably gonna start some seeds this weekend. 

[MOPanfisher]

I am going to dial.it back some as well and plant mostly things I really like, maters, corn, cukes and squash and Cantelouopes .  I will have plenty of the early greens as well, mostly lettuce and spinach.  Am also going see if I can find some more oddball maters like the purple cherokee again or hopefully some black krims.  I may also do some jungle garden with the left over space, I dI'd it a few years ago and it was surprisingly successful.  Take a bunch of leftover seeds and simply broadcast them in the leftover space and let them go, they don't get watered or tilled.  If they make great if not that's OK too.  Always say I am gonna plant soybeans in that extra space but never do.  Maybe even the my new blackberries will hit the ground running, and it the dang japanese beetles will.leave me alone might get some peaches, cherries and apples.  Asparagus beds have some new stock so will see what happens with it, and the strawberries are almost always good.  Hmmm doesn't sound like I am cutting back now that I type it out.

[jdmidwest]

I cleaned off a raised bed after work today and planted some Alaska Snow Peas and 3 types of leaf lettuce.  Its Valentines Day tradition.

[Stein]

4 hours ago, jdmidwest said:

I cleaned off a raised bed after work today and planted some Alaska Snow Peas and 3 types of leaf lettuce.  Its Valentines Day tradition.

We are a good four to five weeks away on the cool season stuff.  We do plant two large gardens.  Everything from the common stuff to broccoli and brussels sprouts.  They are the easiest things to grow ever.  Plant them and ignore.  Throw some water on them in summer if really dry.  They do well here.  Generally 20-24 tomato plants.  My wife cans a lot of tomatoes and beets, freezes corn, peas, and carrots.  Beans, lettuce, cabbage, spinach and radishes are fresh only .  The peas she freezes in the pod.  They keep great and hull especially easy when thawed.

[jdmidwest]

Made a new strawberry bed today from new plants made last fall. Plants in cells of concrete blocks made runners into raised bed. I dug them out for new bed. 

Alaska snow peas are up.