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Author Topic: Getting the garden ready  (Read 13172 times)

Offline bwallace23350

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Getting the garden ready
« on: February 03, 2018, 10:43:35 am »
Down south it is about that time that we really start prepping hard for the upcoming spring growing season. I have all my soil amendments already in the garden. Just got to plow them in. I have to plow them in, prune a few more trees, clean up around the hives, put out mulch, and I am going to try some green manure in two parts of the garden. Here is to lots of work but good work.

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2018, 10:47:49 am »
Oh and I have to clean up my raised beds a bit so I can plant some sunflowers. Last year the native bees seemed to love the sunflowers.

Offline minz

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2018, 10:15:06 pm »
Been warm up here this winter and our early plums and peaches are starting to get bud swell. Kind of took me by surprise and I have been pruning the orchard and front landscape hard. I keep a log and the seeds go on sale at buy one get one half off for the Ed Hume seeds in January so have my seeds purchased. I also have picked up some graft stock for tomato?s and clips to try that.
Picked up two multi graft pear trees (on European one Asian) and put in espalier posts to train them to.
Pulling off my grafting tape from last fall?s bud grafts and painting the ones that took (almost 100% fail on the Brooks Prune)
Moles got active with this last cold front. I had one that was ?trap smart? that I finally got by putting every trap I owned, set to hair trigger, in about a 10? circle around his last hole.
Poor decisions make the best stories.

Offline jalentour

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2018, 04:31:05 pm »
Minz,
Will predator urine work on moles/voles, as far as keeping them away for awhile?

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2018, 06:18:34 pm »
One month ago I was thinking I was ok on my garden prep. Now I am starting to get a little nervous. I went with coffee grounds and leaves as my main soil admendments this year

Offline yes2matt

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2018, 07:08:00 am »
Oh and I have to clean up my raised beds a bit so I can plant some sunflowers. Last year the native bees seemed to love the sunflowers.
Last year my kids planted "Mexican sunflower" here in Charlotte. Wow! They just kept going and going right thru the fall, enormous and beautiful and every day visited by native bees and butterflies. Tho my honey bees not so much.

I think we got the seeds here, but maybe at Wal-Mart. :)  https://www.rareseeds.com/mexican-sunflower-red-torch/

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Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2018, 10:41:30 am »
I love my native bees also. I will look for them

Offline minz

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2018, 10:42:16 pm »
Minz,
Will predator urine work on moles/voles, as far as keeping them away for awhile?
two different animals. Moles are underground for bugs and worms and the only effective way is to trap them. Some poison their entire yard to kill off all of the bugs, driving moles to different food sources.
Voles are like small mice. You are not going to drive them far. Keep the hiding places down is the best way (you will see tunnels through your grass when you cut it first time). You can drop small bait down the holes on a week of nice days.
Poor decisions make the best stories.

Offline beepro

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2018, 09:35:35 pm »
My garden beds are 80% done with super sweet snap peas and Humbam clovers both yellow and white
growing now.  Early spinach are starting their 4th leaves already.  Almond flowers are every where as well.
The asparagus are starting to send off their young shoots.   Fava beans will be next to plant.

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #9 on: February 12, 2018, 12:02:15 pm »
My garden beds are 80% done with super sweet snap peas and Humbam clovers both yellow and white
growing now.  Early spinach are starting their 4th leaves already.  Almond flowers are every where as well.
The asparagus are starting to send off their young shoots.   Fava beans will be next to plant.

What zone are you? I am an 8B

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #10 on: February 15, 2018, 03:41:25 pm »
Well I will get no plums this year. The plum trees rae already in flower. On the bright side the bees have something to eat now. The trees are young so it is good that they will not make or it probably is

Offline beepro

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #11 on: February 18, 2018, 05:25:59 am »
I'm in zone 9A (or b?)    Still not so sure why zone 9 has a B and A zoning difference.


Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #12 on: February 20, 2018, 08:34:51 am »
Not sure where the division is but they probably have very different weather patterns. Is one on the coast and the other inland?
Jim
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Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #13 on: February 20, 2018, 09:51:26 am »
Perhaps one is a bit more north. I am zone 8b and near the start of 9 or at least my bees and garden are

Offline minz

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #14 on: February 23, 2018, 08:44:02 pm »
The A and B zones break the minimum temperature in half. It just splits the zone in half.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardiness_zone

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Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #15 on: March 09, 2018, 10:41:39 am »
I might have suffered some fig damage in this latest cold snap.I will inspect later today and let everyone know

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #16 on: March 09, 2018, 11:38:19 am »
Lots of damage to the fig and pomegranate trees.

Offline beepro

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #17 on: March 12, 2018, 05:13:52 pm »
Our poms trees are barely leafing out.  I don't see how they
can be damage if no flower buds yet.  It is really that cold down there?

Offline Dallasbeek

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #18 on: March 12, 2018, 08:07:02 pm »
I might have suffered some fig damage in this latest cold snap.I will inspect later today and let everyone know

I cut my fig tree back to the ground and tried to kill it last yesr because it never produced enough to make it worthwhile.  I also cut off water to it because it guzzled water like a fiend.  It bounced right back and I got more figs from it than it has ever produced in the 10-15 years I've had it -- usually fewer than 10 figs in a season after squirrels and mockingbirds took their share off the top.  It's leafing out now.  Still no water to it.  My approach to it is produce or die and it seems to be taking the challenge.
"Liberty lives in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no laws, no court can save it." - Judge Learned Hand, 1944

Offline Acebird

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #19 on: March 12, 2018, 08:59:42 pm »
Some plants need to be stressed to bear fruit.
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Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #20 on: March 13, 2018, 03:05:00 pm »
Our poms trees are barely leafing out.  I don't see how they
can be damage if no flower buds yet.  It is really that cold down there?

They had started leafing pretty well and got popped hard but did not kill all the leaves.

Offline beepro

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #21 on: March 15, 2018, 02:13:14 am »
As long as they don't have flower buds yet there is still a chance to recover.
This year our weather is a bit wild too.   More rains on the way!

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #22 on: April 08, 2018, 11:15:26 pm »
Well the garden is looking good so far. The blueberries look great, and the blackberries are coming along. A few plums are making and the peach tree is loaded. The bulk of the veggies are planted and waiting to come up.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #23 on: April 08, 2018, 11:43:12 pm »
Here is my wife?s garden just after she transferred her potted plants into the ground. The rows on the front left side are seeded. The front right side has numerous perennial spices.

Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #24 on: April 10, 2018, 12:37:53 pm »
The pic would not attach. Can you retry to send it. 

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #25 on: April 10, 2018, 06:15:36 pm »
Had to resize and the mail new it was already 220k so it did not give me a chance to resize it. My son Wesley found an app and shrunk it.
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
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Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #26 on: April 12, 2018, 02:53:33 pm »
That soil looks really good. YOu must have been working on it for a long time.

Offline beepro

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #27 on: April 13, 2018, 05:14:48 am »
How about hauling in the compost for this plot.  Won't take long this way.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #28 on: April 13, 2018, 07:01:20 am »
That soil looks really good. YOu must have been working on it for a long time.
Actually we just started this garden in 2015 after we build the new house. I had a large pile of aged manure ready for the new garden. My wife cleans the pastures behind the old barn every winter and adds it. We also started a compost pile this year. Problem is the cows see the mound and spread it out, they bulldozer it with their head for fun.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline minz

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #29 on: April 15, 2018, 07:24:00 pm »
is that 3 electric fence chargers and all exposed? I can get mine to last about 2 years in its own box under the eves-whats your secret?
Poor decisions make the best stories.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #30 on: April 15, 2018, 07:32:24 pm »
is that 3 electric fence chargers and all exposed? I can get mine to last about 2 years in its own box under the eves-whats your secret?
No, it is one electric sapper, a 12 volt charger and a 12v wheelchair battery. I have found that the chargers go bad and then the batteries die. I plan on doing routine checks to keep the battery charged. I bury the battery to keep it from freezing. Our ground seldom freezes.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #31 on: April 16, 2018, 04:54:29 pm »
That sounds good for the soil. I need to get back to putting chicken litter or some other manure heavy in the soil. This past year I added leaves, some bagged manure and mushroom compost, let one area lay fallow with clover planted on it, some coffee grounds, some cow manure, and fruit peelings and such.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #32 on: April 16, 2018, 06:20:42 pm »
Chicken manure makes the soil sweeter while cow manure makes it more acidic.
Be careful with chicken manure. I had it spread on my fields, it was not aged properly. We had millions and millions of flys everywhere for months. The flys had laid their eggs in the manure. It was horrible.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline Acebird

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #33 on: April 16, 2018, 09:43:40 pm »
Be careful with chicken manure.

I guess I am in for a whole new way of gardening.  It is best when spread on the snow so it can seep in soil and then turned under in the spring.  In the heat of the summer you can put it between the rows to bake in the sun and become a dried chip.  Rain in the fall will leach it in the ground replacing the nitrogen the plants consummed.  The only time I smell the poop is dumping it out of the 5 gallon pails.
Jim how do you know if the flies are coming out of the chicken poop or the cow pies?
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Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #34 on: April 16, 2018, 11:16:05 pm »
It was spread during the spring warm up. It was all over the fields in clumps. If I had had it spread during the winter, it would have had a chance to break down before the eggs hatch and the maggots feed on the manure. 
We have never had this problem here before or after. I talked to several locals who have had to deal with this before. It is a common problem around the chicken farms.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline Acebird

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #35 on: April 17, 2018, 09:22:13 am »
the maggots feed on the manure. 
Chickens like maggots.
Of course the poop comes all year long so we have dressed the garden with manure in early spring.  Wait a couple weeks then turn the soil and let the chickens have at it.  I do this to remove the grubs but maybe it works for maggots too.
I think without having that frost kill that we have up here gardening might be more of challenge when I get down there to FL.
Brian Cardinal
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Offline jalentour

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #36 on: April 18, 2018, 10:08:52 pm »
Jim,
Why don't you use solar for the garden fence?  You once stated you use it for your field gate openers?

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #37 on: April 18, 2018, 10:17:29 pm »
the maggots feed on the manure. 
Chickens like maggots.
Of course the poop comes all year long so we have dressed the garden with manure in early spring.  Wait a couple weeks then turn the soil and let the chickens have at it.  I do this to remove the grubs but maybe it works for maggots too.
I think without having that frost kill that we have up here gardening might be more of challenge when I get down there to FL.
Brian,
I do not have enough free range chickens to eat all of the maggots on my 42 acres. We fertilize the grass between the pine trees for the cows to graze on.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline LizzieBee

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #38 on: April 18, 2018, 10:33:56 pm »
We have a pile of horse manure which we mix with ashes from burning. The chickens scratch everything into nice, dark soil. I use it for my flower garden and leveling areas of the property.

LizzieBee

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #39 on: April 18, 2018, 11:00:19 pm »
We have a pile of horse manure which we mix with ashes from burning. The chickens scratch everything into nice, dark soil. I use it for my flower garden and leveling areas of the property.

LizzieBee
Be careful with horse manure. It can seriously burn grass. I bought a new Manure spreader cheap because when the spread the horse apples it burned their grass real bag. Works good hor cow manure.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline Acebird

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #40 on: April 19, 2018, 09:25:26 am »
Be careful with horse manure. It can seriously burn grass.

Most people I know compost it otherwise you get a ton of weeds.
Brian Cardinal
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Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Getting the garden ready
« Reply #41 on: May 09, 2018, 09:01:12 am »
I am putting out the wheat straw but don't have enough to cover the whole garden. The top pick peas did not come up well so I am going to replant them by Friday I hope.