The gardening thread

[Baker]

I've looked around a bit but don't see where there is a gardening thread . I suspect there are a number of gardeners here as I know we have been passionate gardeners for a long time. Veggies, fruits, herbs, nuts, grapes...anything that grows in the south.

I started building a new raised bed yesterday { can you ever have too many beds? } . Plus I am converting about a ~ 50' x 50' section of yard over to garden. My approach is based loosely on what has become colloquially known as the ' back to eden ' concept. I'm starting with fresh horse manure mixed with wood chips. I amend the manure with blood meal, azomite, organic fertilizer, biochar, kelp meal, oyster meal, and magnesium sulfate then will let the mix compost and melt down. In the next few weeks I'm adding about 6-8" of wood chips on top of the pile and let everything sit for the summer. Should be ready to go for the fall garden.

I've been experimenting with this approach for a few years now and very pleased. The garden is essentially weed free, holds and manages moisture extremely well...almost never have to water except to start plants,. The soil gets a dose of compost tea from the chips every time it rains. I'm using less and less amendments every year.Brix scores improve every year. And on and on.

Here's the start of the new beds.

 

[catscratch]

Nice! Sounds like quite the formula...

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[Baker]

Here's what some of the existing beds look like. In this case I was able to get a load of alfalfa hay from my niece who raises horses. Using a thick mulch of alfalfa has the same impact as the wood chips I think though I will be overlaying with wood chips here this summer. We grow the preponderance of our foods from the gardens as well as taking critters from the farm for meat. Have our own chickens for eggs as well as raise broilers, turkeys, and from time to time guinney [sp ] fowl. Farm living at its best. Gardens and orchards have been organic for over a decade.

 

[Triple C]

Great stuff Baker and a thread I'll be following. I'm not a gardener at this stage in my life but come retirement in a few years I look forward to gardening as another hobby at the farm.

 

[lakngolf]

Looks like some great soil there, Baker, and all your additives should do the trick. I surely have no "Garden of Eden" but do enjoy putting little seeds in the ground and watch 'em grow. I have a "lakeside" garden at home and one at my Mom's. This is the first year she will not be helping me with the garden, but she will be checking on it from above.
Soil at her house is fantastic but I have to haul in good soil for my home garden, and grow in containers and boxes. Fortunately, I have some good compost workers producing some great soil.

Each year I pile up the dirt where the cattle farmer feeds hay. The cows keep messing with it and produce the best compost ever. I either pile it up for later use.

Or load it up and head home. (Actually this load was headed to my son's house)

 

[swat1018]

I just started my first compost pile. I plan on getting away from synthetic fertilizer. I first got a load of fresh horse manure from my neighbor and mixed it with 2 parts wood chips. I wet it down some and have been turning it, but it isn't building much heat. Not sure if I have too much wood chips, not enough manure. Second pile is from a buddy who raises quail. Poultry manure with wood chip bedding. People say poultry manure is pretty hot, so I'm going to let it compost for a while. I look forward to any advice the experts can give me.

 

[SwampCat]

I have out 80 tomato plants and about half that many peppers and squash. Coons just ate the corn seed out of 1500 feet of sweet corn rows.

 

[Gator]

My soil is horrible but I still put in a garden this year. Just fenced it yesterday to keep the deer out. Lettuce, spinach and peas thus far.

 

[Baker]

Looks like some great soil there, Baker, and all your additives should do the trick. I surely have no "Garden of Eden" but do enjoy putting little seeds in the ground and watch 'em grow. I have a "lakeside" garden at home and one at my Mom's. This is the first year she will not be helping me with the garden, but she will be checking on it from above.
Soil at her house is fantastic but I have to haul in good soil for my home garden, and grow in containers and boxes. Fortunately, I have some good compost workers producing some great soil.

Each year I pile up the dirt where the cattle farmer feeds hay. The cows keep messing with it and produce the best compost ever. I either pile it up for later use.

Or load it up and head home. (Actually this load was headed to my son's house)

Life is in a sweet spot when we can prioritize posting photos of our compost piles. Of course those of us that garden understand the importance!

 

[Jeff H]

Anyone play around with hugekultur ? I'm intrigued but have not made the leap yet.

 

[dogghr]

My daughter does a lot of composting and her chickens provide most the litter additive. I don't plant a large area but use the ashes from the fireplace as my my fert/soil amendments. Grows the best garden or flowers whereever its placed. Wish I had enough ashes to cover the farm fields., I love it. Thanks for showing. Is that a green house in the background?/

 

[lakngolf]

Interesting that a "gardening" thread starts out by talking about soil. About right!

 

[Baker]

I just started my first compost pile. I plan on getting away from synthetic fertilizer. I first got a load of fresh horse manure from my neighbor and mixed it with 2 parts wood chips. I wet it down some and have been turning it, but it isn't building much heat. Not sure if I have too much wood chips, not enough manure. Second pile is from a buddy who raises quail. Poultry manure with wood chip bedding. People say poultry manure is pretty hot, so I'm going to let it compost for a while. I look forward to any advice the experts can give me.

I generally let compost piles sit for about a year turning it occasionally with the FEL. I start it with whatever I have a lot of having used chicken litter mixed with ground leaves , residue from the fields or whatever. I make big piles so it takes a lot. Currently I am using horse manure mixed with wood chips and hay from my nieces stables. Pile it up and let it sit. Also add all, the kitchen chop pings, egg shells etc

Couple of other things about the garden. I never till or work the soil at all. As the heavy alfalfa hay mulch breaks down I just add another layer of compost then mulch again heavily. No weeding or watering and at this stage of the game and very little amendments though I enjoy spraying a little kelp meal or fish emulsion on it. Low maintenance and easy. I do hope to switch over to wood chips as a mulch which will last longer than the alfalfa.

Another thing that has made the garden easier to work is the cap placed horizontally on top of the raised bed. Being a GOF...an acronym I learned from another forum; grumpy old fart [ and proud! } sure makes it easy to sit my butt on the cap and pick or prune or admire.

 

[catscratch]

I'm envious! These gardens and compost piles look great. I've wanted to build a compost pile for a while but don't really have access to much organic matter other than brush left over from cutting firewood. We get kitchen scraps that seems like a waste to get rid of, but there isn't a lot there and without something to add wouldn't go far.

 

[mattpatt]

I’ve been on the fence about starting my own compost bin and now this had put me over the top. Going to use wood pallets for my frame. I plan to use lawn clippings and leaves and any scraps from the kitchen. Maybe even throw in some cow manure for good measure.


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[swat1018]

Baker, how do you start gardening with your method? I've always garden traditionally, tilling, synthetic fertilizer, planting, weeding, etc. How would you start, from where I'm at now?

 

[Nebraskaz71]

I dont do much of a garden these days but I do a ton of landscaping. I have a 30ft x 20ft x12ft high pile of cow manure mixed with dirt,hay and grass thats been sitting in the pasture here for 5-15years depending on which end. I take that stuff from time to time to make my landscaping beds, I throw some black dirt on top, couple bags of milorganite and gypsum then till it all together. I add a few containers of redworms for good measure. Does a great job growing plants!

 

[Baker]

Baker, how do you start gardening with your method? I've always garden traditionally, tilling, synthetic fertilizer, planting, weeding, etc. How would you start, from where I'm at now?

Couple thoughts come to mind.Perhaps most important is to use thick mulch. I've been using alfalfa hay for the past few years but other things will work as well. I have used ground oak leaves with good results.Avoid things like cattle hay or anything that might have a lot of seeds in it. Could cause some problems. I intend to convert my garden over to wood chips as mulch. Lots of reasons with one key being they last longer. Get free compost tea every time it rains. Manages water, too much or too little very well. Irrespective the trick is to have mulch thick enough [ 6-8" ] nothing will grow through it. Then just make a hole on the mulch or make a narrow row and plant to soil.

If you can I'd put a layer of compost down before the mulch. This can only help. I usually add a few inches on top after harvesting crop then add another layer of mulch. Also thats a good time to add organic fertilizer, bio char, kelp meal or any other organic amendments beneficial. Though over time { 2-3 years } you will find your soil so improved amendments aren't that necessary. Sell your tiller. You will never need it again.

I use Johnny's seed, Territorial seed, & gardens alive for most of my fertilizer and seed.Also there is a great youtube video called " Back to Eden"..I think. its 1:42 long but inspirational and very educational. Unbelievable how well this works especially with a little time. The guy Is Paul Gautschi best I remember.

Hope this helps. What I can assure you is that this is a much simpler, easier, less time consuming and very effective way to garden.as I too spent years gardening traditionally.

 

[Chainsaw]

I use wood chips as mulch; the town drops it off in my mulch pile for me. Usually it is weed free; sometimes it has for example fresh maple seeds in it but that is easy to deal with it. Growing daylilies, the plant is ideally in place for three years. To accomplish that we put down newspapers (four to six plies at least and not glossy paper) on top of the soil around the plant before putting six to eight inches of wood chips on top. The first year equals zero weeds, the second a few( newspapers are totally gone at that point) and the third the weeds are still manageable but there and it becomes time to move, divide and plant all over again and re-mulch. Ten year old horse manure as well as compost from grass clippings and even weeds (not in seed stage) and leaves is mixed into our soil when we create the beds.

Our vegetable beds get the same treatments as the daylily beds. Watering is not normally required or normally even considered.

Edit, have just watched part of Back To Eden. It is an incredible You Tube Piece. Baker, thanks for sharing.

 

[swat1018]

Trying to make a decision how to begin this year. I have the beginning of a compost pile with wood chips. It hasn't composted long, should I till in the manure/chips, or wait a year? Thought about tilling a large volume of OM in this year, and maybe not tilling in the future. Also have access to some composted horse manure, I do plan on mixing a large volume of this in, it's 5-10 year old manure. Any thoughts from the experts?