Lickbranchfarm's 2018 Garden thread

[6884]

do you grow for your local food bank?

I probably could, but no I don't.

 

[baymule]

Your garden is looking good!

 

[6884]

Hooked up the cultivators yesterday and give everything a quick run through. Rain is about a week out, will probably have to move sprinklers around for a few days.

 

[ninnymary]

Love that look, when everything is neat and tidy.

Mary

 

[baymule]

Your garden is so clean and fresh. I don't till, I use cardboard and mulch. But the weeds still grow. I haven't been able to gather up enough cardboard to cover up very much, but right now I have 2 bales of cardboard in the trailer and I am going to cover the whole garden. I have to pull off all the tape, the cardboard will rot, but the plastic tape wont. I am putting town triple thickness in the walkways. But while I have been laying out all that cardboard, using the wagon and the tractor to dump mulch, raking it out, the image of a freshly tilled garden kept coming to mind......

 

[6884]

Thanks, its a constant battle, it gets worse as plants mature, cant get in between the rows anymore with the tractor. It has to be done by hand, the plants shade the weeds out some, but with an area the size of what I have its best to stay on top of them. I make a quick walk through everyday, picking up rocks and sticks, plus pulling weeds, If I don't it will get over whelming and all that hard work will be for nothing.
Plants like corn and Okra are pretty much maintenance free, they take care of themselves plus get tall enough weeds are usually not an issue, its the peas and beans and squash and cucumbers and tomatoes and peppers that need constant attention.

 

[flowerbug]

Your garden is so clean and fresh. I don't till, I use cardboard and mulch. But the weeds still grow. I haven't been able to gather up enough cardboard to cover up very much, but right now I have 2 bales of cardboard in the trailer and I am going to cover the whole garden. I have to pull off all the tape, the cardboard will rot, but the plastic tape wont. I am putting town triple thickness in the walkways. But while I have been laying out all that cardboard, using the wagon and the tractor to dump mulch, raking it out, the image of a freshly tilled garden kept coming to mind......

i do that too with the cardboard as i hate finding bits of plastic in the gardens afterwards...

will move conversation about tilling to another thread as i can go on a bit much about that...

 

[flowerbug]

Thanks, its a constant battle, it gets worse as plants mature, cant get in between the rows anymore with the tractor. It has to be done by hand, the plants shade the weeds out some, but with an area the size of what I have its best to stay on top of them. I make a quick walk through everyday, picking up rocks and sticks, plus pulling weeds, If I don't it will get over whelming and all that hard work will be for nothing.
Plants like corn and Okra are pretty much maintenance free, they take care of themselves plus get tall enough weeds are usually not an issue, its the peas and beans and squash and cucumbers and tomatoes and peppers that need constant attention.

if you have a strap hoe (D shape very thin blade which is parallel to ground when hoeing) you can skim the surface. works much easier in sandy soil than clay (i don't even get down into the soil in some gardens here at all it just slices the weeds). i can do most of the gardens here in a few hours, but we sure don't have fields like you do.

tilling deeper will move more seeds around and into the germination zone. for some seeds they can last in the soil seed bank longer than you'll live.

 

[majorcatfish]

Thanks, its a constant battle, it gets worse as plants mature, cant get in between the rows anymore with the tractor. It has to be done by hand, the plants shade the weeds out some, but with an area the size of what I have its best to stay on top of them. I make a quick walk through everyday, picking up rocks and sticks, plus pulling weeds, If I don't it will get over whelming and all that hard work will be for nothing.
Plants like corn and Okra are pretty much maintenance free, they take care of themselves plus get tall enough weeds are usually not an issue, its the peas and beans and squash and cucumbers and tomatoes and peppers that need constant attention.

contact @thistlebloom and see if she will sub-contract her child labor pool...

 

[Nyboy]

contact @thistlebloom and see if she will sub-contract her child labor pool...

Why do you think my grandparents had 13 kids