What Did You Do In The Garden?

[ducks4you]

Cleaned up and tilled up this year's beet bed. Rearranged my wooden raised bed borders, added some more compost and planted my beets. Also, knocked down the tall weeds in the horse's south pasture.

 

[PennyJo]

pretty energetic there

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Yesterday I weeded the older strawberry bed and put a lot of compost down. I mixed up some potting soil and compost for big pots to plant some arugula and maybe flowers. Setup another plastic greenhouse on the patio and put marigolds in it.

 

[ducks4you]

@Gardening with Rabbits, give me some advice--I have finally this year a good patch of strawberries, bc they spread. They are growing in a bed on the west side of my garage, lots of sun. How to you weed them? Seems like when I try to weed I end up pulling some out! Please advise.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

@Gardening with Rabbits, give me some advice--I have finally this year a good patch of strawberries, bc they spread. They are growing in a bed on the west side of my garage, lots of sun. How to you weed them? Seems like when I try to weed I end up pulling some out! Please advise.

I would like to know the answer to that too. I used to have a huge strawberry patch and it was full of grass. I tried to clear the best I could and just put them back in if I pulled them out. This patch yesterday was moved last year. They are not really close. I was on my knees and pulling weeds around them and have a little short handle hoe. After I was done I used compost to try to help smother new weeds. I have a 4 x 10 box of new strawberries, 40 Whoppers planted early spring. I am babying these things, but already dandelions are coming up. I am going to put compost around them. Actually, I have never seen anything have weeds worse than strawberries. DD's friend has some in a barrel at about waist high and they seemed to be producing really well.

 

[digitS']

A sharp, offset Japanese hoe (Nejiri Hama hoe) might help.

Since the tractor guy tilled the garden with no concern for existing paths, I'm wondering how I move my nearly 200# and #13 feet around out there without compacting the wet soil!

It looks like the weather this afternoon and tomorrow will give me more chances to get something done in the garden. Tomorrow may be a 65°f day and the warmest so far this year. In 2016, the thermometer had already hit 80° by now.

Steve

 

[lcertuche]

I'm basically lazy. I would try to slide a flattened cardboard box under the plants or maybe some other dry type material. Shredded paper maybe? Hay, grass clippings, straw... Anything that would keep them off the ground, shade the ground, and choke out the weeds.

 

[ducks4you]

A sharp, offset Japanese hoe (Nejiri Hama hoe) might help.

Since the tractor guy tilled the garden with no concern for existing paths, I'm wondering how I move my nearly 200# and #13 feet around out there without compacting the wet soil!...
Steve

Thanks for the advice about the Nejiri Hama hoe!
Regarding soil compaction it is ALL about mixing in compost. Soil wears out. EVERYBODY thinks that the soil in my area is this perfect fluffy stuff. It ISN'T. Some 14 years ago I found a sweet pepper rotting in a refrigerator drawer, so I put it out in one of my beds. Seems like 100 of the seeds sprouted, but despite watering they almost All perished bc the soil was compacted. It isn't stepping on wet soil, it is stepping on easily compacting soil. You MUST mix it with compost, 1/2 and 1/2 and then avoid walking directly on it to keep it from compacting. (You can purchase a 10" wide stepping board which acts like a showshoe to protect the area.) Weeds do NOT mind compacted soil and then you will have to dig them out and poison their roots and many of them drop LOOOOONNNNGGGG roots. Maybe you should try gardening with plastic?
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/cover-garden-plastic-kill-weeds-40238.html
I have seen a program where a gardener solarizes their beds with clear plastic for 6 weeks to kill ALL seeds. Maybe you will want grass growing between your beds? You could do this and then plant want you want there. Perhaps you will want to use a ground cover like icicle radishes, which you can buy in bulk and overplant. I plan to buy some more package of cheap radishes and plant them on the first 2 inches around my wooden framed raised beds (which I have held in place with wooden stakes and I remove the frames every year), so easy peasy to keep out those nasty weeds that like to hide next to a foundation.
DEFINITELY mix the soil with compost. Every bed that I have composted has made it very easy to pull any weeds. Even those with deep roots come out of those beds when encouraged with my spade. I am now reclaiming beds for 2017 planting and after 6 years of dumping used stall bedding on top and tilling that every Spring, and I don't worry about the weeds, again, bc they come right out. I cleared my beet bed of chickweed, which I pretty easily pulled out and threw in my wheelbarrow, and then gave to the chickens. No, they didn't eat it all, but they ate some of it, and it will be breaking down into More compost, so it's a win-win.
If you need some advice about getting cheap compost, write me or respond and I'll tell you how!

 

[lcertuche]

@ducks4you thanks for all the great information.

 

[Collector]

Yesterday we potted up a flat of peppers, and planted some of DW flower containers. Also started digging out sod around apple trees and putting down the edging, weed block, and bark mulch. Maybe finish that job today if time permits.