What's Left?

[thistlebloom]

I just had a little brainstorm!

What if I tilled that potato garden and then broke some oat straw bales over the top so the oat heads sprout, than knocked the oats down and tilled them in again? This oat straw I just got stacked has more grain in it than I've ever seen in straw before. Do you think that would be as good as buying oats and broadcasting?

 

[Carol Dee]

Thanks @thistlebloom I will see if DH has any around (or visit Farm and Fleet.)

 

[Smiles Jr.]

I just had a little brainstorm!

What if I tilled that potato garden and then broke some oat straw bales over the top so the oat heads sprout, than knocked the oats down and tilled them in again? This oat straw I just got stacked has more grain in it than I've ever seen in straw before. Do you think that would be as good as buying oats and broadcasting?

I think it would be worth a try. The oat straw would be a great soil amendment by it's self but when it starts to grow in the spring it would be a double benefit. I'd say go for it.

 

[digitS']

I made such a mess in one part of my garden one year.

A couple of bales of bluegrass straw had broken strings so I picked them up and found a place I wanted some soil improvement. Lucky that something stopped me from putting them around perennials!

I had this wonderful lawn in my garden the next spring! Tilled repeatedly to kill that grass! What can I say - I was young ...

Anyway, oat hay always grew sprouts in the corals.

Steve
Edit: Oh yeah! Lettuce transplants are in! Next, more cleanup in the big veggie garden, getting ready for tractor guy.

 

[thistlebloom]

The reason I wanted oats as a green manure crop was because of the recommendation of oats grown and turned under to help combat potato scab. That garden won't be growing potatoes next year so if the straw produces a lot of oats to turn in I may do it a few times to increase my odds. The straw is very reasonable from a nice, local farmer.

 

[digitS']

I didn't know about the oats/scab suppression.

Oats winter kill, also. The seed germinates at low temperatures but the plants can't take single digitS', or somewhere in there. That may mean it would be a good choice for September sowing as well as early Spring.

More gardeners should be using oats!

Steve

 

[digitS']

I have everything on the horizontal in the big veggie garden as of yesterday morning.

The sunflowers will be the toughest for the tractor guy altho they are cut in about 16" chunks and about 6" from the ground.

The corn stalks can't be so great for the tiller, either. I forgot all about bringing any home for fall decorating! I've even done that especially early some years, hanging them in the carport. That seems to help them hold onto their leaves a little better. Forgot to turn my pumpkins through the summer ... I suppose I should quit complaining about my aging memory and get what I got out by the front door to scare the kids. Weirdly shaped punkins might help with that ...

Steve

 

[lesa]

Hard to believe summer is over...still have carrots and beets in the ground. Swiss chard growing and Brussels Sprouts out there. Maybe this weekend it will be a little warmer and I can do the final harvest. Had a tremendous year with apples and plums. All in all, fairly happy with the results. Forgot to save a bunch of corn stalks too, Steve! I like having them (when I can remember)!

 

[majorcatfish]

Hard to believe summer is over...still have carrots and beets in the ground. Swiss chard growing and Brussels Sprouts out there. Maybe this weekend it will be a little warmer and I can do the final harvest. Had a tremendous year with apples and plums. All in all, fairly happy with the results. Forgot to save a bunch of corn stalks too, Steve! I like having them (when I can remember)!

seems like just yesterday we planted our spring veggies. but pick 6 kiwis put 3 in the counter basket and 3 in the pantry, to see which ones ripen better....

 

[digitS']

There's not much left in the dahlia garden.

They did well this year. Problems, sure, but nice flowers and lots of roots ..! Heavy lifting.

The dahlia stalks are going in little veggie garden beds. I had to harvest the parsnips so that there is room. Good goobly GOOP! The Andover parsnips are over the top in performance! Well actually, they are incredibly long. I decided just to start digging beside them, then pry them out of the ground with a spading fork. And, i thought the dahlias are difficult to lift!

I never thought that this could be good parsnip country. The British have all these different varieties, like their leeks. Well, I'm sure the great majority of British gardens have better parsnip (& leeks) than mine but, out there with the shovel, it was like getting ready to plant some desperado on Boot Hill!

More dahlias but it's a two part operation. I need to find a place for the stalks, which are now piled and protecting the last of the roots from frost. Dig out a veggie bed and toss them and the frosted veggie plants in. Cover with soil ... tidy dahlia garden and call it a wrap ... oh, but there are all those roots to trim, put in peat moss and carry into the basement! I'm gonna need some sauteed parsnips for strength!

Steve