Baymule's 2016 Garden

[ChickenMomma91]

It makes me envious. My garden is small but it's gonna pack a wallop. Hope you get those apples going. Pie sounds good right now

 

[baymule]

We got 1 3/4" of rain last week, now waiting for the garden to dry enough to make a final run with the tractor. Then I'll be planting!

 

[baymule]

April 8, I planted 7 double rows of Painted Mountain corn, 30 feet long. According to the 2014 Corn Thread on TEG, it tasseled at 39 days and I picked and shelled it for dry flour corn in 92 days. So this means I can get a running head start with the Painted Mountain before planting Anasazi Sweet corn, and they won't cross pollinate, for saving seed.

At the feed store April 5, was a tub of sprouting, shriveled potatoes and a sign that said How Green Is Your Thumb? FREE! So naturally I got some. I got brown skinned white potatoes and purple skinned purple potatoes. I planted two rows 30' long. Normally I plant what we call new potatoes, a red skinned white potato, in mid February, and harvest the end of May, before the summer heat. I have never tried to grow potatoes in the heat, so we'll see what happens.

The same feed store had onion sets, 79 cents, buy one, get one free. So I planted a small patch for green onions in the far corner of the garden. I have planted a lot of non GMO black oil sunflower seeds on two of the fence lines for future chicken/sheep treats.

Still a little cool at night, in the 50's with dips in the 40's.

 

[Mini Horses]

Well I haven't tilled or planted. We have had some crazy weather and a few days of 28-30 morning temps....and it's APRIL!! I feel it's over for those extremes so I'm hoping to disc and plant in next 2 weeks as I have slow "work" weeks. I have seed potatoes, seeds and all that stuff just waiting on ME. I'm doing the painted Mt corn, too!

Did you use an actual disc on your tractor to work the garden in the pics above? I have a disc and plan to use but, looking at a tiller. Now THAT is expensive!! Have a pull tiller for mower but, it makes me work harder than I want and you need a lot of turn space. Tractor I can back up. BUT, I'm thinking, why can't I remove the back set of disc from the equipment and put those "spider" discs on there & it would do same as tiller...? Seems so.

The disc makes what looks like a row, not just flatter like a till......? understand that? ........and I want flatter. Guess I need to go find an old farmer and talk about it. LOL the guy behind me cut up some ground but not sure what attachment he used on tractor. I'm gong to ask and see if It was a tiller. Some things you just don't use enough to make worth the cost.

 

[Denim Deb]

We've finally warmed up. I was getting tired of making a fire.

 

[baymule]

@Mini Horses I just use a disc. I am going toward a no-till garden. I have a lot of pine shavings from a local horse event center piled in the garden. I had pigs in it all winter and they rooted big holes, so I dragged the disc around and around to smooth it out. I will just keep adding more mulch and compost on top. Over several years, the soil gets so deep and loose that you don't need to till. Save your money. LOL

I just use a garden rake to make my rows, pretty much flat. Those big piled up rows just shed water, it all runs off and the plants stay dry.

I planted my tomatoes into cardboard. I set up cow panels 18" apart and planted tomatoes in between. I laid down cardboard to keep the weeds down. I used to garden in beds at our old house and I opened up paper feed sacks, weighed them down with bricks, cut holes in the paper and inserted the plants.

 

[baymule]

Crows pulled up every single corn sprout and ate the kernel off. Needless to say, all the corn died. I replanted and my husband helped me make heavy wire hoops. I placed them over the corn rows and covered with bird netting, held on place by clothes pins. The Painted Mountain corn is about 5" tall now. It is a meal corn, I really want a big batch of cornbread. In a few weeks, I will plant Anasazi Sweet Corn, so they don't cross pollinate.

I have yellow crook neck squash putting on 2nd and 3rd leaves. I have yellow patty pan squash and zucchini coming up. I planted calico peas and pink eye purple hulls, they are starting to come up. I planted melons, watermelons, green cotton, banana peppers and beets.

I spread compost, laid out cardboard and pounded in T-posts. My husband helped me set cow panels 18" apart and clipped them to the T-posts. I cut holes in the cardboard and planted tomatoes.

I hope I have better success with this year's garden. Starting from raw land is a lot of work! I have 55 baby chicks right now in a brooder. I am saving the papers from the poop trays, going to compost them with horse manure. I'll let it cook all summer, it ought to be ready for the fall garden.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

And goats ate the tops of my corn....ugh! Thankfully, with a little TLC, they seem to be surviving - can't say thriving - just surviving. That seems to be a common theme in my garden this year.

 

[baymule]

After a year and half with NO garden, I just want SOMETHING from my garden to eat!

 

[Denim Deb]

I want to get mine planted! But it looks like it's finally going to be warmer and dryer this weekend, so I should finally be able to get out there and do something.