Ok, upon final inspection it appears that I was correct about the potatoes.  They did not grow.  The patch had been fertilized with 10-20-10 and cottonseed mill.

This means I have the area that had been used for corn, peas and squash last season is now available for planting/tilling this weekend.  

Squash did very well last year until the stinkbugs hit them, and then it was 1 plant per day that died.    I did not find anything to kill them last year, I plan to try rubbing alcohol and other suggestions this season.

I am looking for suggestions on an items to grow that cans/preserves well.  I made alot of squash relish last year, but, there is only so much vinegary squash mix that you can eat in a year.

The area is about 20'x90'

I can do corn, but, the amount of return per square foot was pretty low last year.

TRG

What about beets?  Either straight canned or pickled they are great.  You can eat the greens in salads too.  While pickling last year I tried out some other twists.  I threw some curry paste in and made curried beets, did some Asian beets with a little soy and ginger.  They were really tasty.

I have some beets planted already.  We ate some of the beets last year, but, not as many as I expected.  

I like pickled and canned beats though.  I did not know how to preserve them last year, so I might be asking you for a recipe this year.

TRG

cucumbers and okra
 

Already have them planted in other patches.  And, I still have pickled okra left over from last summer.

I talked it over with my gardening colleague at the college.  With the amount of soil prep, fertilizer and tilling, I decided to try again with corn.  My corn, last year, was small and stunted.  I thought it was from the drought (was probably a factor).

He felt my 6" ears were the result of too little fertilizer, improper feeding and lack of experience with growing and planting.

So...I tilled under the patch this afternoon, hooked up my single-row cultivator to set some rows, and grabbed the G-90 peaches and cream seeds he had given me last year that I had stored in the freezer...

Before planting, I added 25lbs of cottonseed mill, and 25lbs of 10-20-10.  This is on top of what was used for the taters 6 weeks ago.  I tilled it all together.
I tilled three tiller-width's.  I dropped off the tiller and put on the single-row cultivator to use to lay in two rows per bed.

I walked along each furrow and planted a corn seed every 8-12"  My goal was to have 1 seed every 12" to increase spacing and reduce the stunting.  In some cases the seeds were closer, but generally 12" spacing was pretty easy to keep.

I had about 1/2 cup of seed left over, so I filled in some gaps, then covered it all using the hoe.





Asparagus is still producing, but I think I am going to stop picking for this year:



Flower mix in the front flowerbed is sprouting:



Herb garden is beginning to sprout:



Tomato plants have taken to the soil.  bonus points if anyone names the seedlings sprouting at the base.



This long row is subdivided in to different plants.



Beets:



Radish



Closeup of the row of greens



Onions beginning to grow bulbs.  the crack, I think, is a good sign.  I plan to begin thinning the onions this next week.  Some will be given away, maybe some dried.



Closeup of some of the wet weather plants growing next to my onions.  You'll even see some moss.



Long view of the onions.  The Oliver is really making things easier this year.  Much more compact and manueverable

Are you going to be planting any more tomatoes and peppers, or just sticking with what you have?  How many did you plant of each last year?

I had to replant last year.  I screwed up and root bound the first planting.

I don't plan to put anymore tomatoes or peppers this year.  One of the varieties is an heirloom, I will get some seeds from it for next year.

I canned some tomatoes last year, but, I didn't like doing it.  Too much trouble to blanch, peel and then store them.

I am taking a long look at what I am planting this year and my potential for expansion.  By that, I mean, to put the entire field under cultivation.  As I am learning to plant and to use the equipment, my ability to utilize space is making it seem silly to leave so much ground unturned.

In between the rows of corn, I planted more butternut squash, cucumbers and green beans.  

TRG

You're lucky to have access to that creek for your garden.  I'm on five acres and would love to have an acre or two under cultivation, but my only source of water is a city hook-up and it would be way to expensive to irrigate a garden that size.  

That creek... I want to dam it.  The problem is that every year, or two, we get a bank-to-bank gulley washer that will wipe out any dam, or wash away the soil around it.  

In the normal years, it flows enough that any small dam will silt over.

I am looking at what method I can use to possibly build a series of dams.  The first few will be to slot the water and catch silt.  I'm not sure, yet, how to make it cost effective and self-cleaning.

Sackrete is too expensive to just start hauling in sacks of it these days.

TRG

Probably not the first to suggest it, but you need a beaver.







 

Just about a mile from my house, there are beavers damming a creek that flows in to the lake.  Everyday I pass by and wonder how I could get them to follow me home.

TRG

A local watermelon farmer recommended that I use 'Fanfare' on my melons and squash to kill stinkbugs.

I don't have an applicators license, so, I need to locate an over the counter equivalent.

Advice? Suggestions?

TRG

You would live to regret that. It took us quite awhile to get them to move from the creek. Finally a nuisance permit from the DEC and a excavator convinced them to move.

My neighbor called me today and said he had cleaned the floor of his coop and dumped the material on an adjacent fenceline so that I could share in the free fertilizer.  He said it needed to be used sparingly and mixed in to the soil carefully.

I hauled 15 gallons of it back to the garden.  I ran a line of it lightly down the pepper and tomato row.  I added it lightly around all the fruit trees and added some to the asparagus bed.

This afternoon it was time to work on some flowerbeds.

This is looking from the backyard, toward the front, the garden is on the left of this:







This side catches only morning sun and by noon it begins to get shaded.  It has no view from the road, so it was always a low-priority for flowers.

I used my dishwasher and laundry-folder to select, arrange and plant the flowers.

The asparagus and front beds also got hit with the beautification plan.  It got dark before I had a chance to photograph them as well.

TRG

Interesting post. I was raised in a gardening family, but really haven't been doing it on my own for long. Moved to the country in '04, so have been trying ever since. If I may make a few suggestions:

 Your garden might benefit from terraces. I have friends who farm rolling land in West Texas and they HAVE to terrace their land or it would simply wash away. My buddy built his terraces with an offset disc.

 Don't guess when it comes to fertilizer. Go to you local extension or County Agent and ask for a soil analysis kit. They're free. Follow the instructions and send the sample in to Texas A&M with $13 (unless it's gone up) and they'll analyze your soil and tell you EXACTLY what fertilizer is needed for the plants you're attempting to grow. From the pics, I'd say you're in East Texas where the soil should have a good supply of nitrogen.

 Chickens...Red Stars are really good layers, as you've found out, but they are not at all broody meaning they won't sit on and hatch eggs. Since all layers have a laying life of three or so years, you need a plan to obtain replacement chickens. Of course you'll need a rooster, but more on that later. Game or fighting chickens, while not the egg laying machines that others are, are very broody and and are fantastic mothers. When you have a hen sitting a nest, just take some of your other eggs and put them under her. Game chickens are also very hardy and far less apt to get caught by coyotes and bobcats because they fly surprisingly well. You don't need but a couple of them around to sit eggs.
 If you want a sustainable flock, you might want to rethink the breed. It's my understanding that hybrids such as Red Stars, also known as Red Sex-links, and Black Sex-links do not produce offspring that are good layers. Evidently one of the vices of hybrids. Other good laying breeds include Barred Rocks and Orpingtons the latter of which are likewise quite broody. I guess you could say if a particular breed lay lots of eggs, then they typically aren't broody, and if they're sparse layers, then they're probably good sitters and mammas.

 Get a rooster! Obviously you need one for your eggs to be fertile, but they also serve as a watchdog for the hens and will warn them when a hawk flies over, or any other danger is near. I have a total of 13 chickens, 2 of which are roosters, that free range all day. I enjoy waking up to the roosters crowing. Chickens love green vegetation and it contributes to the firm, bright orange yolks that our eggs have.

 Back to sitting eggs. Last October I had a barred rock hen sit a clutch of eggs and guys I'm telling you, that is THE way to raise baby chickens. No incubator to mess with, no worrying about humidity and temperature, just let the hen do her job. I have a seperate coop and hen house covered in 1" chicken wire that's perfect for raising babies. After the eggs hatched, I put the hen and her clutch in this coop and the hen did all the work. No heat lamp needed as she kept them warm, showed them at an amazingly young age to use the roost, and taught then how to scrounge for food. After about 1 month, I began turning her and the babies out with the others and after about two months she was finished with them and they were big enough to find their own food and fend for themselves.

 Laying hens up here are selling for anywhere from $10 - $15 and they're in demand, so if a person has an excess of hens, it's no problem to thin the flock.

 Good luck!!
 GG

Good post.

Thanks for taking the time to post it.  I don't have an offset disc.  Adding terraces is something that I am going to try and figure out if I expand any further.

TRG

Today it was more flowerbeds.  I added in a new bed next to the garage.  I have an elevation issue here.  It is viewable from the road, but the soil is above the brick/foundation level.  I was warned that this might lead to water leaking in to the garage.  It's been like that for 15 years with no water seepage.

I am removing an old raised bed and re-using the crossties.   This is on the left side of my garage.  And I think I am going to add in some shrubs as well.  



The lift on the Super-M was helpful, but it still meant alot of pushing, shoving and hand dragging to get the ties in place, cut to fit and leveled.  It sucked.





I purchased 6 bags of potting soil, 1 bag of peat moss, 3 bags of pine bark, 3 trays of mixed flowers, begonia, impatients, marigolds etc.  It was 70.00 in materials at Wal-mart. I also added some cottonseed mill to the mixture to help feed the flowers.

There is probably too much sun for the impatients, might even be too hot and sunny for the begonias, but, we'll see what works this this year.



I have one more bed to build, but it will have to wait until the middle of the week.  

TRG

Anyone have any experience growing sweet potatoes?  I am thinking about what I can plant for summer and sweet potatoes were suggested.  How do I get the starts?  

TRG

I'm trying sweet potato for the first time this year. From what I read you make sips from store bought potato. Either cut into chunks and dust with sulfer and plant or cut and place over jars of water and get them started. They should do good in your area, you have the Yamboree right down the road in Gilmer every year.

I drive past a 100 acre sweet potato field just south of my place.  I read a little online about how to start the slips.  

Again, taters don't like me, so this could be further evidence of their disdain when I try, and fail, again to grow any.

I also hatched a plan to experiment with damming the creek.  Cheap potting soil is 2.48 per bag at Wal-mart.  I have used garbage bags full of sand in the past to build small dams that held 10-12" of water.  IT has always been tough to find a source of easy to shovel sand in the past to fill the bags.

However, with the recent erosion, I now have a source of clean, easy to shovel, sand that I can use to make a temporary dam this summer.

I might even add some of the bags of potting soil to my materials list when they go on close-out later this summer. They can be stored for later use, or used as sandbags in case of flooding around my house. (got a breezeway with french drains that likes to clog.

TRG

http://www.tatorman.com/

We grew them the past three years here in SE MI.  The yield was less than stellar.  The first year rabbits got to the slips a little while after we planted them.  They came back but slowly.  The other two years the mice got them bad.  They grew great and set plenty of tubers.  Flowered and filled in very nice with healthy vines.  The problem I found was the canopy created by the plants was a haven for mice.  They burrowed down right at the tubers and hollowed them out.  When I went to dig them I found numerous nests and the mice went scurrying.  

I am not gonna do them this year.  It was too much work for the few tubers the mice left me.  I love sweet potatoes but I'm gonna free up the area allocated to sweet potatoes and plant more regular potatoes.  I have much better luck with them.

ETA: spelling

Photobucket was bitching about my bandwidth, so, in case these pics don't show, here is the link to my album:

http://s671.photobucket.com/albums/vv71/TheRedGoat/


I planted corn, beans and more butternut squash last week in the potato/corn area.  

The seeds had been stored in my freezer in a Ziploc since last summer.  C-90 Peaches and Cream.

They are now 1" tall sprouts.  



Onions are now more than knee high.  This is the 3lb can of bug powder, for scale:



Tomatoes have doubled in size.  I got to work with the hoe yesterday and cleared alot of small weeds and mixed in some of the chicken manure that I applied over the weekend.  



Long view of the garden.  The grass in the middle was going to be tilled under and used for peppers, etc this year.  But, with the erosion issues I decided to leave it in place.  The collection of IBC totes, and the grass around that picnic table were my afternoon's project.  They are now stacked in the field, the weeds are cut and I am in the process of trying to find the over grown patch of garlic that is in the grass.  The spring rains have caused things to explode in growth.



You'll see the totes are missing here, and also the long curved line moving from the left to the right.  This is an area I tilled last weekend to help move water from the lower end of the melon patch, away from my main vegetable garden,  I also planted some extra beans in this tilled soil.  IT actually has worked to move the water in a new direction.



And finally, the bug lovers will be hapy to note that the ladybugs are already active in the watermelon patch.  The sprouts (not shown here) are from 1/4" to 1.5" tall.  



TRG

Call SweetTater.

Well played.

Apparently I am over my 10GB limit on Photobucket for bandwidth this month.  I added another flower bed today.  



I also decided to dam the creek and figured out a way to spend ZERO dollars to do it.
Rocks



Like bags of sand



Bags after being tossed inthe creek:



Stones tossed on top.  Most were hand tossed and allowed to fall where they chose.   few I hand placed to help the fung-shei?  



Depth of hte creek when I started:



Before I had even finished:



18" deep







I re-used 5 bags from the flowerbeds.  the empty bags of mulch, fertilizer and potting soil were refilled with some of the wash/drift/erosion soil from the watermelon patch.  In the melon patch there was/is a spot with alot of red sandstone chunks.  I had removed the larger ones from the field and had them piled to the side.  I gathered them up and used them to help  build the dam. The largest ones were about 75lbs.  the smaller ones were 1-5lbs.  

I picked the narrowest spot, close to the garden and used the filled bags as the base.  I dropped them in to the creek one on top of the other. the area around the dam site was pretty well covered with loose vines, roots and ground cover.  I know it will get over the top of the rocks, but, I think erosion will be managed naturally.

The sandstones were tossed on top.  I don't expect it to be watertight, but, I do expect it to slow the flow enough that I can get a few perch to survive and also use the pool to irrigate.

The depth of the water was about 4" before the dam.  The pool is about 16" deep and about 40' long.  The depth varies, but, it should work for what I need.

Also found a leveling arm for the Oliver.  It was from a 58 Ford.  25.00 at the local swap meet:



Video of the dam:



TRG

As some of you may recall, I used my Satoh Beaver last summer to irrigate during the record drought.  This worked just fine, and cheap, until I failed to check the fluid level on the transmission and seized the PTO/Transmission.

This broke two gear and galled a gear on to the shaft.  it was 1500.00 in repairs.  I *probably* could have gotten away with the low fluid, except I had parked on an incline.  The Mitsubishi system works up splash lubrication.  Since the system was unlevel, low on fluid and not moving...bang.

Prior to this,  I could pump about 10 gallons per minute from the creek.  It took about an hour to drain the pool and water my garden.  However, as the pump aged, even at 1000rpm initial speed, it began losing its ability to draw water up from the creek.

So that I can now use the new dam and subsequent reservoir to irrigate, and the Beaver is repaired, I needed to do a coupe of things:

1.  Locate a level location to put the tractor.
2.  Lower the intake point so that my displacement pump could more easily draw water.

To accomplish these two goals, I moved a beam bridge from further up the creek to the new location near the dam. These I-beams were used by the previous owner of my adjacent 10 acres.


I used the 1954 Super M, with a lifting boom.  I used a toplink that I bought at the tractor swap yesterday to help raise and lower the load at critical points.  Man, it made it easier. The wheel around the toplink was really easy to use.  I would attach to an object with it at the shortest length.  when i lowered, this gave me the ability to let-out another foot in elevation.  Handy trick.

I alo used snap rings as impromptu chain shorteners.





I drove over, then back on the Beaver.  It held the weight, but man...'there is only one way to test a sharkbite suit..."  Hearing those beams creak makes you nervous:





I might use the old wooden bridge to make a platform to park on.  If I could figure a way to safely make this roadbed for the bridge with the materials I have on hand, I will.




Oh yeah, also went fishing this morning on a private pond.  I fished from 7:30 am till 1030.  I brought home 27 bass.  I tossed back at least twice this amount from being too small or too far from the fish basket.



We also had sundogs today, supposed to indicate high level moisture and rain coming:



And a nice view of the garden.  Lined up the containers, they are all empty.  Originally, i was planning aquaponics, but with fertilizer getting o high, I am thinking about making my own liquid fertilizers.  anyone had experience with this?

 

I been busy around here lately.

TRG

I'm impressed man.



You are doing awesome.



 

I think I would take the weights off the front and the mower off the rear before testing the water.


Ya'll have any Pancho's buffets around there?





 

Well, I had used these three beams before with   one nose weight and the mower.  But, it was a smaller gap and less span per beam. I was fairly certain it could take the  additional nose weight.

As for Pancho's..

TRG

Those weights belong on the front of a real tractor. What are you worried about the beaver falling in the water for? Everyone knows a beaver can swim. I see your truck bed is starting to look like a real farmers, Top link and assorted tools with a little "stuff" just for good measure. Incredible bass fishing, did the spare parts go to the chickens? You really have been busy, I need to pick up my pace a little.

Aquaponics is liquid fertilizer.

Urine works too, just age and dilute before using.  If you want to brew a compost tea, that's pretty easy and works well.  Get an aquarium air pump and a couple of air stones, source some compost (worm castings are best).  Fill your containers with water, put the worm castings/compost in cheese cloth/paint strainer/pantyhose (or just throw it in the tank), tie it off and submerge.  Put the air stones in to aerate.  Add molasses if you want to really get the bacteria multiplying.  Let steep for 24-48 hours before using.  This is good for both a soil drench and foliar spray.  As a foliar spray it is supposed to help with certain pests as well.  

I've never done it myself, but I have heard of others soaking manure in water and using the resulting "tea" as a liquid fertilizer.  I wouldn't use it as a foliar spray though, just in case there were some bad bacteria in the manure.

So when are you going to start digging your own pond?

I fed them the fish heads, guts, etc.  Currently the hens are eating the maggots fro ma feral hog, a feral cat and 27 bass.  They still like to go out and eat earthworms.

TRG

I love this thread

Well, about 10 years ago I had a guy from the Us soil and conservation department come out here to do a site survey for a pond.  Based upon my sandy soil, gentle grade and numerous trees is was determined that I could spend alot of money and make a fine marsh or swamp.

There is a layer of thick red clay under all this sandy soil.  This clay is the reason why I have so many active springs, even during the droughts.

I scan Craigslist looking for a dozer though.  If I find one cheap enough, I may buy, learn to use and try my hand at digging a pond.  

TRG

It loves you right back..

I caught it whispering your name in its sleep last night.

TRG

I think I am done with the flowerbeds now.  In total, I repaired the long one that had been neglected, then added three more.  Two at the edge of the garage, and one next to the front walk to balance the entrance.

I have used 9 trays of flowers from Wal-mart.  Each tray holds 6 containers of 6 plants.  They are 1.77 per container of 6.  About 300 flowers, give or take a few.

6 bags of pine bark chips/nuggets.  2 bags of peat moss, 16 bags of cheap potting soil, some cottonseed mill and some sweat.

It was a few hundred bucks, but, I think it added alot of return on the investment when you walk around the front now.

This shows the flowerbed that wraps around the garage, and the matching one that is below grade on near side.  I left a 1" gap and it is positioned below the runoff from the driveway.  Alot of th efill is not soil, just pinebark to let the water pass through to the drain under the breezeway.





This one is on the other side of the breezeway.  It ties both flowerbeds together and dovetailed pretty nicely in to the corner.  It is also above the level of the breezeway, so there is alot of bark on the backside to let water pass without flooding my breezeway.





Flowers around the aspargus, It has shot up like a weed.  The tallest asparagus is over 5' now.  The loop of rebar was put there last year to keep the asparagus from falling on to the wooden walkway.  The nesting pair of fly-catchers use it as a bench.  free poop is fine by me.



Herbs still coming along too.



Now, walking up the wooden walkway means you can check the blueberries, herbs and asparagus as incidental gardening.

And I just used an entire can of bug powder on the melons and the main garden.  Cutworms have already sprouted and killed some of the watermelon seedlings.  I also suspect they are the reason I have only seen one gourd sprout.  Also had some leaf damage in the sunflower patch.   I swear, if they made a bug powder that killed every cutworm but hair lipped crippled kids as a side effect, I'd still invest in a ton of it.  I'd sponsor the IPO even.

I will re-plant some of the melon seed next weekend once I see which areas were wiped out, and which just need a little more time to sprout.

TRG

My trapper was just out again last night setting more traps.  I have lost a dozen trees this year.

Meh.  I've lost a hundred from the drought and more to wind, floods and erosion.

I would not miss a few more.

TRG

When did you get the Oliver?

March 2nd of this year.  Pics are on page http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_19/653894_My_Garden_2012__Lots_of_nude_pics_.html&page=5

TRG

I know a place that could use the hell out of that...

I cant keep air in my trailer tires, the Satoh Beaver III, or my truck.

That place needs something from 1942 that runs on steel rims.

TRG

If we could keep it mowed, that would stop being a problem.
I have had fantastic results with stopping tire leaks with one of these.  



But I suspect it will not work too well on inner tubes.

All of the pictures of the gardens going in look great.  I still have three feet of snow in our garden so it will be a while before I can start planting.  Instead of being able to plamt late May, it might not until June this year.  Hopefully we will have a good summer that will make up for the late start.

Sunrise: 7:01
Sunset 7:49pm

12:49 hours of daylight.  My garden does not get sun until about 30-45 minutes after sunrise because of the nearby treeline, and it gets shaded about an hour before sunset.

I was still picking peppers by the gallon in November last year.

With your shorter growing season, how many hours of direct sunlight do you get?

TRG

Math... How does it work?

You are to math what Kweif is to spelling.

Are you really thinking a rounding error from an Android App is all *that* important?

How about a question about my Satoh Beaver III instead?

TRG

After seeing the pictures of your creek and dam I have an idea that may be worth pursuing after the next gully washer takes out your current dam.

Several manmade dams have wooden wiers - most have substantial concrete abutments and steel reinforcements, but the water is actually held back with wooden planks.

You might be able to drive a pair of steel pipes on each side of the creek and use wood planks (white oak, ash, or locust so they won't degrade fast) to increase the water depth by 18 or 24 inches.  Put a cable or some steel strapping around each side, and you can use the tractor with cherry picker to lift the whole works up and out when you expect a gully washer.  Doing that once every couple years will also keep long term silt buildup to a minimum.



Just a thought.

J.