Here is a picture of my Planting Bible I've used for the past several years and it's pretty much on the money. It is the product of Diane Young. I use it as a place mat at the kitchen table.
Also, a mini pictorial on up potting seedlings growing foam bioPlugs to 4" pots and how to separate two plants growing one plug that got planted by accident.
This message was edited Feb 27, 2012 12:47 PM
A picture of 60 third planting 4" potups. Squash and cukes just sprouting in the background under the dome. Also a flat of larger tomato plants from a second starting of seeds.
A photo of a Purple Russian tomato plan growing out the top of an 18" tall Kozy coat. The seedling for this plant was started 12/17/2011.
The last three pics are of a new furrow/row maker attachment on the tiller, the new rows for okra, corn, southern peas, peppers and eggplants, and a dill plant that is already in bloom.
wow love the calendar! I have been piecing mine together from different sources. I am just north of you and think this calendar will work great. Where can I get one?
Here is a picture of my Planting Bible ...
The only place I have seen it for sale and it's where bought mine is Garden-Ville Nursery in San Marcos.
I must have one.
Coul I send you money for it?
D-mail your address, please.
T-rock...great looking garden.
I bought a hiller/furrower for my Troybilt in '92 or 93 and have used it each year since. They're great, aren't they! Sure saves on your back and makes for a nice looking garden.
Shoe
Shoe, every year I tell myself I have to try to make the furrows with the tiller and every year I end up digging out the furrows with a shovel. It would go something like this: day one - dig one furrow, day two - back pain and Aleve, day three - dig second furrow, day four - back pain and Aleve, and so on and so on.
Since last spring I have been shopping ebay, Amazon.com and Craig's List for one of these attachments. Everything I ran across was for the Troy, MTD or a couple other brand tillers but nothing for my Husky by TSC. The one I ended up buying was $20 + $20 S&H. All the other ones were a good bit more but looked the same as the one as I bought. To make it fit I was prepared to do some welding. As it turned out I had in my scrap pile a small bar which I made work as a connector by drilling a 5/16" and a 3/8" hole in the bar. It only took minutes to run 5 furrows and no back pain.
In another post you commented on an old antique log planter. These are hard to come by these days and when you find one you had better have gold in your pocket. I am going to plant geraniums in this one and hang it on the front porch at the cabin.
Congrats! That furrower will save your back, and plenty of time saved, too. I tilled a garden for a customer last week and put the furrower on after tilling. The garden looked so pretty I wish I had taken my camera w/me to take a pic.
Those hiller/furrowers are great for hilling up taters, even corn if you want to help keep the corn from lodging. Can you set the angle on yours (the wings)? If so you have even more options.
And yes, that log planter is a collectors item. Better hang on to that!
Shoe
Yes, the wings are set with the outer ends in the down position. Later this week when the soil has had chance to dry a little I intend to run the tiller down the furrows in the opposite direction. May move the wings to the up position just to see the effect.
The squash and cukes planted 2/22/2012 are coming up. Gunna put some of these under Kozy coats. The 18 cell Styrofoam block with the large biofoam plugs is for large seed types as opposed to the 60 cell block I use for tomatoes and other small seed types of plants. I use both interchangeably in the Park's Biodome, a self-watering system. Some of these seedlings will go under Kozy coats. The block cells are addressed like a spreadsheet.
Squash:
A-1 Cashflow
A-2 Fortune
A-3 Profit
A-4 Zephyr
Cukes:
A5-6 Arabian
B1-2 Corentine
B3-4 Suyo Long
B5-6 Thunder
C1-2 Vlastar
Geranium:
C3-6 Elite Red
TRock,
How does the furrower work? I've been raking rows up for years...is this something that would save me those hours of work and sore back?
David
David, I can't say enough good things about it. I did have to an adapter to fit it to my tiller but it wasn't all that difficult. The rows I made aren't perfect but they are good enough for my garden. With a little practice they could be purity.:)
What brand tiller do you have?
I have an MTD of uncertain parentage, with a 5.5 HP Briggs & Stratton. When I looked online, it seems that MTD isn't making the Furrower/Hiller. It is out-of-stock everywhere.
Edited: I spoke too soon, I found a generic Hiller/Furrower on ebay. It is priced at $79 and includes shipping. For the amount of work to rake up hills, I figure that is a fair gamble. If it doesn't work that well for me, then I haven't lost a huge amount of money. Since you (TRock) and Shoe both recommend the concept, I have to give it a try.
If anyone else is interested, look at: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l2736&_nkw=Hiller+Furrower
I picked the black one, but red is also available. (There are listings that show a cheaper price, but the shipping cost raises the total to about the same price.)
This message was edited Feb 28, 2012 11:34 AM
Just have to let you men know that your giving me a lot of entertainment. Boyz and their toyz! No matter your age. On the other hand, the rows do look great. If you lived closer Id ask to borrow it. (Grin)
Post close up photo of the rear of your tiller where the adjustable elevation bar attaches to the tiller. You may need to make an adapter for fitment but I bet it is doable.
Also post a link to the item you found showing of stock.
Lisa,
I am horrible about having gardening toys! Ask my wife--she bought me a three-point hitch disk harrow to pull behind my Kubota compact tractor. I already had a 16" moldboard plow. She also bought me a Earthway seeder and a high-wheel push plow (that I use with a scuffle-hoe blade). My daugthers bought me a "garden scoot", that I will be using for the first time today to transplant broccoli. I also have a small, 2-cycle, MTD cultivator (think Mantis). We discovered early on with my limited health that an hour of hoeing weeds the old-fashioned way was just about enough to put me down. I have to do as much as possible with as little physical labor as I can manage. Most of the toys reduce the work, so that it is still possible for me to have a nice garden.
Here's the garden scoot. There are a few similar ones available online. Mine is from Gardener's Supply Company.
David
I dont have to ask your wife. Ive been married. Yes, with your health you might actually need them but my bet is you would have them anyway. (grin)
Today - removed all 16 Kozy coats from tomato plants and used 10 to cover 2 squash in straw bale and 8 cukes in raised bed. Planted 2 squash and 2 cuke seedlings in raised beds. These ones are not under Kozy coats.
All 26 tomatoes now planted will have to be covered with frost cloth this weekend....cold front is on the way.
Also, today I noticed potato sprouts are starting to break ground.
Pic 1 - cuke seedling started in large size bioplug is ready to go in the ground.
Pic 2 - cuke planted and is in its nice new and toasty home.
Pic 3 - potato coming up.
Pic 4 - shot of tomatoes after Kozy coats have been removed. In the background are 8 cukes under Kozys.
Planted a block of corn, since my soil temp has hit 60 degrees. The block is 5 rows, 30" apart. Each row is about 30 feet long. Luckily I have the Earthway seeder. Planting even that little bit of corn would have about killed me to do it by hand. Also got a row of broccoli transplanted. Need to get some spinach and lettuce in the ground, before the really high heat gets here. I hope to put tomatoes out by sometime next week. I will be using the season starters, still, to protect from any late cold and the fierce spring wind that we always seem to have here. I'll see how much I can get done tomorrow before I keel over! : )
David
How far apart do you plant corn?
The seeder plants them about 3-4 inches apart in the row. I thin to 10-12 inches. I previously planted rows 24" apart. This year I opened the rows up to 30". Two feet wasn't quite enough room to get between the rows to cultivate or hill.
After you mentioned broccoli I checked my calendar to find I transplanted two plants I started from seed into the garden Tuesday of last week. I have noticed that over the past several days that it has started to grow like crazy.
On the corn I plan to plant one double row spaced 12" apart with the seeds staggered 12" apart or there abouts.
I've read that it is better to plant shorter rows, with more rows, to get good pollination. A single row, or two rows, doesn't spread the pollen as evenly as it would if there are more rows side-by-side. A two row patch may do okay with the rows as closely spaced as you are planning, though.
Yes, I have heard the same. My rows are 20-25 feet long and now that you have remind me of this, I think I will plant something like a 6' x 10' block with seeds every 12" in all directions. This is only my second time growing corn. My first was in the early eighties. At the time when the stalks were big and tall there was a severe hail, thunder and rain storm which blew the stalks to about a thirty to forty degree angle. For several days afterward I was straightening corn stalks. Ever since I have shied away.
How do deal with the worms that bore into the ears or is it a problem for you?
TRock,
I used Dipel dust, in a duster tool, called Dustin Mizer. It makes a fog of the powder, covering everything very evenly. The first thing in the morning is best since the dew helps bind the powder. It helps some, but I also just trim the ends of the ears that get a worm.
David
Today - Planted cukes, okra, corn, and southern peas. Also, transplanted 9 tomatoes.
Here is a shot of Lemme's Italian peppers and an F1 Bell pepper.
Pic 2 - Beets
Pic 3 - Rows after planting okra, corn and southern peas.
Pic 4 - Tomato transplants 2- Moutain Glory, 2- Principle Borghase, 2- San Marzano Giganta 3, 2- Chappy X/L Red, and 1- Eva Purple Ball
Pic 5 - Supper
Locally , folks use a drop of mineral oil on the silk which will repel the corn borer organically. I've done so successfully but if you have a large crop that would be a job.
Dreaves ~ how well did your scooter work for you? I have one I picked up used at the flea market last fall but hadn't exercised it yet. Another handy gadget if you don't already have one is the kneeling/seated bench. My favorite!
Podster,
I'm pretty happy with the scoot. It rolls pretty well alongside the rows. The tractor-style seat is reasonably comfortable, too. It is way better than getting up and down! I'm sure that it will be super for weeding in the rows, too. It worked really well for transplanting broccoli a couple days ago. Mine has a basket behind that fits a 5-gallon bucket and a tray under the seats for small tools.
David
texasrockgarden
did you plant your okra, cukes and squash indoor?
Okra went directly in the ground. I seeded 10 cukes indoors 2/22/2012 and day before yesterday transplanted them to the garden, 8 under Kozy coats. Yesterday I planted about thirty cucumber seeds directly in the ground. I seeded 4 squash indoors 2/22/2012 and day before yesterday transplanted them to the garden, 2 in straw bales under Kozys. Last year I experimented with one squash under a Kozy. I was amazed at how much bigger it was all season long than the plants that were seeded afterward. Non of the cukes or squash transplants had true leaves yet but they had roots already showing around the sides and out the bottom of the large foam bioplugs. Squash gets big roots fast so I'm thinking getting them in the ground soon after germination will minimize transplant shock.
My garden is located on a south facing slope. With the mild winter the soil and especially the raised beds and pots have warmed up nicely, plenty warm to germinate seeds. Once germinated most seedlings can stand a little cold. If in fact I lose some to a late freeze or heavy frost there is still time to replant.
I've spent a good amount of money in terms of what I can afford buying Kozy coats and heavy frost cloth and all the seed starting junk to not get indoor started plants in the ground early and if I can get direct planted seeds to germinate in the ground, all the better.
That's great.
I will start them soon too. But indoor for now ...
I still have lots of the fall/winter vegetables in the ground ... and not so much space for anything else ..
Keep posting
Worked on tomato cage today. Hope it doesn't frost or freeze this weekend. May have to drag out the frost cloth just in case.
We have a chance for a possible freeze I don't know about you? Is your soil alkaline? What do you do, if anything, to bring the PH down?
Yes, my soil is alkaline. I use gypsum (neutral) where additional calcium is desired. It contains sulfur. I use ammonium sulfate on my onions. I use 13-13-13-11sulfur or 15-15-15-8sulfur. I add green sand and alfalfa meal to the dirt portion of the garden along with generous amounts of horse, rabbit, and chicken manure. It also gets huge amounts of oak leaves. The furrows between the new rows will soon be filled in with manure and oak leaves that will be tilled in this fall.
My raised beds are filled with Garden-Ville soil that is supposed to be neutral but I have never had it tested. The pots also contain imported soil from Garden-Ville.
What is your soil like and how do you manage it?
Pretty much the same. I do lasagna gardening so I don't do much tilling but I do have livestock so there is plenty of poop. Lol. Every year I try to burn but this year it has been too wet, didn't think I'd ever say that again. So I think I'll add amendments to each hole and see how that works. Just haven't had a lot of free time. I'm on a well so I know the water also has a high PH so I keep raising the PH every time I water. I do use Epsom Salts.
I've just seen alot on DG about the PH and how 7.4 was high for tomatoes. Im sure mine is higher then that and the tomatoes do fine. It's the heat and the pests that take them out. How would I know if the PH was having an adverse effect on my tomatoes? I just think back to when none of this testing was available and people just grew stuff, it must have been a lot easier. Lol
36 degrees forecast for tonight so had to cover a few tomato plants. Didn't want to risk frost or a light freeze.
This message was edited Mar 3, 2012 7:21 PM
Good thing I covered the tomatoes last night. This morning there was frost and frozen condensed water droplets on plastic in several spots about the garden but none on any metal.
Just finished fertilizing onions with ammonium sulfate and tomatoes with Medina Hasta Grow for Plants.
