Garden Thread 2022

[HRDWRK]

I have a decent size patch of grass that I'd like to turn into a garden.

What are the steps?

Do I need to remove the grass?

Planning on renting a roto tiller and tilling rows. What should I add to the soil to make good things happen?

I'm a gardening newbie.

I would start with a sod cutter and cut away the grass!

Then till the soil!

Soil testers can be bought from most any store that sells garden plants!

Then add needed Amendment! Compost is good..

Build up the soil into rows and buy a hoe and plan to spend time weeding.. Add weed cloth as needed.

Over the rows for peppers put black plastic, it keeps the ground warmer and earlier..

Enjoy the veggies after all the work..

 

[on_the_rox]

I know I've read many times to remove the grass first but having put in several large gardens by just tilling in the existing grass I don't see any good reason to make more work for myself. In my mind all that grass and it's associated roots adds organic matter to the soil which is what I want anyway. My tiller really macerates the soil and doesn't leave much recognizable afterwards. That grass is going to die in the process. Will there maybe be some seeds that remain? Sure, that could be. I've personally not had any real issue after tilling up grass and all.

Now, if you're bringing in manure, odds are you'll be introducing some weed seeds unless it's thoroughly and properly composted first. In my opinion that's a risk that is worth the reward though in most cases.

 

[Clay]

Good plantings

Shishito peppers are easy to grow - small, not spicy, great grilled in garlic with olive oil. Start them early from seed.

For keeping pollinators coming - mountain mint is amazing. Native. Spreads all over.

For berries have planted shadbush and chokeberries(Aronia). Will let folks know how they turn out.

Pawpaws planted, let’s see how they do

 

[Glaron]

I started my first garden. I tilled the grass directly in. no impact. I did use a "Horse tiller" relatively powerful. Once done the row and furrow system worked perfect. It is wet here. People that dont do that will get flooded out.

 

[67temp]

Near the house we will have raised beds with a couple kinds of lettuce. 3-4 kinds of tomatoes with 3-4 plants each. Carrots, peas, zucchini, and jalapenos.

Our soil is heavy clay. In the fall I plowed a 75'X75' plot then added in all the leaves from the yard and remains from last year garden, then plowed it all a second time. I just did a third pass a couple days ago and everything seems to be getting darker and fluffier. I've also got two other 50'X50' plots. All these I'm going to try field corn, Indian corn, and sweet corn. I may even try the three sisters planting in one of the plots.

 

[TexasBob]

The weather on coastal Florida has been great we have long growing seasons, my Pineapple are going crazy, added a enclosed area to keep the 4 leg bandits out (raccoons and possums) today I counted over 20 with another 8 in pots in the pool area, the strawberry are also popping up.

 

[wilcam47]

The weather on coastal Florida has been great we have long growing seasons, my Pineapple are going crazy, added a enclosed area to keep the 4 leg bandits out (raccoons and possums) today I counted over 20 with another 8 in pots in the pool area, the strawberry are also popping up.

Does it take 3 yrs for pineapple to form fruit?

 

[TexasBob]

Does it take 3 yrs for pineapple to form fruit?

18 -24 Months from a young plant to harvested fruit, you only get one harvest off each plant, the next one is either grown from the top of the harvested pineapple or a off shoot from the original plant. I planted 8-10 store bought pineapples tops over the past 4-5 year and have eaten 20 plus pineapple I have grown which all have been sweeter and tasted better then any store bought.

 

[wilcam47]

18 -24 Months from a young plant to harvested fruit, you only get one harvest off each plant, the next one is either grown from the top of the harvested pineapple or a off shoot from the original plant. I planted 8-10 store bought pineapples tops over the past 4-5 year and have eaten 20 plus pineapple I have grown which all have been sweeter and tasted better then any store bought.

nice!

So how do you get the top to root? I tried once but it didnt work

 

[gamer_jim]

Me yesterday tilling our new garden. The soil up here in Hanover PA sucks, mostly clay.

We plan on planting corn, tomatoes, peppers, squash, lettuce and a bunch of other things.

 

[wilcam47]

Me yesterday tilling our new garden. The soil up here in Hanover PA sucks, mostly clay.

We plan on planting corn, tomatoes, peppers, squash, lettuce and a bunch of other things.

Start adding cow manure and till it in

 

[TexasBob]

nice!

So how do you get the top to root? I tried once but it didnt work

Buy Fresh Pineapple, if it dryed out odds are against not rooting, cut the top or Crown off, remove bottom leaves, put in a jar of clean water with toothpicks to keep it off the bottom of the jar, change the water every week or if the water get cloudy.Keep the leaves wet if they dry out its dead. When you get a bunch of roots ~4 weeks plant it in good dirt/potting soil it needs to the bottom leaves. Keep it watered but not soaked or it may rot. Grows into a good looking potted plant at the 1 year mark you may need to transplant into a larger pot if you started in a pot, if you plant straight into the ground you need to add fertilizer or if you have good soil enriched the soil around it. It helps if you live south of Daytona, pineapple are not fan of the cold and like a lot of sun and humidity. I get about 8 out of 10 to grow this way. Chicken manure or organic compost helps a lot.

 

[wilcam47]

Buy Fresh Pineapple, if it dryed out odds are against not rooting, cut the top or Crown off, remove bottom leaves, put in a jar of clean water with toothpicks to keep it off the bottom of the jar, change the water every week or if the water get cloudy.Keep the leaves wet if they dry out its dead. When you get a bunch of roots ~4 weeks plant it in good dirt/potting soil it needs to the bottom leaves. Keep it watered but not soaked or it may rot. Grows into a good looking potted plant at the 1 year mark you may need to transplant into a larger pot if you started in a pot, if you plant straight into the ground you need to add fertilizer or if you have good soil enriched the soil around it. It helps if you live south of Daytona, pineapple are not fan of the cold and like a lot of sun and humidity. I get about 8 out of 10 to grow this way. Chicken manure or organic compost helps a lot.

Ill have to try but around 43rd parrallel so prob wont work

 

[TexasBob]

Ill have to try but around 43rd parrallel so prob wont work

You can grow a pineapple as an indoor house plant but it can get over 3 foot across!

 

[wilcam47]

You can grow a pineapple as an indoor house plant but it can get over 3 foot across!

Nice!

 

[foodpoison]

So neighbor behind my house took down a huge oak last year. With my new sun I am in the process of building 2 more beds. I never really realized how much shade the '30 evergreen they have crosses the new beds. Came home yesterday and the evergreen was taken down

 

[gamer_jim]

More work on the parallel society today.

Moved about 20 wheelbarrow loads worth of dirt from across our property, 100 feet away.

Found a horse farm nearby who will load an unlimited amount of horse manure into our truck for free, so we did that yesterday. Spread it around and letting it age a bit before we mix it in.

Peas are also in the ground.

Next is to put some kind of fence up to keep the deer out.

 

[steves1911]

Potatoes and peas went in today. Did a few potatoes in 50gallon drums and a few in the garden.

 

[adit]

More work on the parallel society today.

Moved about 20 wheelbarrow loads worth of dirt from across our property, 100 feet away.

Found a horse farm nearby who will load an unlimited amount of horse manure into our truck for free, so we did that yesterday. Spread it around and letting it age a bit before we mix it in.

Peas are also in the ground.

Next is to put some kind of fence up to keep the deer out.

No need for a fence when you have guarden dog.

 

[knovotny]

I'm excited for our garden at the new place. Aside from the figs, asparagus, pears, and grapes already here, we just tilled in a garden. I plan to keep it basic this year and grow tomatoes, potatoes, and corn. Maybe some zucchini.