*****Official 2012 Gardening Thread*****
 

Mo's thread last year got a lot of traffic and had some good Info. What is everybody up to this year?

Here is a Link to the 2011 thread. Link

Sac's Tomato thread from a few years ago Link

Another thread with some tips. Link

Everything planted and up. 16 tomato plants, 20 pepper plants, 4-50 foot rows of pink eye peas and purple hull peas, 4 rows green beans, 12 sweet potato plants, muskmellons, watermellon, yellow cookneck, zuchinni,and butternut squash, 8 rows sweetcorn, eggplant, okra...im pretty sure that has it covered

The only cool thing I've got going this year is in the blank parts of the garden, which I usually mulch with some shitty grass hay my grandpa had, I planted cover. It has Oats, Lentils, Flax, Dwarf Essex Rape, and Safflower.

I had some seed left over, so I threw it out. If it fails miserably, I can always till it under and mulch it, but I'm liking it so far. I tilled and mulched the area around the plants to keep the competition out.

I am trying to improve soil health and keep it loosened up. It is pretty heavy soil and bakes out hard. Plus it tills up dramatically better where I have stuff growing. So I'm trying keep the whole thing growing.

I'm also trying to keep the temperature down. We have no humidity here and that damn hay just reflects sunlight and heat. It is like standing on a hot tin roof in the middle of the afternoon. Growing plants absorb light and transpire, so it SHOULD help keep the temperature down some.

They are so far keeping the weeds out pretty well. There were some kochia that beat it out of the ground that we need to get pulled out, but I think it is doing pretty well. I'm liking it so far.

Here's a pic.

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/2282/coveradr.jpg

Dude.

That's a ****load. Good work.

just gettn some radishes and leaf lettuce .. bout half a dozen squash .. everything else is grow'n good .....

It was 98 and the wind blew 40 sustained. I had sprinklers running all afternoon but I hope everything survives.

EDIT: I'm pretty sure the humidity was about -100,000%

The weird weather we had here in the northeast damaged a lot of my starter plants, and I'm still learning most of this stuff, so I'm a few weeks behind on a lot of things. About the only things that have kept up a normal pace for the area are the squashes. Things are finally starting to grow well now that the frosts are past and the rains finally came, so the early plantings may still be saved.

Along with the basic vegetable garden, I've also put in 3 raspberry bushes, 8 blueberry bushes, a few blackberry bushes and a cherry bush, along with apple trees.

This does bring up something I'm looking at for the end of the season. I've been getting a lot of suggestions about using sheep manure instead of chicken or cow. I was wondering how people here think they compare for their gardens.

From a nutrient perspective I have no idea how they compare. It all depends on diet. Manure can vary wildly based on what the animal eats.

My recommendation to everyone is to compost it first. Raw anything can be pretty hot. Especially on new plants.

Compost it a year or you can burn the plants to a crisp

No rain again, wind is a heller again. Deer plots and garden need rain big time

I'll trade you. :D

We have onions, tomatoes, cabbage, 2 rows of sweet corn, and two sweet potato plants. gonna be throwing down on some pumpkins later this season as well.

I want some Dwarf Rape.

Some parts of KC got over 3 inches Thursday. Im like 40 miles to the house and 45 more to the farm. Farm and home are really dry. I am pleased how adding the manure I did last year has improved my soil in garden and how well the ground worked this spring.

Deer plots are way way dry, none of the spring planted have germinated. The clover is doing OK but Ill start building a pipe and pump set up to irrigate if needed. After last year I won't lose my food plots. Lots of neighbors have beans planted 2 weeks and no rain, n emergence but corn looks good. Pastures are a mess, need rain big time.

I'll still trade you. I got an inch an a quarter the last week of March. Since then, nothing.

Corn came up OK, but there is no way I will get any milo up. And the wheat :shake: This is the best start to a wheat crop I've ever had and will likely be the worst finish that didn't involve hail.

I think the whole Midwest needs it. I'm hearing it is dry clear to Canada.

Weak shit. Where's the cannabis plants?

Well, this thread is not kicking ass...

Kind of like my garden. What a tough year.

First, the rabbits have completely destroyed my green beans, pole beans and okra. ****. Looks like I'm upgrading the fence this winter.

Had some emergence problems with my cucumbers, but I think they'll be OK, but late.

My tomatoes are there, but the heat is really whipping their asses.

The squash look good though. :rolleyes:

My green mulch idea I think is working OK. It definitely didn't get up and choke out the kochia. So getting it out early didn't do much for me. The oats started to mature out, so going into the late season heat, it won't do me too much good. From a soil perspective I think it has done me a lot of good. Keeping the roots going in there has been good for keeping the soil mellow.

The kochia, however are a problem. On half the garden we pulled them out and are leaving the growing plants. On the other half I mowed them (that SUCKED). And plan to till it in a few days. We'll have something to compare then.