Hurley's Gold

2022 Gardening Thread

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  • Younggun

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    Getting about time to start preparing ground for this years gardening season.

    Didn’t have one last year. Waited too long and then it started raining so couldn’t till. Work, etc. was too late to do much by the time we could get started.

    Decided to relocate and expand. Doing about 4800sq/Ft with another area for corn. Got it sectioned off today to keep the cows out. Gotta sturdy up a little bit of fence tomorrow in an area that they normally wouldn’t care about.

    At this point we are planning to do green beans, black eye peas, crookneck and zucchini squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes, and corn. May add or replace things as we start working on the layout. Hoping to keep plenty of room for maintaining it. We usually have squash over running everything near it.

    8c31586a6ea9c74a0f8a5c3a3092e021.jpg



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    gdr_11

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    I gave up three years ago. My lot is ground zero for gophers and my neighbors on either side do nothing to control them not to mention the pasture behind me. I kill 30-40 gophers each season besides those that die from the poison I inject into tunnels and mounds all around.

    They flat eat the roots out of everything I have planted other than rosemary and succulents and vegetables were just like throwing money out the window. That's what I get for setting up on a few acres of sand
     

    Younggun

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    Best thing you can do IMO is cover the ground with good manure or compost and let the rain work it in. If you are a coffee drinker, throw your grounds out there too.

    if you use a tiller, till it all right in. If not, no worries.

    Cows have been getting cubed here for about 15 years, so plenty of fertilizer has been getting in to the soil, lol.


    My son has wanted to try composting though, so we finished building a compost drum this morning. Hopefully less animal issues with the drum than trying to do it on the ground, but a tarp Ed compost pile could have made for some fun varmint hunting. Not worth drawing all the field mice up near the house though. Will probably mix in some of the highly fertilized souls from around the hay feeding area for the corn.

    Hope to get the disking done today. Start braking up the ground and have it loosened up before the spring rain starts.


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    Younggun

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    I gave up three years ago. My lot is ground zero for gophers and my neighbors on either side do nothing to control them not to mention the pasture behind me. I kill 30-40 gophers each season besides those that die from the poison I inject into tunnels and mounds all around.

    They flat eat the roots out of everything I have planted other than rosemary and succulents and vegetables were just like throwing money out the window. That's what I get for setting up on a few acres of sand

    Couple years ago I had an armadillo root right down my row of black eye peas, twice.


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    BuzzinSATX

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    Cows have been getting cubed here for about 15 years, so plenty of fertilizer has been getting in to the soil, lol.


    My son has wanted to try composting though, so we finished building a compost drum this morning. Hopefully less animal issues with the drum than trying to do it on the ground, but a tarp Ed compost pile could have made for some fun varmint hunting. Not worth drawing all the field mice up near the house though. Will probably mix in some of the highly fertilized souls from around the hay feeding area for the corn.

    Hope to get the disking done today. Start braking up the ground and have it loosened up before the spring rain starts.


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    The best way to loosen the ground up is to cover it with compost or other plant matter. Old hay works great if it’s not full of seeds. Mushroom compost, barn stall droppings, chicken house cleanup, compost wood chips/mulch! Just be mindful of seeds, which is why compost is best, kills the seeds.

    All help retain moisture and add microbes to the soil. Uncovered dirt dries out fast and heats up the soil to where microbes go deep or die. Microbes in the soil act like the microbes in your gut and help the plant get nutrients and moisture from the surrounding soil. Microbes in your gut help you absorb nutrients from food you eat.

    Hard soil/clay is basically dead ground. You have to put the living creatures back in…

    a garden plot should always be covered up with either crops or mulch of some sort. Even during off season, if you mulch your garden plot, it gets fertilized every time it rains.

    We gardeners need to take a lesson from the Lord. He mulches the ground every Fall, waters it through the winter, and plants bloom in the Spring. Follow His lead and you will have success.
     
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    leVieux

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    I gave up three years ago. My lot is ground zero for gophers and my neighbors on either side do nothing to control them not to mention the pasture behind me. I kill 30-40 gophers each season besides those that die from the poison I inject into tunnels and mounds all around.

    They flat eat the roots out of everything I have planted other than rosemary and succulents and vegetables were just like throwing money out the window. That's what I get for setting up on a few acres of sand

    Ir sounds like you need some good big rat snakes ?
     

    BuzzinSATX

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    We do container gardening in grow boxes. Almost everything works well. Unfortunately mockingbirds get at least half of our tomatoes and every year, little white bugs ruin our cucumbers overnight. I've given up on cukes.
    If you have trouble with losing tomatoes to birds, here are two ways to fight it.

    1. When your plants begin to fruit, hang some (3-4) red Christmas ball ornaments or other red balls in the plant. Local birds will peck at them and over time ignore them, and usually ignore the fruit too.

    2. Try cherry and grape tomato varieties. They are easier to grow and very productive!

    with cukes, I have best luck with the smaller varieties which seem more pest proof.
     
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