Prep work for spring planting

13 years ago

Today I started to clean out the high tunnels to make room for the spring plantings. Most of the crops were gone or dying. The quality started to slide, so it was time to go.

Once they were cleaned, I decided to till them up. I finished 3.5 beds in one building and 2 beds in another one. Hopefully I can finish the other two beds and clean out the third tunnel. Two weeks from really early direct seeding. We still need to put down some compost, sulfur (help lower pH) and fertilizer.

The soil temps are in the low to mid 40's depending on the location with-in the building.

One funny from today. I did get the tiller stuck in a two foot snow drift. I had to pick it up and carry it out. I thought I could "till" through it, guess I was wrong.

What are you doing to get ready for the spring?

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Comments (10)

cowpie51
13 years ago
Slick, it might be cheaper to lay a big sheet of plastic over your whole yard then you can grow year round. Nick
myfamilysfarm
13 years ago
Just starting seeds and trying to wait patiently. You have the same tiller that we used for years.

Marla
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I till my spring garden as late in fall as possible. My goal is to have the soil hard-freeze while it is still aerated from the tilling. If needed, I will tarp the garden to protect from fall rains to keep it dry for tilling. I amend the soil with compost and dry leaves. I do not work the soil in any way in spring prior to planting seeds. When it is time to plant seeds I lay down boards to walk on between the rows I have laid out to minimize soil compaction. The boards are removed as soon as the seeds are planted, not left in the garden. Every spring is different. My planting time is based on the soil conditions, not on a planting date. None of the early spring varieties I plant go in deeper than one-half inch so my guide to plant seed is when the top one inch of soil is dry enough to be safely worked with the hoe. This means that the soil I am disturbing, which is the soil that needs to settle aroung the seeds and is the soil that the future seedlings have to sprout through, will remain loose and friable and will not dry out into clumps and clods. Best wishes for success! -Tom
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Oldryder, The only thing I'd change is the aluminum sulfate. The preferred acidifier is sulfur. Get it in the ground now for next spring. If you use a sulfate, use ammonium, not aluminum. I believe the key to good blueberry production is plenty of organic matter in the soil. Be prepared to mulch heavily once they're planted and keep new plantings well watered. Dry spells can be the death of young blueberries. My favorite mulch is chopped oak leaves--tho many prefer wood chips, pine straw, or sawdust. Brook
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I fill my shelves with so many Angs that I can't even see the trays or their contents. If you can't see it, you don't have to clean it, eh? When I remove plants for soaking and can see into the trays, I may add some bleach and mosquito pellets. My shelves sit on top of the trays so there's no way for me to remove them...even if I was interested in cleaning them. :) -MB
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For the most part I agree with previous comments. I would only say trees do have roots in the top few inches of soil,lots of them. ALL the plants we grow require air in root zone to survive and there isn't much deeper down. Not only will plastic and cardboard cut off light to soil,it prevents moisture getting to soil. Sufficating grass will sufficate tree roots as well. Depending on how long the cover is in place it might not to kill trees but will undeniably harm their overall health starting day one. Short of digging an olympic pool size hole and backfillihg with improved soil,composting has little effect on a tree over it's life,EXCEPT the first years. Because of shock from transplanting,it is wise to afford every advantage possible to new plantings. For future planting sites I suggest tilling an area aproximating drip line of mature tree in question. If such large area seems to conterdict what I said above regarding lack of benifit to mature trees,I'm allways concurned about compactation during construction. It also alows puting turf in so roots arn't desturbed latter. If one has the equipment,chisel plowing intire yard should be considered in cases where mixer trucks and/or other heavy equipment has packed soil, You should already have soil test results in hand. Incorperate admendments as deep as tiller will reach. Set up bed retainer for at least 25% size of tiiled area. Plant annuals in bed and desired lawn and/or ground cover in remainder. Bed should be mulched minium of 3 years following placment of tree. Any time after 3+ years,retainer can be pulled allowing turf or ground cover reaching trunk if desired. If one uses a lawn service,leaving retainers will minimize weedeater damage to trunk. See if your city offers compost. That allows getting it fresh and from a likly professionally supervised operation. Since your trees are in place,do the above EXCEPT the following difference. Till only outside area where roots have grown to (3' dia circle).
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randy41_1
13 years ago
i expect to be starting seeds in a couple of weeks in the small heated greenhouse. i also expect a big growth spurt with the lengthening days from the spinach, lettuce, arugula and chard still going in the hoophouse from the fall.
spogarden
13 years ago
"tiller stuck in the snow", is that extreme gardening or what? I love your hightunnels.
It is still too cold and wet here but I have been out when I can doing cleanup. I have that same tiller too, love it. I just bought mine last year, the old one was not holding up so I gave it away and got the bronco.
myfamilysfarm
13 years ago
my seeds are started inside the house.

Marla
brookw_gw
13 years ago
Jeez, I haven't seen bare dirt in a month or 40 degrees for over two!! I'm ready to take up ice fishing again, but as fat as I've gotten this winter I'd probably just fall through. Jay, I'm surprised you don't have geothermal yet for your hoops!! It was -2 here Friday morning. I'm cleaning and sharpening tools, playing with some dried gourds, taking inventory on everything, exhausting the catalogs, spending too much time on line, and baking too many pies. The lengthening daylight is encouraging.

Brook
skatcon
13 years ago
Spring? Spring? Two nights ago we had -45. Yes that is 45 below 0. I'm getting really crabby!
jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
Original Author
13 years ago
Brook, Geothermal, don't temp me. I have seriously looked at adding some wood heat especially to my new big tunnel, but I am a long way from that.

I do like my tiller, starts first pull during the season then 2-3 pulls after sitting all winter. It needs some new fuel lines, oil change and the seals leak on the tines. I will get that all fixed and it will be ready for another few years. I wish it had the counter rotating tines. It really can pull you down the row if you aren't careful.

Jay
myfamilysfarm
13 years ago
Jay, I'm sorry. Our tiller is not the same one, ours has the counter rotating tines. Ours is just a GardenWay by Toro. Our repairman had a Horse and he liked ours better. I haven't seen one like ours lately. Those Toro/BS engines are great for starting easily. We even had a Toro generator that started like that. If it didn't start within 3 pulls, we knew we needed to either check the gas or oil. We used that generator for our main power for our house for 3-4 years with very little repairs.

Marla
myfamilysfarm
13 years ago
Sorry, It's by Troy-bilt.

Prep work for spring planting

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cowpie51

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Prep work for spring planting

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jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)Original Author

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