BYC gardening thread!!

[swede-murphy]

I love to garden and I love to share the garden with the chickens. They feed me three times, eggs, meat, and fertilizer for the garden. You don't have to worry about "burning" your garden veggies with fresh chicken manure if you spread it thinly (or let them spread it thinly

) over the garden during the winter! In addition to that, I let the chickens have the run of the garden during the winter, and they love it! Lots of left overs for them to munch on, as well as grubs and insect pests. To save the shallots and garlic from being scratched out, I lay down plastic deer fencing on the surface, it is pliable and has about 1 inch openings like chicken wire. We lay it on top of the mounded beds that are heavily mulched, and the chickens leave it alone, aside from some scratching at the edges. I take it up once the green shoots start to poke their heads up. This year I plan on covering the squash mounds in a similar way, mostly to keep the mulch from blowing away in our Wyoming winds. I use temporary fencing to keep the chickens out of the garden during the growing season, they get to patrol a 10 foot wide zone around the perimeter and they keep the grasshoppers from moving into the garden from the adjacent hay fields. The last two weeks have been sad - too cold and snowy to work in the garden and I was forced to buy (for the first time since last summer) onions, potatoes, and garlic. Still a squash left, and plenty of frozen peas, beans, carrots, and peppers. I have increased the number of garlic and shallots (planted last fall) and plan on increasing the number of potatoes and onions this season. Gardening in Wyoming is an iffy proposition, some years are great, other years, not so much. I use a hoop house for tomatoes, egg plant, and sweet potatoes; we still have several pints of marinara sauce in the pantry.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

I love to garden and I love to share the garden with the chickens. They feed me three times, eggs, meat, and fertilizer for the garden. You don't have to worry about "burning" your garden veggies with fresh chicken manure if you spread it thinly (or let them spread it thinly

) over the garden during the winter! In addition to that, I let the chickens have the run of the garden during the winter, and they love it! Lots of left overs for them to munch on, as well as grubs and insect pests. To save the shallots and garlic from being scratched out, I lay down plastic deer fencing on the surface, it is pliable and has about 1 inch openings like chicken wire. We lay it on top of the mounded beds that are heavily mulched, and the chickens leave it alone, aside from some scratching at the edges. I take it up once the green shoots start to poke their heads up. This year I plan on covering the squash mounds in a similar way, mostly to keep the mulch from blowing away in our Wyoming winds. I use temporary fencing to keep the chickens out of the garden during the growing season, they get to patrol a 10 foot wide zone around the perimeter and they keep the grasshoppers from moving into the garden from the adjacent hay fields. The last two weeks have been sad - too cold and snowy to work in the garden and I was forced to buy (for the first time since last summer) onions, potatoes, and garlic. Still a squash left, and plenty of frozen peas, beans, carrots, and peppers. I have increased the number of garlic and shallots (planted last fall) and plan on increasing the number of potatoes and onions this season. Gardening in Wyoming is an iffy proposition, some years are great, other years, not so much. I use a hoop house for tomatoes, egg plant, and sweet potatoes; we still have several pints of marinara sauce in the pantry.

Awesome! I love how chickens and gardens can work together, although my chickens can't get to the garden cause they're on the other side of the property.
We worked in the garden some more today. We were just tilling the ground a bit for the potatoes, though its to early to plant still. We also added two more areas to the garden (We chopped up blackberries to do it), so now we have a fairly good sized garden. Sorry don't have any pics at the moment.

What kind of potatoes is everyone growing this year? We are doing Russian Blue and red Pontiac!

Bye for now!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Anyone here?

 

[kian]

I'm here. Nothing new added, the red potatoes are coming up, exactly half of the onions I planted are coming up. Strawberry is flowering. The cabbages all look good. That's about it for here!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

I'm here. Nothing new added, the red potatoes are coming up, exactly half of the onions I planted are coming up. Strawberry is flowering. The cabbages all look good. That's about it for here!

Good, so do you only have red potatoes or do you have other types aswell?

 

[kian]

I have red and yukon, but only the red is coming up. Last year I grew some type of russet, I used sprouted potatoes from a CSA box that I was gettting at the time. This year it's seed potatoes. I haven't done spectacular with potatoes before, but we did alright. Now I know not to water too much (if at all) at first, we'll see if that makes a difference!

 

[poultrylubber]

Hi everyone!!!
I have gardened for the past couple years but have not had alotof big results as I really didnt know what I was doing. But this past winter I have been reading up and trying to get as much info as I can. Last fall my parents let expand the garden to 30x25!!!! I live zone5 actually I am kind right on the zone 5 and4 line so not really sure. Anyway I already have my seeds and am now just waiting for the snow to melt I got all heirloom seeds from Baker Creek seed co.
I can hardly wait!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

I have red and yukon, but only the red is coming up. Last year I grew some type of russet, I used sprouted potatoes from a CSA box that I was gettting at the time. This year it's seed potatoes. I haven't done spectacular with potatoes before, but we did alright. Now I know not to water too much (if at all) at first, we'll see if that makes a difference!

Oh okay, well good luck!
We have grow potatoes for years. They always turn out nicely for us. And then we make fries out of them and stuff!

Hi everyone!!!
I have gardened for the past couple years but have not had alotof big results as I really didnt know what I was doing. But this past winter I have been reading up and trying to get as much info as I can. Last fall my parents let expand the garden to 30x25!!!! I live zone5 actually I am kind right on the zone 5 and4 line so not really sure. Anyway I already have my seeds and am now just waiting for the snow to melt I got all heirloom seeds from Baker Creek seed co.
I can hardly wait!

Keep us posted!

 

[jpayne615]

Hey guys! I have a question for ya'll and also need some help. The first image is of tomatoes I put into handmade newspaper pots with organic seed starting material (coir, organic fertilizer, etc) made by Burpee and the second picture is of seeds started in a seed starting kit by Burpee (which is supposed to be organic, but who knows). The seeds in the second picture were planted several days before the ones in the first picture. Also, those in the first picture were germinated in a plastic bag in a paper towel, and then planted into the organic mix. You can see that the ones in the first picture are growing rather slower than the others. The lighting conditions are the same, I water from the bottom (and mist from the top), and they are the same seeds from the same seed sachet from a very reputable dealer. The only difference that I know of is that the smaller seedlings are near the air circulation fan, which shouldn't have a whole lot to do with things. Also, the smaller seedlings primary leaves have begun to take on a lighter (almost lime green) hue. They don't look like they are on the brink of death, but they don't look entirely healthy either. What am I doing wrong here? Is it a fertilization issue? Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[TravisE]

Hey guys! I have a question for ya'll and also need some help. The first image is of tomatoes I put into handmade newspaper pots with organic seed starting material (coir, organic fertilizer, etc) made by Burpee and the second picture is of seeds started in a seed starting kit by Burpee (which is supposed to be organic, but who knows). The seeds in the second picture were planted several days before the ones in the first picture. Also, those in the first picture were germinated in a plastic bag in a paper towel, and then planted into the organic mix. You can see that the ones in the first picture are growing rather slower than the others. The lighting conditions are the same, I water from the bottom (and mist from the top), and they are the same seeds from the same seed sachet from a very reputable dealer. The only difference that I know of is that the smaller seedlings are near the air circulation fan, which shouldn't have a whole lot to do with things. Also, the smaller seedlings primary leaves have begun to take on a lighter (almost lime green) hue. They don't look like they are on the brink of death, but they don't look entirely healthy either. What am I doing wrong here? Is it a fertilization issue? Any help would be much appreciated!

just give them time. they look good to me. some batches are just slower than others. ive ben starting all my seeds indoors for 3 years now. some of my tomatoes are already around a foot tall now.