What did you do in the garden today?

[Arielle]

THanks lazy gardener-- I couldnt remember the phrase "companion planting"" !!!

Did find the planting guide( as in time to plant) at Johnny's seed company ( Maine). I need a plan to use the small bit of space I have now, efficiently. A 8 x 4 plot. Not a lot. A start.

Rest has been growing rocks for a few thousand years!! lol . Slow work ahead of me. I think I have a workable plan thoughl

Does anyone have a suggestion as to what root crops can handle rocky conditions?? So far I've only found those that need rock free soil.

Thank you!

 

[hennible]

How rocky? And big base ball sized rock or...?

 

[Arielle]

Hi Hennible!! Nice to see you here . . . .

Rocks vary. MEaning Every size up to fist size, and a few ocassionally bigger. If I dig and sift the soil, up to 1/4 of the "soil" is lost due to rocks. Hoping beets or turnips can reach into the deeper 6-10 inches to start breaking it up . . . .but all the soils are listed as friable and loose soils. Not happenening here except in a couple places. ( Looking to turn old forested areas i nto gardens. )


Johnny's parsnip
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-6718-lancer.aspx

 

[hennible]

I'm always up for experimenting Id give her go with anything in that soil, and see what happens... Any of the narrow roots you could away with I think, like carrots and parsnips... And you might be able to get away with baby potatoes or fingerling potatoes something a little smaller, shallots or the smaller onions... One great thing about the rocky soil and root crops is its going to have good drainage which favors a lot of root crops... I think the worst thing that's going to happen is you're going to get some stuff that is sort of funny looking, carrots that are growing around rocks or potatoes that are bumping inti the rocks and kind of growing around them... Just my thoughts I'd go for it with whatever would grow in my zone, it's always the best way to find out what will work...

 

[lazy gardener]

Arielle, your soil sounds like my native soil. But, my native soil is mostly clay, so those rocks are glued in place. Thankfully, my garden spot is every gardener's dream: sandy loam which was brought in when we cleared some land. Back to you: If I were you, I'd look at lasagna gardening. With your chickens, it shouldn't be too difficult for you to construct one bed per year. You'll end up with some awesome soil. You can even start gathering materials if the ground is still frozen. Just find an out of the way spot to stock pile them. Then, after the soil has warmed a bit, go to town constructing that bed. Some options: stable litter, leaves, grass clippings, chicken litter, peat moss, mulch hay, kitchen debris, sea weed, pond weeds, shredded newspaper, cardboard, coffee grounds... the list is endless. Basically you'll use what ever you can get your hands on and layer it with high nitrogen stuff layered with high carbon stuff. Get that pile about 1.5 - 2' high, top it off with a bit of compost or soil and you can plant immediately. Or you could do hay bale gardening, which will break down over the season to give you a head start on next year's raised bed. An other option might be to bite the bullet, and have a truck load of good loam delivered. If you go that route, be sure you inspect the stuff first. Don't just call someone and ask for loam. You might end up with a load of real heavy stuff.

 

[hennible]

Or a load of weed seeds...
And don't forget to mulch

 

[Arielle]

Hennible -- I'm more than willing to get some seed in there and give it a go-- roots can be tenacious!!

LG--NOTHING is wasted around here.

Everything biodegradable is dumped back onto the soils around here. Even stopped putting bones in the trash.

All that calcium!!!!! Sounds like the bed is layered material that is not composted yet. Right?? I tried a similar set up last year with sqwash and the water ran right thru-- too much drainage. WOuld be a good set up for potatoes I think, layered into a barrrel or other lg container, with some composted material.... have the latter . . . . a 20 year old compost pit. . . guess I havent been using enough of it. lol

Thought gardeing was easy!!! Naught. lol

Snow is about 2 feet here. ANd falling . . . . .just 2 more months!!!!

 

[hennible]

We have a good 4 feet piled up... We had more but it melted, a lot melted... Now we have a snow fall warning and it's comming down... Got to wait for the third week of May here, even in my greenhouse

 

[Arielle]

LOL I was being optomistic with the 2 month count.

THat gets me to the end of March, early April, when the warmer winds are here and snow wont stay for more than a day . . . . .in theory I can pl ant peas buthonestly past attempts resulted in no plants.

If I try again this year I'm trying to find out what other plants can be seeded at the same time ... . .

 

[hennible]

Yeah you can put peas in before the last frost but you need to more than double the amount of seed because there's a much higher chance the peas will rot before they sprout... Sigh...
Have you tried to cover the areas you seeded with clear plastic when you plant before the last frost? It helps me anyway.