What did you do in the garden today?

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

OH I would NOT till an unknown mess under. You disturb the natural layers and biome and you are tilling IN any weeds. I agree with heavy mulching and clean soil AFTER you figure out what's in there (if you want) I'd just start from scratch.

Welcome to biting off a lot to chew!

I totally agree @WthrLady. Tilling never worked for me. I learned from the Old Farmers Almanac planting tips that tilling actually encourages weed growth. Agricultural methods have been evolving towards "no till" and organic practices. I use mulch, and the card board is amazing. It kills the weeds and feeds your plants. Good stuff.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Gonna go out and take some here soon I forgot to add were also right on the river thats awesome we both love to fish and kayak canoe n camp and it’s all right here!! It’s a bit run down and we have a lot of work to do but be well worth it once done!!

Sounds wonderful

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

So I should just clean it out best I can and see what comes up?? I know there’s some good stuff in there bf seen it at the end of year last year...peppers tomatoes he said there’s a ton of cherry tomatoes...I guess I’ll just clean it up a bit and see what comes as we go..The grapes seem to do fine where they are but I don’t want them in front of the old pickup that’s there for decoration and will be putting flowers out there and that’s mainly where any flowers I have will be...I have a nice spot picked I think they would do well ..I figure transplant them right before I plant my flowers so probably early mid May ...

You don't want to rely on the previous seasons leavings. You really don't know what you are getting and what if he used chemicals on his vegetables? Do you really want to eat that?? Clean the beds and make a garden plan. The Old Farmers Almanac is a gold mine of information for gardeners. And most of the information is free. When you make your garden plan be sure to think ahead for crop rotation. Good luck.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I totally agree @WthrLady. Tilling never worked for me. I learned from the Old Farmers Almanac planting tips that tilling actually encourages weed growth. Agricultural methods have been evolving towards "no till" and organic practices. I use mulch, and the card board is amazing. It kills the weeds and feeds your plants. Good stuff.

I’m going to totally steal the idea of cardboard!!!!!
What a great way to repurpose it. In the corners of my raised boxes it would eliminate my constant weed area. Oh...little things make me happy. Thanks for the great idea!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I’m going to totally steal the idea of cardboard!!!!!
What a great way to repurpose it. In the corners of my raised boxes it would eliminate my constant weed area. Oh...little things make me happy. Thanks for the great idea!

I got the idea from the Old Farmers Almanac. So I'm just passing it along. I was amazed at how well it worked. It's a good thing I watched the video on raised garden beds after I moved in here. Instead of the local curbside recycling I just stored the cardboard in my garage until I built my garden beds. I still have cardboard on hand. It makes an amazing mulch. You can sign up to have their gardening tips emailed to you. It's totally free. They even helped me make sense of how to do the crop rotation thing.

 

[pennyJo1960]

We use the cardboard here to an extent that and dying leaves we use
tilling is old school but still good at times depends on what is behind where your planting

 

[AngieMaesChix]

We are starting a new one also...
Just not sure what gonna do with the wild one that was here..there’s been nothing put on it that I know it’s just been left alone..

 

[AngieMaesChix]

Definitely doing cardboard for new garden it’s an awesome idea!! And I do look stuff up on farmers almanac when plant etc my grams taught me that lol she even didn’t want ya cutting your hair except for certain days lol I miss her dearly...

 

[pennyJo1960]

Think maybe allot of us still rely on the Almanac always had one on the table would read cover to cover

 

[WthrLady]

Ya. Don't even consider the annual veg that were there before. Just clean it and move forward. You won't get anything decent from left over tomatoes, cukes, and the like. Plant fresh, plant strong, and plant where you want things.

I HIGHLY recommend the deep mulch method or the Raised Row Gardening method (Like the mulch method, but more defined)