Zone 5 Gardeners United!

[Reedo5]

What are you prepping your soil with to get the pH down?

Your chickens sure will be happy with all those berries!

Them chicks are fenced out!
Ive put chicken poo in the holes im prepping but i did a Ph test an its only at 7. So i picked up bagged sulfer which from what ive been told an read brings soil PH down the fastest. An ive been reading tonight on how much to add an so forth.

 

[Percheron chick]

Sorry for such a late reply, so for raspberrys i planted 4 total 2 Latham, 1 Caroline, 1 Encore.
Then for BlackBerrys i did 4 total 2 Navaho, 2 Arapaho. They will be in a full yr this upcoming june, they all have showen good growth and addapted well i feel an my PH was 6.8 im gonna add some fertilizer this yr and 4 more plants. As for blueberries i havnt picked any out yet but im prepping the soil this weekend to get the ph level down to 4.5 to 4.8.View attachment 2058278
I refer to this book a lot theres a websote in top left corner of the book in the pic u could check out.

I've been impressed with the selection of berry plants on Nourse's website. Latham, Anne and Polana were raspberries i selected based on excellent winter hardiness and different harvesting patterns. Colorado isn't known for raspberries but i'll give it a try.
I found a great CSU extension office article on growing blueberries in the state. The simplest way to achieve the desired ph is to plant them in a bale of peat moss. Dig a hole the size of the bale. Poke holes on the underside of the bag. Cut holes to run soaker hose through the top of the bale. Cut hole in middle of bale and plant blueberry. The BB is growing in 100% peat and stays at a constant ph around 5 so no guessing of what and when to add.

 

[Justso]

Today I started my first container garden. Maybe a little early? I don't care, it doesn't feel too early. The magnolia started blossoming.
I know we could still get snow, but I figure I could tuck the containers up close to the house and protect them if we got bad weather/cold snap.
I used the instructions from this website:
https://growagoodlife.com/constructing-18-gal-self-watering-containers-swc/

I plan to do a few more, this one I put in my arugula starts and celery, future ones will have potatoes and tomatoes

 

[Justso]

All the cruelties of chickens!
My raised bed with arugula, spinach and mustard starts was cruelly murdered last weekend. High winds blew down the access panel. Crafty chickens took notice and advantage.

It was a redo. Got the seeds in, some of the leftover sprouts continued, then today:

 

[SheaLoner]

I would really like to know who to send a complaint to. Mother Nature is not playing fair this year. She's being Tricksy.
I'd just put my brassicas out to harden off 2 days ago. Luckily being cold hardy, they survived but come on.

 

[Justso]

I can still hear my mom saying "Don't plant until mother's Day", year after year, I'll never learn! @SheaLoner , tell what you have planned this year?

 

[SheaLoner]

Got some peas and some chard planted, though I might have to resow due to the snow this week. Cabbage, kale and broccolini will be going in on the next decent day. I'm trying onions from seed this year, and am attempting carrots, again.
Found a very nice single serve spaghetti squash last year, planting more of that. Just ate the last 2 earlier this week. Lots of yellow summer squash for sauteing, 1 or 2 zucchini for breads and stuffing, enough paste tomatoes for sauce, and would have been some nice new bell pepper variety but it failed to germinate .
Made a new raised bed last year to try and up my potato harvest, hopefully. And some 100 or so garlic bulbs already up and perky. Its always amazing how many pop up from last years plot that you missed. Oh and my green bean tepee! Can't forget that. Its actually amazing how much produce you can get out of 6 raised beds.

 

[Percheron chick]

Snowing here.
Seeds are on the kitchen counter. Does that count?

 

[Justso]

Snowing here.
Seeds are on the kitchen counter. Does that count?

I vote it's a good start!
Snowing here too

 

[Justso]

Wanted to share this quaint post I saw. Now let's get busy with our rutabagas: