2022 garden season

[Stanton]

What do you all like to put down on your garden in the Fall? Manure, compost, bagged fertilizer?

I have a neighbor with a cattle ranch who has aged manure/compost available.

[Peter Person]

What do you all like to put down on your garden in the Fall? Manure, compost, bagged fertilizer?

I have a neighbor with a cattle ranch who has aged manure/compost available.

When we first put in our garden 27 years ago, we loaded it with about 10 yards of aged composted cow manure. Then every 5 years or so, we would add an inch or two of aged manure in the fall, till it in, and plant a winter rye.
Always had an abundance of weeds the following year. Whatever the cows ate that produced the manure we got, those are the weeds we got.
Finally about 5 or 6 years ago, we cleaned out all the dead plants, as we always do, and tilled the garden, but didn't plant any green manure. Come spring, before anything started growing we put down black landscape fabric with 4" between the rows. Garden was 30' x 60'. Bought a half dozen bags of Black Kow (yellow bag) and just mixed it into the planting rows. https://www.blackkow.com/
End of season, pull up the dead plants, remove the landscape fabric, till the garden, let it set for the winter. Repeat the spring set up, shifting the rows a foot or so, and change location of vegetables.
We have had very few weeds using this method and the plants have produced quite well.

[Don McCombs]

At the end of the season, till the garden and plant crimson clover as a cover crop. Have also tried rye, oats and winter wheat over the years. The clover works best for us. Every couple of years we add 3 or 4 yards of mushroom soil or chicken litter and till in.

[Eugene]

What do you all like to put down on your garden in the Fall? Manure, compost, bagged fertilizer?

I have a neighbor with a cattle ranch who has aged manure/compost available.

Soil test results?

I'm lacking humus in Missouri clay soil. Trench composing kitchen waste intown garden. Broadcasting kitchen waste on acreage garden.

Have picked up cow patties and tilled them in garden plots. Depending on soil tests, cow or horse manure.

Edit. Use forage radish as a cover crop. Inexpensive seed. Forage radish will bore deep holes in and break up clay soil.

[Stanton]

Peter, Don, and Eugene, thanks for your replies!

[SONNY]

I dump horse manure on by the truckloads! If I get some in the crop season,--- it goes in a big pile til the crops are off. I just dump it on then spread it with one of the skidloaders. --- Used to use the 420 JD, but skidloaders are WAY faster. I have been known to dump the bagged fertilizer on, BUT none for the last 2 years due to the outrageous price!

[Don McCombs]

First snow today. Just flurries. But, it’s a harbinger of things to soon come.

[SONNY]

Dug the last of the carrots, plowed more of the garden after I hauled/spread 4 more loads of horse manure.
I never use any cover crop,----a waste of time and money. seed is expensive and planting this late in the year it wont make any growth anyway.
subsoil and plow deep is the only thing that works here for us.
Did get next years pre emerge bought the other day. cost has doubled in the last year but next year I gotta use herbs to help with the weed problem.
Too old to pull weeds from 4.5 acres anymore.

[Peter Person]

With the help of two strapping young men this past Saturday, the PVC Coated Galvanized hardware cloth is installed and new dirt placed. My bride, 2 year old grand-daughter, and 5 month pregnant DIL also chipped in to the best of their abilities!
We had some pretty good rain yesterday, so the dirt should have settled in well. I can fine grade it, put the weed barrier fabric down, and wait till spring when the new strawberry plants arrive.

We had a couple of frosts this past week, so time to bring in the Honeynut squash and clean out all the plant waste, stakes, and stuff from the vegetable garden.

Going to till the 20' x 30' area where the chicken coop/yard was. The plan is to try our hand at sweet corn next year in this area. Should have a good 1st year without having to add too much fertilizer. Hopefully we won't have a racoon problem since I don't plan on fencing it in.

[Don McCombs]

Peter, do a soil sample of your chicken yard area after tilling. Good luck with the raccoons. You'll need it.