No till gardening

[Eugene]

Ground is still way to wet to till and rains have started. Normal spring I would have tilled the garden by this time incorporating mulch and vegetable litter into the top soil.

Scraped aside some mulch and vegetable litter. Dug holes and planted potatoes this morning. Staked out rows for radish, beets, kohlrabi. Set up tomato cages for peas. Scraped off the mulch and litter, sowed the seeds.

[ScottyD'sdad]

I'd need webbed feet to plant here! 5 inches of rain, this weekend!
Ed

[Don McCombs]

Only thing planted here is onions in a raised bed. Lettuce and cabbage soon to go in the raised beds, also. I'm about as soggy as Ed.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

I think I will wait a while to plant anything. ground is dry enough, but not warm enough

[Eugene]

I use the Missouri soil temperature recording. Posted daily. Also use the vegetable planting calender and planting charts published by the Univ of Mo.

Any way, no matter how the vegetables turn out, I'm not out a lot of money if some of the seed doesn't germinate. I'm also really bored with this unproductive winter. Need to do something, even if it doesn't work out.

[twotone]

When I lived in Illinois I have planted my potatoes by March 23rd. One year was constant rain and was getting late to plant anything, so I had some 1/2 sheets of plywood that I walked on so I wouldn't sink in the mud and mudded in the potatoes. I got lucky and didn't have to fight rock hard dirt clods because I worked it wet, and had one of the best potato crops ever. I've noticed that later plantings will catch up to the real early plantings. But good advice from my Dad was "we don't plant until the soil is fit". That turned out to be real good advise as even with real late plantings, everything turned out OK.

[SONNY]

I started to mud-in my onion plants!!!----I don't have any other choice and now they are talking rain for 3 or 4 days AGAIN!,,, so I did get 6 big bunches in today!--- (have 30 bunches total to plant)---fighting the D*** wind the whole time---20 to 30 mph and colder than heck along with it!---the big creeper has problems staying up in the side winds!---keeps falling over with me on it! I did till part of the tater field to break the top crust---ground under where the 10 foot deep snow was is now like concrete under it, so gotta start working that area on the damp side early!
I put the field cultivator on the cub to go in front of the tiller to help break the surface!---cub wont pull it very deep,---ground already getting too hard!--- This is on the fall plowed ground!---the un-plowed area wont be plowed this year unless something radical happens that's the update here for us! thanks; sonny

[Eugene]

Asparagus tips are starting to emerge.

Asparagus is one of wife's favorite foods, actually asparagus comes in 2nd behind mushrooms.

Rain and hail today. More rain in the forecast for next few days.

[v w]

Snow cover has been gone only a week and the ground is still too cold and soggy. I use a mulch cover so ground takes a while to warm and dry before I can rototill. We are about two weeks behind. Haven't even mowed the asparagus fern, the blade and chains are still on the cub. Rhubarb however is beginning to poke up. Fired up the greenhouse Tuesday and am working to get it going. The weather will catch up by planting time? When I read the subject line I was thinking of something different. My vine garden is covered with mulch which is never tilled in. I move the row a couple of feet each year and till the width of the tiller. This is then planted and when up a soaker hose is laid in the row and mulched along with a thin layer on the rest of the garden. What I like better than no till is the no hoe. Vern

[Super A]

I have done something I have never done before. My students do a garden in their horticulture class every year, and I like to get them started early as possible so they can see some results before the school year is over. Well this year we started irish potatoes in the greenhouse. I had them cut the taters like normal, then plant them in 6" standard plastic pots, about 3" deep. They are sprouting nicely now, and I am hoping between warmer temps and less rain, they can transplant into the garden next week.

It's one of those deals where I told them they are the guinea pigs, and if it doesn't work, we won't tell anybody!

As far as no till gardening, I have seen my dad mow off the sweet corn stalks, and then plant field peas directly into the stale row, between the stubble. Worked good.

Al

[Jack]

it is way to wet here, when I walk through the lawn I can feel the water squishing under my feet. I think I will be installing raised beds and see how that works for me

[Jack]

I tried to get my garden tilled under over Easter weekend, but it is still way to wet. and it doesn't seem to be going to get any better anytime soon

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

got mine tilled and planted a couple days ago, but now they are predicting temps close to freezing for Tue. night. Probably be up just in time to freeze.

[Eugene]

Finally tilled the top 1 1/2" of the garden to break up the crust and to till under the debris and some weeds. Still to damp to till any deeper.

Replanted potatoes today on top of previously planted rows. Only a couple of the previously planted potatoes even grew.

Rain forecast for this afternoon, evening and a good portion of the following week.

[midmo]

Eugene I planted my potatoes on the 14 of March. I had three or four up when I left Sunday morning and got back later this afternoon and there are more up than I want to count. You might have a double crop.
Ron