2023 garden season

[SONNY]

Time to think about the coming garden season. Its early but time goes fast from now til march!
Our onion plants will be sent on the week of the 23'rd and need to be planted at that time. Last year we were a couple weeks late due to the weather.
You guys got any special stuff you are going to try this year? I still would like to do a small amount of sorghum syrup, rice and cotton. I know I can grow peanuts, and might do a few again this year.

Got some different equipment? Join in again this year! Thank You!!!

[v w]

I have been looking at the seed catalogues and getting ready to order seeds. Gardening here won't get off the ground until May. I have been making cuttings for geraniums but that is it so far. Pepper seeds start March 1st. It takes me a bit later than most on the forum. Hope for a good year. We were digging carrots and parsnips yesterday so is 2022 gardening still going or is digging them part of 2033 garden? Anyway they were good. Vern

[ScottyD'sdad]

Looking at catalogs. I placed one order, so far. Long way until planting time for me, but I like to have the seeds on hand early.
Ed

[ajhbike]

what are the top 2 or 3 seed companies to buy from?
I really had good success with brussels sprouts this year...we are still breaking them off and eating them roasted with garlic

[ajhbike]

Organic preferred, not heirloom.

[Peter Person]

Garlic got planted late November - early December, can't remember exactly because my bride did the work!
As noted in the 2022 Garden Season thread, we are going to try our hand at growing sweet corn in the ground where our chicken pen was. Plenty of fertilizer in the soil for the first year, just need to test the dirt to see what we need to add to balance the soil for corn.
20' x 40'. Area gets good morning and afternoon sun.

Won't have strawberries this year as we are starting over. Removed all the "old" dirt, lined the area with PVC Coated Galvanized Hardware Cloth, and then "new" dirt - a 50-50 mix of compost and soil we got from a regional recycler, We Care Denali. Need to do a soil test on this as well.
https://www.wecarene.com/
Bare roots from Nourse Farms will arrive in April for planting.
https://www.noursefarms.com/

[Don McCombs]

Be prepared for raccoons and squirrels before your corn matures, Peter.

[Peter Person]

Be prepared for raccoons and squirrels before your corn matures, Peter.

Already battle squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits with our other gardens, even with fencing around them. Racoons will be difficult since they are nocturnal - and I am not! Not real keen on spending hundreds of dollars on fencing this year but we'll see how it goes.

[Jim Becker]

Last year I started a bunch of grape cuttings and now have year-old vines ready for transplant. I mostly did it in case I needed a few replacements. As of now, it looks like I won't need them. So there are free vines here for anyone near-by that wants to plant some grapes. They are King of the North, a purple grape that is pretty well acclimated to central Minnesota.

[Don McCombs]

My experience has been that you have two options. You can exclude them or you can plan on “donating” about 25% to 50% of your harvest to them. I use a combination of rabbit wire and solar powered electric fence. Seems to work well for me. Not 100% effective, but close enough.

[Peter Person]

Don,
When you say "rabbit wire", is that the same as "chicken wire" or a different type of material?
How tall do you have the fencing?
What type of solar powered electric fence do you use?

Thanks,
Peter

[Don McCombs]

I think it's called rabbit fence. 24 inches tall, small holes at the bottom, larger holes at the top.
The first electrified wire is about 6 inches above the rabbit fencing (for the raccoons). Three additional electrified wires above that, with the top one about 6 - 6.5 feet (for the deer). I'll get you more info on the fencer and wire gauge tomorrow, as well as better photos. In the meantime, go to http://www.kencove.com for lots of information. I got my supplies locally between TSC and Southern States (similar to Agway).

EDIT…
Fencing…
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Garden-Zone-gr ... 1000639133

[SamsFarm]

For pesky coons, Check out http://trapsusa.com

I bought a dozen in 2022. Made in the USA, and shipped to your house (was in 2022) $124, thats just $10.33 a trap!

I managed to remove some pesky coons, permanently!

[Don McCombs]

I, too, have used those with great success. I’m not sure about their claim that you can release a coon from one of them, though.

[SamsFarm]

They are easy to release! Use a sledge hammer handle for the low cost method, or a 22 for the low effort method!

That gets them under control

I was actually thinking of getting one of these cute little NAA mini cap & ball for that task!

https://northamericanarms.com/shop/firearms/naa-22m-cb/