Building Up My Back Garden

[Drilling Man]

  With the front garden well underway with planting and some things up and growing well, i got started on the back garden. Every year i build this garden up, using cp (cow poop) and composted cp, and this year is no exception. Here i am getting started putting the CP in.



  Once the garden is covered full length with cp, i tilled it in good, and got started covering it with composted cp,



  You can see that i only have the far end built up with compost, but when it's done, the full length will be raised up like the far end is.



  I traded some lumber and the planeing of that lumber to a friend, so i put all of planer chips in a layer, on the back garden,



  And tilled them in,



  With that done, i planted the rest of my tomato plants in the finished end of the garden,



  Now, FINALLY i can get back to adding the rest of the compost, so off i go to the composted cp pile where those guys and gal's in the back ground make "wonderful" compost!  lol,





  And i moved it to my back garden,



  With that done, i climbed up on top of the piles with my little tractor and rotavator,



  And after a few passes, i had it where i wanted it!  With the tomatoes already planted, the rest of the veggies and flowers will get planted VERY soon!



  Then i'll be watering and watching it grow!   

  DM

[Graybeard]

Would be nice to have that much room and access to so much manure each year. To make that much garden space I'd need to take out my blueberry orchard or the pond neither of which is gonna happen any time soon tho the day is gonna come when I can't maintain the orchard.

I'm not doing very well at it this year really. It's only a week or so until we open for the pickers and I've not been able to take out the dead growth and honestly don't see it happening this time. I did get it trimmed before sciatica took me down and today I managed to get back and mow most of it and part of the yard.

Sadly my garden is not doing well at all this year what with me mostly down and out since I planted.

[blind ear]

DrillingMan; will the production of the garden pay for the cost of the tractor and it's operation?

[Drilling Man]

  Bill,

  Getting old isn't for sissys!  and i'm not far behind you!  I sure can't do what i use to, but i try to enjoy what i do get done these days!

  As for my tractor:  This is only one of a thousand jobs i do with it, and i couldn't care less if my gardens make me money or not.  I grow much of my own food, and as long as i can do it, i will...

  DM

[highwayman]

what kind of wood chips do you use and why??

[hillbill]

do yu have any thoughts on 3pt tillers?a lot of poultry growers are going out of biz here and are selling there 3pt tillers they used in the poultry houses but i dont have any idea what to look for or what brand to buy?i need a fairly heavy duty one as we have a few rocks and one that is repairable instead of just throwaway.

[Empty Quiver]

Using the wood chips can tie up nitrogen, with the amount of manure you are using it should hardly be a problem.  The wood chips will break down and slowly release the nitrogen they tied up while decomposing. In a sandy soil they would help hold moisture in a clay soil they would loosen up the soil.

There is a formula as to how much nitrogen you would need to add per ton of wood chips or any other carbon source. Google up carbon/nitrogen ratio or some such thing. Soil science classes were a LONG time ago, and I rarely had this to worry about while I was in the business. If the garden gets all yellow or is dropping lower leaves this could be an explaination.

[Drilling Man]

  I put all the chips or sawdust my wood shop generates, except walnut, in my gardens.  The chips turn into rich compost, that my gardens love...  The cp i add adds enough N to make them break down quickley...

  As for tillers.  Howard is the tiller to buy "IF" you have stones/rocks to contend with.  They aren't cheap, but they will take a beating.  The cheapest tiller i'd even consider is a Maschio, only because a friend sells them and says he's had good luck with that brand.

  I have three Howard rotavators, (rotavator is the name Howard uses for their tillers) and they have been given me excelent service, i do custom tilling, so over the years i've hit just about anything and everything you can think of.

  No matter what you buy, you MUST match the tiller "width" to the HP you have, and you need to get a tiller properly sized "strength" wise too, as in gear box rateing.

  All china tillers are light duty at best, you will break them!  Bush hog, Woods, King cutter, and all the tillers in that class are medium duty, and will not hold up for long for field use if you have any rocks.  They are garden tillers, not field tillers...

  You already know you have rocks, don't waste your money on a cheaper tiller...

  DM

[highwayman]

thanks guys. never heard of wood chips in a garden

[blind ear]

Drillingman, I absolutely agree with you, I was just pokin at ya.    eddiegjr  (Can't beat eatin that comes out of a garden, especially your own.)

[Drilling Man]

  Here's an update on my back garden...  It's been a while since i planted it, and everything is growing very well.  I have tomatoes, mellons and flowers planted in it, and of course the weeds are growing too.



  SO, the first thing i did was to get out my Honda "mini" tiller, and do some weeding!



  With that done, it's time to cut some mulch, and get the tilled soil covered, so here's my mulch hauler,



  And once i had the trailor loaded, i headed for the garden,



  And started to work my way around the garden, getting the mulch into place,



  Until i got all the way around and was done!



  So, now all i need to do is make a few more tomato cages, and saw out a few more stakes to make sure the cages stay upright!

  That's it for this time,

  DM