Canuck5
Food Plot advisor extraordinaire !
Well, I will be darned! Got one that is more accurate?
Welcome Guest!
Garden Help
- Thread starter humblehunter22
- Start date
Canuck5
Food Plot advisor extraordinaire !
I guess I may have gotten it from NRCS, but you probably have more current data.
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/PA_NRCSConsumption/download/?cid=nrcseprd1356820&ext=pdf
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/PA_NRCSConsumption/download/?cid=nrcseprd1356820&ext=pdf
doomtrpr_z71
Senior Member
thats why, the NRCS doesnt know plants
Canuck5
Food Plot advisor extraordinaire !
LOL, well, you do have a point ... it is a Government agency
doomtrpr_z71
Senior Member
The soil temp they are measuring is bare soil so it cant loose water via transpiration without plants, its kinda of a radicalized scale anyway if you get 4in soil temps at 140F Putin decided to rain canned sunshine down on us. Nor does plant growth slow at 90F soil temps, if its got moisture its going to town with the heat, especially if its a C4 plant like grass or corn.
Canuck5
Food Plot advisor extraordinaire !
Well that makes sense too!
Crakajak
Daily Driveler News Team
This^^^^^^^^.
If you start adding wood chips to compost. MAKE SURE you home is protected from termites.
I would also suggest to substitute the garden spots.Clay don,train well.
Sow crimson clover this fall along with dicon radishes.it will add nitrogen to the soil and the radishes are edible as well as loosens the soil
Killdee
Senior Member
Lots of good advice here. I was brought up on red clay gardens and we grew everything you can think of in it and did very well. My current garden also red clay has been amended over the years and has developed into some nice looking dirt. I mulch heavily between rows with leaves pine straw grass clippings and garden debris from previous crops. And all this gets tilled in. Any places I don’t have winter crops in will get a heavy layer of leaves in the fall. I also compost and all our kitchen vegetable scraps bread tea and coffee grounds fish carcasses ends up in the garden. If it don’t rain soon I’m not gonna make as good as usual, rain barrels are empty and it’s just hard to make a good garden with out regular rain or a jam up watering system.
cjones
Senior Member
Great advice here. We started out with clay a few years ago as well. We cut down and chipped a bunch of trees at my parents' place and I hauled 2-3 trailer loads over here and spread it on our 10x20 plot. The first year, we already had tomatoes in, so I just used it as mulch around the plants and between the rows to keep the weeds down. I didn't even get around to tilling it in that winter. Next spring, when I went to till it, there was so much moisture held underneath and it had already started turning black. Now a couple years later, that whole plot is looking more and more like the Iowa black dirt my wife grew up with.
On the other plot, we've done cover crops in the winter a few times and this spring we bit the bullet and picked up a few backs of "Soil3" compost from SuperSod to work in. It was really sandy and seemed to help keep the clay from getting rock hard recently when it has been so hot. We did have some unexplainable curl on some of the tomato plants that I have just about convinced myself was due to that Soil3 having some sort of residual broadleaf herbicide in it. I probably won't use it again because of that.
Also as mentioned - you can do a lot with a little. We have been very successful with our red clay plots (we're still eating on quarts of tomatoes from last year and we're starting to put up fresh from this year's crop). Don't think that the ground has to look like the shows on TV or YouTube to be successful.
On the other plot, we've done cover crops in the winter a few times and this spring we bit the bullet and picked up a few backs of "Soil3" compost from SuperSod to work in. It was really sandy and seemed to help keep the clay from getting rock hard recently when it has been so hot. We did have some unexplainable curl on some of the tomato plants that I have just about convinced myself was due to that Soil3 having some sort of residual broadleaf herbicide in it. I probably won't use it again because of that.
Also as mentioned - you can do a lot with a little. We have been very successful with our red clay plots (we're still eating on quarts of tomatoes from last year and we're starting to put up fresh from this year's crop). Don't think that the ground has to look like the shows on TV or YouTube to be successful.
humblehunter22
Senior Member
Following back on this, on 1 end of my property I have a decent sized area that I am intending on turning into a garden area. That being said its a decent amount of distance to where I would be able to optimally run lines to for watering purposes. That being said there is a decent little over 1.5 to 2 acre stream fed pond that is literally a stones throw to the area in question. My thoughts are rigging up a transfer pump system to pump water to have a dedicated water source being the pond to pull water from to supply that section of garden. My primary garden area is much closer to the house and I am working on fabbing out a water line system to run for time being off the main house supply but eventually try to make the transition to a rainwater collection system.
My question is do any of y'all run a similar type of set up and have any recommendations for a specific pump to look into and how you have things run currently? I have a heavy duty generator if it comes down to it for power supply I could run back and forth to supply power to a pump system but I am looking more along the lines of maybe 1 or 2 small battery operated pumps the space in question is not large at all that would demand a heavy volume of water supply to.
My question is do any of y'all run a similar type of set up and have any recommendations for a specific pump to look into and how you have things run currently? I have a heavy duty generator if it comes down to it for power supply I could run back and forth to supply power to a pump system but I am looking more along the lines of maybe 1 or 2 small battery operated pumps the space in question is not large at all that would demand a heavy volume of water supply to.
Figure out where you want your garden to be.
Like others said, get all the leaves and "scraps" you can. Layer the leaves, some fertilizer and maybe some lime (not too heavy on the fertilizer), scraps, wheat straw, and if you can find it some manure (composted if you can). If you can fine "green grass clippings" you can layer that in too.
Come late winter cut over it with a mower and get it broken down small and spread out over the area. Then till it all in good and plant.
Repeat in the fall if not planting winter crops.
A lot easier than removing the clay and putting in new soil, Plus it will build it up a little so its not a low spot.
Like others said, get all the leaves and "scraps" you can. Layer the leaves, some fertilizer and maybe some lime (not too heavy on the fertilizer), scraps, wheat straw, and if you can find it some manure (composted if you can). If you can fine "green grass clippings" you can layer that in too.
Come late winter cut over it with a mower and get it broken down small and spread out over the area. Then till it all in good and plant.
Repeat in the fall if not planting winter crops.
A lot easier than removing the clay and putting in new soil, Plus it will build it up a little so its not a low spot.
j_seph
Senior Member
Most landscape stores, not big box stores have what they call garden soil by the scoop
Years ago I watched a place in Conyers that had tons of exposed granite.
They started bringing in load after load of tree chips.
They would spread it out and level it out. This went on for a while and I have no idea how deep they made them. A year or so later they planted some sort of grass and a few small trees.
Then next year they put up a few "shelters" and fenced and cross fenced. And added horses and other animals.
You would never know that for the longest time it was just rocks and scrub.
This is just off 138 close to the horse park.
2 years or so from rocks to grass and horses.
They started bringing in load after load of tree chips.
They would spread it out and level it out. This went on for a while and I have no idea how deep they made them. A year or so later they planted some sort of grass and a few small trees.
Then next year they put up a few "shelters" and fenced and cross fenced. And added horses and other animals.
You would never know that for the longest time it was just rocks and scrub.
This is just off 138 close to the horse park.
2 years or so from rocks to grass and horses.
humblehunter22
Senior Member
UCF,
Yes I currently have a compost bin going that I regularly toss out all organic scraps, veg scraps, etc.... as well I have a composting pile specifically for my lawn clippings that I keep saturated and turned regularly. The plan is to get everything turned up and tilled in together this winter. Just a matter of lining up to get my hands on the equipment to get the job done with. Pretty much could care less about a pretty lawn at this point if there's a patch of dirt that gets enough sun or an area that I can clear out the overhanging shade to expose the ground below that is the plan. I like to eat more than I care to sit and look at a lawn.
Yes I currently have a compost bin going that I regularly toss out all organic scraps, veg scraps, etc.... as well I have a composting pile specifically for my lawn clippings that I keep saturated and turned regularly. The plan is to get everything turned up and tilled in together this winter. Just a matter of lining up to get my hands on the equipment to get the job done with. Pretty much could care less about a pretty lawn at this point if there's a patch of dirt that gets enough sun or an area that I can clear out the overhanging shade to expose the ground below that is the plan. I like to eat more than I care to sit and look at a lawn.
Similar threads
