# Put the garden to bed today



## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

Yesterday I removed all the steel posts, p[anels and cages used in ther garden, pulle dup all the drip low pressure irrigation lines flushed them out and cleaned em up and put em away. Used the tractor and ran it over everything chopping it up nice and fine, and then dumped in a heap of old compost I had on hand as well as a heap of stuff from cleaning out the poultry cages and runs, tilled it all up, saturated it down with water and and scattered a 50# bag of ammonia nitrate and rolled out the big swimming pool cover over it all. Placed the steel posts and panels on the pool cover to keep it in place. That fertilizer will get things nice and warm under there, and we still have wquite a lot of hot days here so any weeds etc will be cooked pretty good. The only time I will pull it back up is when I do the fall cleanup and add a couple of cart fulls of chhopped shredded leaves and pinestraw to it, and probably some more ammonia nitrate and then its good to go until next gardening season , which for me is usually February when I till it again and plant it about mid Feb.....

Also ran the tractor all around the place blowing any leaves etc all up under the azaleas, and getting up all debri, without using my vac cart........just getting ready for all the crap thats gonna be falling fromthe trees in a day or two from Ivan if it gets this far.......much better working on a freshly mowed lawn and yard than pulling twigs and limbs out of high growth. Besides the Stihl back pack blower works pretty decent if the grass is short so I cut it all to about 2 1/4" high, since its not gonna be that hot out to burn it from lack of water.

So now anytime Ivan is ready he can start sending water this way and I'll even take a bit of wind to go with my serving of water. Just in case things may happen like they did with Opal, I still have 5 gas cans to fill for a supply of gas, and also time to mix up a 5 gal can of 2 stroke mix for the chainsaws. It will get used if Ivan comes or not as I have a heap of wood to cut up and some trees I am going to take down as well. We were without power for over 6 days when Opal hit on the coast in the same area years back, so I don't need a repeat of that scenerio. I had a gen back then as well but not a great supply of fuel...this time will be different!


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## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

mines going soon also. Been a ROTTON garden yesr for me. YUCK. May eaven give it a rest next year, and just work on the soil.


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## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Ingersoll444 _
> *mines going soon also. Been a ROTTON garden yesr for me. YUCK. May eaven give it a rest next year, and just work on the soil. *


Need more amendments in the soil I assume. I guess up north if you add stuff to it now it wold just lay there once the temps get low the beneficial bacteria wont do much in breaking it down, but thats not a problem in this area , especially if you tarp it over and let the heat build up. I used to plant a cover of rye grass or buckwheat on the garden, let it get a good stand cut it down till it in cover it all up and then wait, but I am just too lazy to plant an extra crop anymore just to till it in and it has grown just fine without it. I use relatively little additional fertilizer once its growing except for on the corn......Of course I don;pt get anywhere near as nice or as much crops as John-in-GA does as I lack the patience and dedication he seems to have. His garden of this year has got to be one of the nicest fullest productive gardens I have ever seen...I like to get a head start and rish a frost just to get things growing quicker and harvested sooner befor any weeds or insects have a chance to get started, which leads to additional work and takes away from my beer drinking!


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## Greg (Sep 16, 2003)

Paul & Chipmaker,

How big are your gardens? What did you plant. 

I've got a small 24' x 40' I still have some radishes, garlic and winter lettuce in. Figure I've got about another month to a month and a half before it gets tilled under. 

Had a bad case of "cale weed"(?), a small, moist, weed like a clover. I will have lots of leaves for spring power tilling.


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## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

Mine is about that size........but the next years is gonna be a bit smaller. I used to maintain an acre patch and it liked to have killed me and the wife and younging. That laarge garden sure di not last too manay years until we cut it in half, and then later in half again.........there is just so much food two folks can eat anymore since were the oly ones here, and what we plant will feed quite a few folks.........so next year smaller garden yet again, and less variety.,, but more of what we like the best, and thats easiest to take care of, pick, and clean or shell.

We plant sweet corn, tomatoes, potatoes, snap beans, early peas, cantalope, water melon, peppers, and egg plants and cucumbers. Next year it taters, corn, maters, and snapbeans.


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