# Preparing garden



## Gene Schlabach (Aug 20, 2018)

Hello, I am fairly new to homesteading/gardening. With the offseason coming on, I was wondering if there were any preparations to be made for next year's crop. If so, what are some ways this can be done without the use of any commercial fertilizer? Thanks.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I have a new, almost bare, lot just outside of Austin. I have a few oak trees and some wild hill country plants.

My plan for the winter is accumulating compost. I am shredding all the junk mail and used envelopes and mixing them with soil, kitchen scraps, and cow patties. I might be able to score some leaves, too.


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## crehberg (Mar 16, 2008)

Gene, I'd say that largely depends on where you live and what your plans are for the land. Let us know a little more about you and what you are looking to do and I'm sure they'll be plenty of people happy to help.

Welcome to HT, by the way!


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## ThistleMary (Mar 29, 2013)

Definitely go after composting in a big way. I have two big compost piles for leaves and yard or garden waste that are held in by 4' welded wire in a circle, about 8' across. I also have two plastic food grade 55-gall drums that I painted black and put on a stainless steel pole supported by a couple of sawhorses that I can easily rotate and tumble (I added red wriggler worms to those, which cut composting time in half or more). Those are mainly for kitchen scraps and in fact are right outside my back porch for easy access; make sure to add enough browns or that compost will get nasty quick. You only have a couple of months to get compost made between now and March, so Go Worms! You can buy them on Amazon. I like Uncle Jim's worms.

You could plant "green manure" (we planted some field peas and oats, for example, that we will till in come spring), but I think it's too late in Virginia to grow for a spring garden? Not sure.

Many like the idea of hugelkultur gardening, where you dig trenches and layer (from the bottom up) cardboard, small sticks and leaves, compost, soil (doesn't have to be good soil), newspaper, more compost, straw, etc. then let it rot for a few months, top it off with some decent garden soil, and voila! instant garden. I'm trying that in a small way this year but don't have results to share yet.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

One thing you can do now is to get a soil test made to see what your sol needs. You can do this by calling your county's extension office to get the information and address of where to send it.
Next, you can lay on as much organic stuff(biomass) you can find, to be ready to till it in when your season begins. You might be able to find some sources of animal manures to apply, provided you do it 120 days before you begin working your soil..(organic rules). 
For the first few years, I recommend tilling in as much organic matter as possible, then using organic sources of nitrogen, like chicken manure, dried blood, so as to replenish the nitrogen sources that will be stolen as the biomass is consumed by your soil critters.
In time, you should get some mellow soil which you can then start putting down mulch layers and sell your rototiller.

Hope this helps,

geo


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Siting (choosing the best location) the garden, fencing if you want it fenced, pile organic matter on the ground to smother weeds and to work into the soil come spring, picking crops that would do well in your location/situation, choosing crops you know you will want to eat. Lots to do before you put that first plant in the ground.


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## lazydogranch (Dec 23, 2010)

Cover it with some form of mulch... moldy has is great. If you can find a farmer/rancher who has round bales that they can't use. It will slowly compost, earthworms will be abundant.


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## Bob M. (Nov 5, 2018)

I don't know about your area, but even in Michigan which gets -20f, you plant and grow some things throughout the winter even. things like garlic, cold hardy lettuces/kales and crops do better planted in the fall. agree totally with it also being a good time to supplement your soil, also often a good time to plant cover crops to supplement the soil and also crowd out weeds/etc. and of course before you start is always a good time to setup your drainage properties and such, which often requires digging far down and getting at the problems areas under neath, if you have clay layers, or etc. look up Hugelkultur on google. its a good investment of labor for the future, especially when just starting out.do not 'need'to plant big huge logs either of course. bunches of smaller sticks, chips, mulch, sawdust/leaves/etc work even better.
you can also disrupt weed roots/etc, by tilling in the fall once or twice, then when spring comes around, I till or cultivate 3-4 times. what this does is brings weed seeds/roots/etc up to the surface, which causes them to germinate, and it then tills them under and kills them. they need time to germinate, so wait a week or so of the right weather when doing it and it will cut back on weeds a lot.


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## RonTgottagoat (Feb 27, 2014)

Gene a good thing to do in preparation of a garden is to plant rye grass in fall. It adds organic matter. I usually plant in late October. I’ll mow it with mulch mower no bag. Before planting I’ll turn over the grass on itself with a shovel. Add in any compost etc available chop it in with a shovel. In the past I’ve planted into that but this year I’m adding buckwheat into the mix. It’s a quick grow and a great’green manure’. I’ve also been reading about planting comfrey. To pull up deep nutrients, it’s leaves etc can be used as a mulch/fertilizer (supposadely) I’ve just read about it recently. I want to plant some but haven’t encountered it. But I’m on a mission to find some locally


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## Ellendra (Jul 31, 2013)

Be aware that comfrey can be hard to get rid of once it gets established.


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## mrghostwalker (Feb 6, 2011)

The easiest way I've found of preparing soil is to cover the area you wish to plant with a thick layer of mulch (leaves, straw, spent straw from stalls, etc). I've done this in the fall or late winter in wooden frame- sort of like a modified Square Foot Gardening style. Most of my beds are 4' wide by 15' long.
By mid spring the sod and weeds have all been turned into beautiful, loose soil. The worms do a wonderful job of transforming. This works wonderful but is better suited for smaller gardens. For large plots I would rent a roto tiller and break up the ground manually. Just remember to cover your soil with mulch to keep is from reverting to a field. 
But the way, the trick with smaller gardens is to frame the beds in with wood ( I use untreated 2x8) and NEVER walk on the soil inside the beds! This helps keep it from getting compacted- so that you only have to cover with mulch every fall and the worms keep is nice and tilled for you.


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## RonTgottagoat (Feb 27, 2014)

Thanks for heads up on comfrey. I like the modified square foot method as well. The thing about a garden for me is it’s always a work in progress. That’s as far as the soil of the individual beds. If you try and build it’s structure by the addition of organic matter. Leaves as mentioned above, grass clippings etc. the worms etc find it and do the work for you overtime. I’ve also tried to keep existing beds mulched and planted replacing one item with another. Right now my garden has mustards that went in in the fall, are starting to flower for my bees. Sugar snap peas and Fava beans. As they finish they will be replaced with wRmer weather items. This approach keeps me in the garden a little year round, is better than looking at a dead brown plot all winter dreaming of a summer garden and can build soil structure by using legumes, clovers, rye grass etc. which in time will only help. 
Also don’t make your garden too big at first. I recommend building it over time. I don’t use a tiller so it’s me and a couple shovels. I have limited time to garden so I’ll try and work a bed or two at a time each week. Generally I’ll make my beds 3 by 10 or so. Turn over a bed, add amendments compost etc. turn that in and plant. If I do a couple beds a week leading up to summer before I know it I have a garden fulll of plants etc. to see it come to life over several weeks is rewarding and for me works very well. I never have to spend $$$$$$$ all at once at plant store. Many times what I plant are seeds By not planting a whole garden in a weekend it spreads my joy out over a couple weeks and I never don’t have time to plant the plants I bought. Lesson learned. Plant what you buy the day you buy it. Give it the love from day one and you’ll have better success I used to go to store by too many plants at once. And they suffered By taking smaller bites of the garden I think I became a better gardener than I used to be


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

You van NEVER, EVER, EVER, have too much compost, NEVER!!!!


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

auto correct got me.... should be... can never


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## oldasrocks (Oct 27, 2006)

Yes you can, of certain types. I hauled in 7 dump truck loads of horse manure to start our soil with. Here in Missouri we have to build our dirt or grow in clay and rocks. I found horse manure has too much vegetation in it. When it decomposes it ties up the nitrogen. So I cleaned out the chicken house and spread accordingly the next fall.

BTW: I filled several raised planters with store bought dirt. Supposedly the good stuff with fertilizer in it. After a dismal growing season with wifes herbs I finally did soil tests and found the phosphate level very low.

The moral of the stories is to make sure you do soil tests often.


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## doc- (Jun 26, 2015)

I disagree with Oldasrocks: horse manure is The Best. It's free from most commercial stables and in large quantities (unlike your puny pile of kitchen scraps & yd waste).. Any seeds are burnt up by the high temps in the pile. It has the perfect mix of N, P,K, pH and the best texture (most important).


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## oldasrocks (Oct 27, 2006)

Doc, The difference is these horses are mainly on pasture. Feed in a stable will mostly be hay. They bring then in at night so a coyote don't run them through a fence. The manure has a pasture origin. I agree most seeds are burnt up if piled long enough.


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## doc- (Jun 26, 2015)

My horses are on weedy pasture 7 months a yr. I use partially composted manure for seed starts-- no problems with weeds. Manure tilled into garden gives no more weeds than normal in my experience.


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Mine either. Horse and Donkey. Composted well. Works for me. **** But, it really needs to be composted well. I use every bit.


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## minicross (Mar 1, 2018)

I’m new to this forum and new to gardening. I have been using the Farmers Almanac planting by the moon. I received the schedule on when to plant but my spinish and radishes are not doing well. I use cow manure mixed with garden soil and mix it with a roto tiller. The weather this year has been very different colder then usual. I used straw to cover at night but I’m not sure that is working. I live in the northeast area in Arizona. Any help? Thanks


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

minicross said:


> I’m new to this forum and new to gardening. I have been using the Farmers Almanac planting by the moon. I received the schedule on when to plant but my spinish and radishes are not doing well. I use cow manure mixed with garden soil and mix it with a roto tiller. The weather this year has been very different colder then usual. I used straw to cover at night but I’m not sure that is working. I live in the northeast area in Arizona. Any help? Thanks


Weather in the southwest has definitely been colder and wetter than usual this winter.

Can you explain what not doing well looks like? Direct sowing or transplanting? Are they germinating at all? Dying off after germinating, or bolting? Was your cow manure well composted? What's your watering schedule like? Noticing any pest damage? As detailed as you can get will help figure out what's going on better.

I'm not sure what the micro-climate is like in your part of AZ, but here in southern California, we've been done with spring/fall crops for a month or two now, it's just too hot for things like spinach and even radishes are getting iffy. Honestly though I never have very good luck with spinach even in winter, I've pretty much replaced it with Swiss Chard.


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