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Post by heavyhitterokra on Mar 20, 2024 19:24:13 GMT -6
Wow!
I just now noticed this thread has flipped over to the 123rd page. That sure doesn't seem possible!
I took Ranger, Porcha, Sunny, Peppy, Bandit, and Pretty Boy to the garden today and worked until dusk, hand pulling the last of 12 long rows of okra. My back is so sore right now that I can hardly stand it, but I'm finally done with that chore.
Now, I can start tearing out the old Plasticulture.
I'll need some windy days for that. The wind sure makes it a lot easier to pull plastic up. All you have to do is dig out one edge of it, grab ahold of the end that's worked loose, and hang on for dear life!
At that point, Mother Nature will do the rest. If you're a little guy like me, you'll do good to keep your feet planted on the ground! That chore is actually kind of fun at times.
Monday's forecast is calling for 30 to 35 mph winds, that ought to do it!
Looking back on last year's garden, (2023) was a pretty rough year, what with the drought, the crows, the grasshopper plague, and all. With recent memories such as that, it sure is good to have some photos of year's past to remind a fella that they're not all that way.
The following photos were taken back in 2019.
2019 was a banner year for gardening!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Mar 24, 2024 6:55:13 GMT -6
This past Thursday, was March 21st, at last, marking the first day of Spring 2024!
Though the weather here didn't much feel like Spring, Spring must have sprung somewhere. Evidence of that lies in the fact that I see gardens being turned over all around Cherokee County.
It does my heart well to think of gardeners all across America preparing their soil for planting. There's something very comforting in that thought.
Happy Gardening everyone!
Ron
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Post by hedgeapple on Apr 23, 2024 15:51:45 GMT -6
My HH seeds were soaked overnight and have been sown. Gambling a bit with our frost date here in Virginia, but I’ve got a feeling that I’ll get away with it. *Always the optimist
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Apr 28, 2024 20:12:49 GMT -6
What a glowing report Hedgeapple! Keep in mind that you know a guy who can surely fix you up with replacement seeds if Mother Nature throws you a curve ball!
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Post by hedgeapple on Apr 30, 2024 18:25:29 GMT -6
Day 7 and they are popping up all over the place.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 3, 2024 20:22:15 GMT -6
Hedgeapple, I followed your lead and planted my first few okra seeds this morning. Here's hopin'.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 9, 2024 10:21:18 GMT -6
It sure is tough to get any plowing done around here for all the rain. Better rain than drought though!
We've had 8.08" inches of rain here over the past 30 days. 7.5" inches of that has been within the past two weeks.
In fact, it's raining right now, while the sun is shining brightly. The old-timers would say, "That means that it will rain again at the same time tomorrow."
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Post by macmex on May 9, 2024 10:33:02 GMT -6
It has been great to get so much rain. Love those old timer sayings. It tickles me how often they're right
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 12, 2024 20:57:40 GMT -6
Just a note for posterity, I finally got all 12 rows raised in my garden. (It's a half-acre garden, so the rows are long). I'll have to lay the plastic later, but the hardest part is already done.
I lost my winter cover crop three years running ... Due to drought and grasshoppers, I haven't had a cover crop since the Spring of 2019. I think I planted and replanted my winter cover crop 3 times last Autumn to no avail. It never failed that about 3 to 5 days after we got enough rain to germinate my seeds, we'd have a hard freeze that would kill all of my red clover and winter pea seedlings. Then, It occurred to me during the unusually warm weather that we had in late February and early March, that maybe, just maybe, I could pull off a Spring cover crop by mid-May, so I re-plowed and replanted and the Spring crop took off like gang busters!
We've had 8.5" inches of rain here over the past 45 days, so though that helped the cover crop grow faster, it also made it impossible to plow it under.
This weekend, I tilled under so much organic matter that my mulch layer would bind up with green fodder and cease to operate. Who knows how many times the 800-pound frame of that machine rode up out of the soil on top of a bound-up roll of clover and peas? Who knows how many times I had to stop the tractor and get off to use a shovel and pitchfork to clear it? As a result, I was unable to lay plastic as I raised beds, but I now have more organic matter laid into my raised beds than I think I've ever seen!
We have an 80% chance of rain tonight and tomorrow, plus a chance of more rain several days this week, but it's possible that I might get a chance to rework the raised beds sometime in the coming week to lay my plastic and irrigation.
I sure hope so anyhow, because we are right at the end of the best window for planting okra in order for the seedlings to receive the longest length of days before those begin to pass away on June 21st. One of the most important things okra needs in its early development is long days with lots and lots of sunlight.
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Post by macmex on May 13, 2024 5:20:46 GMT -6
Well, it's about 8 hours after you posted, Ron, and yes, it's raining. It's a beautiful light rain. I love it! I've gotten almost half my sweet potatoes in , which is really early for me. Saturday I finished planting about 40' of Woods Mountain Crazy Bean and transplanted 9 Roselle plants into the garden. We already have about 20' of Woods Mountain Crazy Beans up and all the tomato plants are in place and growing (after I replaced the ones killed by frost, earlier). I wanted to plant okra but didn't get that far.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 16, 2024 2:16:02 GMT -6
Woo! Whoo!
Done at last! Another note for posterity to go along with the one I left here last time: This afternoon, my life-long, best friend from High School came to visit and the two of us laid all 1,800 feet of the garden's Plasticulture!
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