A Different Approach to Tilling the Garden

[ContainerTed]

First of all, you can see how dry things have been here. Too many 90+ temps on consecutive days - 19.

When it came to tilling, I tried something different this year. My Yard Machine Tiller cuts a 22 inch wide planting row on each pass. This year I only tilled the part where I intended to plant, leaving the remainder to develop a cover crop and serve as a place to walk that "ain't so muddy". My DW gave me a lot of "encouragement" to find a way of reducing garden mud showing up at the house - Lots of "encouragement".

So far, it seems to be a good idea. But, I want to hear from any of you that have done something similar - Pros and Cons about it. It really has reduced the Mud on the footwear, even though the rain has been very scarce around here. A lot of my neighbors have commented about how "neat" the garden looks.

Also, the last picture shows a good use for those old-used canning lids. I drill a small hole in the edge and insert a piece of string with a knot in it. Then hang some string between the tomato poles and tie the lids on to swing in the wind. Has kept the birds out since I put them in.

[mdvpc]

Ted

You are going to have to change your log-in name. There isn't one container in your photos! Nice looking plot of ground!

[wingnut]

looks fantastic! I have horsetail and quack grass, so would not suit my sitch...yet!

[ContainerTed]

Originally Posted by mdvpc

Ted

You are going to have to change your log-in name. There isn't one container in your photos! Nice looking plot of ground!

Michael, I keep the buckets in a different location. Here's the 5 on this corner of the house. And that's my crack guard dog, Cookie. She's impatient with me in the picture because we just came back from the garden and she's ready for her water bowl. She didn't like me stopping to take the pix.

[delltraveller]

In rainy times it will definitely help with mud. In dry times it should also reduce moisture loss.

[Ruth_10]

Looks like what you have is a raised bed that is not raised and has no wooden or other sides.

Pro--not tracking in soil and keeping your DW happy. Priceless!

Con--Your vegetable plants will be sharing moisture and nutrients with the "cover crop." I have noticed at times that the plants at the edge of the garden don't do quite as well as the ones further away from the edge.

In the end, it will be the results that count, and hopefully yours is a win-win situation!

[feldon30]

Looks like you are doing the Vegetable Gardener's Bible way. Till and improve the soil you use, and the rest is walkways.

[Wi-sunflower]

Just be sure you have a decent mower and use it often. If the weeds/cover crop in the walkways gets overgrown, it will be a nightmare.

The last couple of years we haven't been able to keep up with the weeds partly due to a contrary cultivator. So we end up using a mower between the rows. But if you don't do it regularly even that doesn't keep them down.

The good news for me is that DH got a newer Allis G tractor at a farm auction last fall. We finally got the cultivator from the old one put on the new one and yesterday I used it on the early cabbage and broccoli. It worked great. I cultivated nearly as much yesterday as I was able to do all of last year.

Having good equipment can make all the difference between a good year and constant frustration.

Carol

[mdvpc]

Ok Ted, u can still keep your name!

[ContainerTed]

Originally Posted by Wi-sunflower

Just be sure you have a decent mower and use it often. If the weeds/cover crop in the walkways gets overgrown, it will be a nightmare.

One of the preparation items was to buy a used 20 inch mower to mow the paths. My 42 inch riding mower was just too wide. In a very enjoyable two minutes of "haggling" over the price, a 3.5 hp Briggs and Stratton, 20 inch mower that starts on the first pull came home from the local flea market for the outlandish price of $28.00. I used an old cookie sheet to mold and rivit a cover over the grass exhaust to make it a permanent mulching mower.

Clara, I also got a big water tank (330 gal) that catches rain water from our gutter system and all the plants get extra water. When that runs out, the city water costs about $10 per 1000 gallons. One thing I've noticed is that the tilled area is staying moist, even with the mini-drought we've been having. I made a slight depression in the soil around each plant. That lets me concentrate the water at the base of the plants.

Anyhow, here's that tank. I adapted the output to take a standard garden hose and simply let gravity do the work.

[tokizy]

Ted:

Nice setup and plot of land.

Good luck.

[Worth1]

I wish I would have came up with this excuse for not weeding.

Worth

[dice]

I came across this newsgroup or mailing list post on interplanted legumes
and cover crops. It has a lot of useful information on root behavior:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/p...ry/007522.html

The person that wrote it mentions that climate and rainfall can be
an issue. (In arid, drought prone areas, you may not want your living
mulch competing with your row crops for water. If you normally get
enough water, these can be useful.)

[O.P. Mater]

Hey Ted, would love to see a picture of how you modified your mower to throw the clippings down. We have volunteer millet between two rows of tomatoes and it is really growing fast and I need to mow it down the next dry day. I think it will form a mat to walk on and hopefully hold in the moisture in case we have some dry weather later in the season. I plan to overseed it with clover for the fall.

We are using a similar water tank in the back of the farm truck to haul water from a well at our house to the tomatoes in the bottom. I have used it with a soaker hose to water some things at our house.

We had over an inch of rain last night and it is almost 90 and very humid here today. Am going to look for early blight and spray it with something......not sure yet what, as it is supposed to rain again around 6 or 7.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.........I think growing some type of plants in the middle of the row will be great for us. We do have pig weed to contend with...the millet is acting like buckwheat and crowding it out right now. Will try to post pics later this evening. Sandy

[clara]

Very well done, Ted! I'd wish I had the space you have... Water tanks are really very useful. In the last years, I never had to take city water for my garden; I'm already thinking of buying a third one for the toilet flush - why use drinking water there? clara