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Sitting here looking at seed catalogs. Sick of mowing the two acres and am thinking about tilling up another 1/4 acre or so. Already cut down some trees.
Thinking about growing potatoes this year.
Grow okra.
Maybe a strawberry patch for fun.

1/4 acre of sweet corn, and sell it!

I grew potatoes last year just to try it. Planted 6 seed potatoes and ended up with around 15 lbs of the creamiest best tasting potatoes I ever had. Would have ended up with more but I picked them too soon due to the fact I had a potato bug problem.

My potatoes didn't do squat. Too wet, and they rotted in the ground before they were ripe. 200 hills of potatoes, and I think I got maybe 10 pounds out of the deal. Really sucked. And those damn potato bugs are the bane of my garden.

assateague wrote:My potatoes didn't do squat. Too wet, and they rotted in the ground before they were ripe. 200 hills of potatoes, and I think I got maybe 10 pounds out of the deal. Really sucked. And those damn potato bugs are the bane of my garden.

Old lady down the street told me what to use to get rid of them before they start. I'll look for the name and post it in here. I know Agway has it.

Please do. Mine are wintered over in the soil. It's possible to stay ahead of them, by looking under all the leaves and pinching off the ones with eggs on them, but if you miss even one day, you're fucked.

Assa, the stuff is called Neem. Also some stuff called BT (Bacteria Tyringus or something like that). She swears by this stuff, I've never used it but I will this year.

no vegetable gardens this year for me..however i will be growing some of the Rocky Mountains Finest
the last to years of drought in Iowa have kind of sucked for our gardens.this spring i will not have the time to start any in my new place. hope by the next year to be putting a garden in.i dont really like many veggies but the garden is a peaceful place to be at times

capt1972 wrote:Assa, the stuff is called Neem. Also some stuff called BT (Bacteria Tyringus or something like that). She swears by this stuff, I've never used it but I will this year.

Thanks! I'm going to try both, but have a farmer who's going to get me some stuff to put in the soil when I plant, also. I can't get the stuff, because it's a restricted material, but he's going to get me a small amount. We'll see how that works.

capt1972 wrote:

assateague wrote:My potatoes didn't do squat. Too wet, and they rotted in the ground before they were ripe. 200 hills of potatoes, and I think I got maybe 10 pounds out of the deal. Really sucked. And those damn potato bugs are the bane of my garden.

Old lady down the street told me what to use to get rid of them before they start. I'll look for the name and post it in here. I know Agway has it.

The name of the old lady doesnt matter.

3legged_lab wrote:

capt1972 wrote:

assateague wrote:My potatoes didn't do squat. Too wet, and they rotted in the ground before they were ripe. 200 hills of potatoes, and I think I got maybe 10 pounds out of the deal. Really sucked. And those damn potato bugs are the bane of my garden.

Old lady down the street told me what to use to get rid of them before they start. I'll look for the name and post it in here. I know Agway has it.

The name of the old lady doesnt matter.

exactly!

Going to buy store potatoes, keep them in a sack in the dark, let them sprout, and plant them.
Will do white, red, and gold.
Why should I not do it that way?

You should cut them in half, with a big sprout on both pieces. Then dip the cut ends in lime and drop them in the hole. You don't have to cut them in half, but if you don't, there's more of a chance they will rot before they get going. The lime and cutting has always seemed to work for me. Right up until it rains like a bastard for 3 weeks and rots them anyway, after they've grown, but before they've ripened. Bastards. And plant them sort of shallow, leaving plenty of room to hill them up. That too helps keep them from rotting. Until it rains like a bastard for 3 weeks and rots them anyway, after they've grown, but before they've ripened.

aunt betty wrote:Going to buy store potatoes, keep them in a sack in the dark, let them sprout, and plant them.
Will do white, red, and gold.
Why should I not do it that way?

cut the potato into pieces with an eye per piece before planting.

Sulfur- I meant dip them in Sulfur.

assateague wrote:Sulfur- I meant dip them in Sulfur.

I've heard that for peppers, but potatoes too?

Peppers? I don't know, I've only ever planted pepper plants, or seeds, not a whole pepper. I guess it would work for them, too.

assateague wrote:Peppers? I don't know, I've only ever planted pepper plants, or seeds, not a whole pepper. I guess it would work for them, too.

no,no, I meant pepper plants. throw a few match heads under each plant when planting.

Oh. Not sure, never done that.

assateague wrote:Oh. Not sure, never done that.

I guess the like sulfur, seems to work.

I don't think anyone in my family but me n the wife have had new potatoes at least since my grandpa died...
Garden food is so much fresher, tastier, and I suspect healthier that I'm trying hard to get the whole family gardening.

If you read the bible...we're meant to be farmers, fishermen, and builders...not slaves to the 'economy'.

Our industrial world is doing everything in its power to make us all more dependent on it.
It will all fail eventually...and then what?

Farming, fishing, and building again. Teach your kids how to fish, grow food, and build shelters. Its all that we really need. The rest all goes back into the box at the end of the game.

good lord i have a lot of work to do for the garden this year. i think i am just gonna skip sweet corn as well to leave more room for peppers and tomatoes. and if i can find enough dirt, i am gonna try assa's tire stack potatoes.

huntall6 wrote:good lord i have a lot of work to do for the garden this year. i think i am just gonna skip sweet corn as well to leave more room for peppers and tomatoes. and if i can find enough dirt, i am gonna try assa's tire stack potatoes.

You want to grow some corn? I have space at that abandoned house.
Just say the word and I will put in a couple rows for u.

And...huntal6, do you own a tiller? I don't.
HINT!

If you feel like rebuilding one, I have an old rear tine in the shed you can have. My garden is to big to till with a walk behind. The guy who normally tills it is moving to MO (lucky bastard!) in may so hopefully he can get it done befor then.....

huntall6 wrote:If you feel like rebuilding one, I have an old rear tine in the shed you can have. My garden is to big to till with a walk behind. The guy who normally tills it is moving to MO (lucky bastard!) in may so hopefully he can get it done befor then.....

Why not?
Give it a shot.

The tractor shit last fall and I have to push mow 2 acres. Fuck that! I'll till up as much as I can.

I work on shit for a living. I have absolutely no desire to rebuild a motor and carb on my own time. I have enough shit to do. One of these days I will have a small tractor with a scoop and tiller, I wouldn't mind working on that near a much.

huntall6 wrote:I work on shit for a living.

Polishing turds again?

Hey huntal6, if you let me fiddle with that tiller and I can get it running without buying anything, I'll give you some cash. I really need one and ain't spending the $$$ on what one of the troy bilt ones cost.
Get my number from Jake if you got his.