Chickens 2012 multi strain grow log,

[Chicken]

I GOT ALL THE CHICKEN POOP TILLED IN THE GARDEN YESTERDAY,,, moved a ton of manure with a wheel-barrel,,,and right now my whole body aches,,,,

i will be growing,,,

LIZARD TAIL
DARK VIRGINIA
WHITE STOCK BURLEY
MONTE CALME YELLOW
ERGO
TN90 BURLEY
BURSA
YELLOW TWIST BUD
OTTOMANHY
14L8 BURLEY
BIG-GEM
SHARIZA
SILKLEAF


HAVANA
SILK LEAF > FOR CIGARS,

PERHAPS MORE OR LESS OF CERTAIN STRAINS,,,,

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THE GARDEN AREA,

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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-14
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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-14
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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-14
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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-14
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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-14
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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-14

 

[Boboro]

I use a pre-emergent herbicide2 weeks before planting.Itwont kill running grass but kills weed seed. It last to about mid season. I mulch with newpapper covered with oak leaves when the ground starts to dry. I use some composted cow and it can be more weed than munere. A easy way to check is to mix it with dirt pot it and put in a warm spot under lite. Herbicides are safe in food producion. Im not sure about taste but mines good and my hoe is the cleanist tool in the shed.Some people hate chems.I hate hoes.

 

[FmGrowit]

That's some good lookin' dirt Chicken.

Boboro, I think weeds do more damage to tobacco than bugs do. Your newspaper covered with leaves is a great idea. It keeps the weeds down and the moisture in the ground. Mulch is one of the best things to use to break up compacted soil too.

 

[Chicken]

i need some input,,,

i have 2 rolls of this fabric,,, that i may lay down as a weed preventor,,,,and slit a hole in it to put my plants,,,

i havent checked it for its ability to let water thru,,

theres 300' in a roll so i have a total of 600' of this stuff,,,,,,

the fiber is pourous so im sure the water will get thru,,, ive never layed a mesh down in my garden area,,,

any input on this idea,?? im thinking of holding it down with wood survey stakes,,, or bent wire from a '' locating flag''

any suggestions on the best way to hold it down, to where the wind wont blow it away,????

 

[LeftyRighty]

I've put down fabric for weed prevention before also, but I've removed it a week or two before planting.
Since you've put down manure & compost, these fabrics will help the sun warm the soil and advance decomposition. While they allow water through, they do restrict air flow. Whenever I lifted a corner, it just smelled 'sour'. So, I removed the fabric before planting.
That said, I've used them under shrubbery, have left them for years and never had any problems - so it may be OK.

The best 'hold-down' advice I have:
trench the perimeter of the garden area about 6+ inches deep. turn the fabric edge into the trench and bury with soil.
lay weights along any seams, and about every 6 to 8 ft spacing across the entire fabric - this will prevent wind balloning.

 

[Chicken]

^^^^
GOOD ADVICE,,, I USED 2 ' STAKES AND STAKED IT AT EACH END,, AND IN THE MIDDLE,,,,,

. and in between these stakes i came back and put in 4 2' pieces of bent wire shaped like a staple,,, then i raked a small ammount of dirt along the seams,,,,

i will get thourough pictures tomorrow,, but this is what it's looking like

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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-15
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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-15

 

[Daniel]

A tiller may be in my near future. I think I am going to have to get some things mixed into our BBL (Big Borrowed Lot).
It's funny how fast things can change. A couple of weeks ago I would have looked at your pictures and thought "Man I wish I had that much room". Now it's "I wish my field was that small". 94 feet by 126 feet is what I am looking at working with this year. We are going to do the work by hand because I have no power equipment of any kind. After actually seeing the land this weekend I am starting to think I will have to til the rows where the plants grow at least. I can leave the 6 foot paths between rows alone. That is about the only thing I can think of doing and still consider myself rational. still there is the issue of where to get compost manure if needed and sand.

I have a tax return coming well before planting time. maybe I can make a dent in this issue before plants get in the ground. I know that this year is the only one I will use this full lot. after that I will only need one third of it unless I grow tobacco to sell. Otherwise I can use the same space and rotate where I grow each year for three years then start again at the first location. I can see BB being proud of me already.

I love your pictures though Chicken. Your such a Redneck. It makes me miss Kansas.

 

[Daniel]

On the cloth issue. You will get a lot of lift. like an airplane wing when the wind blows. The easiest and cheapest answer will be to put rocks about every 6 feet so the cloth cannot rise up to much. sort of reduces your cloth to a bunch of little wings. But the rocks need to be heavy ones. Buckets filled with dirt, nice heavy pieces of rebar, not that light weight half inch stuff. some nice hefty 1 inch dia or better. 2X4's might work but you may need them spaced closer than 6 foot apart. Anyway you get the idea. No need to cover your nice clean cloth with dirt. just something heavy. It would be a pain to remove later but gravel would work the best. Cleaner to walk on when things get muddy also. you can cover it with something like shredded bark also . Much lighter and easier to handle and you can pick it up easier. problem is it tends to blow away also. Iwill stop with the ideas at that before my suggestions involve women and small children.

 

[johnlee1933]

Hey Chicken,

Looks like you might have half a day's work there ! ; < ))

Nice job.

 

[Chicken]

i was lazy today,, i had to rest up,,, i gotta be at work at 10;30 tonight,,,

so i didnt want to make myself wore out,,,'' I GOT PLENTY OF TIME''

 

[jimispanna]

we bought 10 tonne of mushroom compost, gonna dig it in and mulch with it, and i might get a few stray mushrooms out of it too

 

[jimispanna]

shredded bark chippings have a tendancy to remove nitrogen from the soil as it decomposes, so be cautious of how you use it, and where we live in ireland, it never blows away, too wet

 

[Jitterbugdude]

On the cloth issue. You will get a lot of lift. like an airplane wing when the wind blows. .

The best thing to do is cover the entire edge of your cloth with soil. That's the way I used to do it. Rocks and lumber work OK but they still leave too much exposed edge for the wind to work at. Also, consider that the farmers that use cloth lay it down with a machine that tucks the edges under the soil.

 

[Chicken]

jitterbug, i took your advice on one of the rows and buried the felt in a trench on both sides,,,
the others i think the way im doing it will be o,k,..{ i have a natural wind block on the backside of the garden of 20+ tall cedar trees}

the rows,,,and it rained real good all day today,, perfect timing,<

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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-18
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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-18
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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-18

i painted these stakes orange so i wont hit them with my toe,,, when things start to FILL-IN,,,,

in the first 2 pics you can see the '' other'' garden spot,, my woman wants veggies there,, but im sure i'll squeeze in a baccy plant or 20,,,

 

[Daniel]

Looking good. But you know that red paint will only make it easier to see so you won't miss a one don't you.

 

[Chicken]

oh thats just a base coat, to soak in the wood,,, i got some HOT PINK roaD MARKING PAINT to put on it for the final coat,
the way im figuring it,,, i'll be able to get 144 plants in there,,,,staggered plants 2 rows per felt strip,,,

24 plants per strip 12 on each side,

 

[Chicken]

i got 2/3'rds of the seeds started today,,,,,,one more seeds starting tray to do tomorrow,,,,

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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-27
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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-27
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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-27

and i aqquired some strawberry pl;ants today,,,

 

[BarG]

How many people you got helping you with all that? I saw some of those giant pumkin seeds i sent came from harlin cowboy.

 

[Daniel]

how does that African violet soil work for you? I am going to have to fill a lot of cells for my starts and sifting over 100 lbs of potting soil is probably not a real good option. something straight from the bag would be nice.

 

[Chicken]

how does that African violet soil work for you? I am going to have to fill a lot of cells for my starts and sifting over 100 lbs of potting soil is probably not a real good option. something straight from the bag would be nice.

i would have preferred to have used '' SEED STARTING MIX'',,,,but im in a small town,,,and no starting mix,,,,,,but the african violet mixture is close, so im gonna give it a whirl,