GARDEN PAYOFF, by DVM
A quick note as I enjoy a fresh (minutes old) garden salad. Like many others I put a garden in my backyard in April. I always had tomatoes, okra (I’m southern-born), and a few herbs, but this year I added lots of other vegetables, not knowing what the year would bring. At great effort I fenced in a patch with 5-foot high welded wire and T-posts, tilled it with a borrowed Wheelhorse rear-tined tiller, and placed all seeds. It was a great summer, and even now I am still getting produce. Mind you, I did re-seed for lettuce in September. It is that lettuce mixture that I am enjoying now. I love herbs, and also still have parsley, oregano (albeit drying up), basil, mint, and cilantro. I might add that it is very satisfying to grow your own food, and a nice little diversion in this crazy time we are living.
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Good post! We planted a fall garden of breakfast radishes, Swiss Chard, Peas, and Cabbage. It’s satisfying to have a garden, both for the work and the reward. Ya’ll remember to plant beneficial plants like Bee Balm, Borage, and Goldenrod in the Spring to attract polinators. I’ve not heard someone mention a Wheel horse in decades.
Sounds like you are in good shape there. I’ve never had much success with cabbage. Maybe you have a secret? The Wheelhorse was from the 1970s when things were made with quality in the USA. Most of it is cast iron. It is still running great, but, of course, must be run on REAL GAS (don’t get me started on that conspiracy). We plant lots of sunflowers and mixed annual flower packets also, as you have suggested. Thanks for reading and commenting friend.
I also am familiar with the wheelhorse,guess we dated ourselves!
Man that looks good!
R
Next time I see you Brother I’ll bring some for the mealtime. Hahahaha. Yeah the colors are deep rich green and lighter variations. Amazing flavors.
If you’ve never grown red okra, it’s a lot of fun to grow. It doesn’t make you itch when you pick it like green okra does to some people either. And that lettuce looks like a great salad in the making!
I’m currently *still* growing cabbage, lettuce, spinach, bok-choy (mmmm stir-fry) and onions under plastic covered hoops.The supplied link is a little pricey, but I’m sure you could find a u-tube to bend your own hoops, I secure them with 2ft rebar sections in the ground that the hoop ends sit over. The solar guard plastic sold by Farmtek has lasted me 5+years so far, and I still have the entire roll (indoors, out of UV). A small 4ft by 8ft raised bed covered with hoops is giving us all the greens we (2 ppl) need. I have more hoops to ramp it up but this system has provided over winter greens for the past three years. Last night was in the lower 20s and my plants are just peachy.
https://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/ProductDisplay?mfPartNumber=104155
4.5
I know of Wheelhorse garden tractors,mowers and tillers that you attach to the tractors but didn’t know that they made a rear tined tiller.
Myself I have a Troy Built Horse rear tine tiller that Rocks
I’m about to have my TroyBuilt Horse re-engined… the 15 yr old 8 horse is a little tired and parts (Tecumseh engine) are getting harder to come by. I got this one used back in 2002, and it had seen a hard life before I had it. If you can find a TroyBuilt Horse… even if the engine is in bad shape…. GRAB IT. New engine and mounting is $3-400 vs $3k for a brand new Horse.
While I’d like to use my tractor for tilling, I can’t get the space to turn around inside the deer fence of my garden. The Horse works just fine.
An essay on compact tractors and tillers similar to the Chainsaw articles would be most helpful if someone has some expertise. New freeholders who have never farmed find the learning curve on tractor tools, usage, and terminology a bit intimidating. I have learned quite a bit researching on the web and looking at peoples tractor videos on that streaming site. But I have found nothing really intended to be a primer for the uninitiated. Just a thought.
My wife and I started gardening two years ago. Besides my atv and a cart, we don’t use any machinery. We do raised beds, container gardening and no till, also referred to as the Ruth stout method. My theory is if we start out off grid farming, it’ll be easier when the balloon goes up. Besides that, tractors and implements are crazy expensive, especially the compact ones.
I like to use half inch pvc conduit for framework. It’s inexpensive and bends well. Also cattle panels make excellent hoop houses and trellis.