More advice, please?

[steelnut]

After much painstaking and difficult thought, we've decided to let our garden go dormant next year.

I honestly don't know what I'll do with myself, I'll be lost for sure, lol!

 

Anyway, the decision is made so I would love any advice or suggestions on what exactly to do.

We bought black plastic to cover it with. Should we cover it this fall or wait until spring?

Should we put manure on or any other fertilizers first and then till it in before tarping it?

 

As always, I welcome any and all suggestions.

Thanks to everyone.

[lavender]

I'd tarp it in the spring. I assume you are doing it to get rid of weeds. Tarping it through the winter will not have much effect on weeds and will just cause wear and tear on your tarp. Let the weeds start to germinate and then put down your tarp. It will kill those weeds and hopefully get hot enough to destroy at least some of the seeds as well.

If you have "hot" manure you can certainly put it on before you tarp. Anything else I think I would wait until I untarped it.

[Petee]

I would pack on every kind of natural nutrient filled humus type product you can find right now and bury it all under all the leaves you can get this fall.   As a matter of fact you can put up a fence to keep them in place.  Next spring till everything in and cover it all with newspapers and a layer of peat moss.  Keep any weeds pulled but there shouldn't be a lot.  In spring 2011 get a soil test done, amend as directed and till everything in.  You should have a great garden.

 

In Jewish tradition a field was to lie fallow (or untilled) every seventh year to allow it to rebuild resources.

[Guest snellma]

What they said.  Watch out the next year.  You will have so many veggies you won't know what to do.  We did this one year - wow.

[steelnut]

What they said.  Watch out the next year.  You will have so many veggies you won't know what to do.  We did this one year - wow.

I was thinking that it may have been you who posted about covering the garden in plastic and letting the sun do it's job. Did you put any particular type of fertilizer on it first?

That's kind of our dilemma, I'm just not sure and I so appreciate everyone's advice. So far, we're thinking of tilling it all up and covering it with leaves over the winter. Then come spring, putting some kind of fertilizer on it before covering it with the plastic. We just have to figure out what type of fertilizer to use. So the more advice, the better.

Thanks to all!

 

I have to tell you that the thought of not having a garden next year has me about crazy. I'm thinking of offering friends my services as a weeder and I'll buy the plants if they share with me....and if I can just come over and watch their gardens. Sounds silly, but I love watching my garden grow.  :'(

 

[steelnut]

I'd tarp it in the spring. I assume you are doing it to get rid of weeds. Tarping it through the winter will not have much effect on weeds and will just cause wear and tear on your tarp. Let the weeds start to germinate and then put down your tarp. It will kill those weeds and hopefully get hot enough to destroy at least some of the seeds as well.

If you have "hot" manure you can certainly put it on before you tarp. Anything else I think I would wait until I untarped it.

Not weeds, weeds are my enemy, LOL!

We got the blight, and it was late. Just when I thought that we survived it, two weeks ago it hit.

We've had our garden in the same place every year and this year just wasn't good at all. Even without the blight, we got a total of four cukes, not too many green and wax beans or peas. Even the squash didn't do well. The peppers and beets were the only things that did well this year.

 

 

[lavender]

It was a bad year for gardens all around so don't be too disappointed.

If you are going to put down leaves and fertilizer and then tarp for the summer I'd get manure. You will have to remove the tarp very early next year. We put down leaves one winter and even without the tarp it took forever to dry in the spring.

[woodseya1]

you guy's will probably laugh but I have a friend who installs carpet and I use the old stuff he tears out as weed mat. I cover the whole garden wiyh it then layout my rows then just cut out where I want my plants

[steelnut]

It was a bad year for gardens all around so don't be too disappointed.

If you are going to put down leaves and fertilizer and then tarp for the summer I'd get manure. You will have to remove the tarp very early next year. We put down leaves one winter and even without the tarp it took forever to dry in the spring.

If we tarp it for the summer, when do you mean that we should remove the tarp early next year? I was thinking of putting manure or other fertilizer down in early spring and then tarping it all summer long and just let it bake, in a way. Do you think that we should just tarp it for just a few weeks?

 

We use manure every other year to try and replenish the ground. And lucky us, one of hubby's good friends raises beef, so we have access to all the manure we want. Hubby still thinks that we should tarp it this fall and I think we should wait until early spring.....

 

And since I won't be having a garden next year...  :'(  :'(  :'(   ...does anyone know anything about the upside down tomato plants?  

There is no way that I can't have just a few plants, it'll drive me batty. I'm thinking of a patio garden....if the deer will let them alone, I'd like a couple of tomato plants and peppers. And I have to have onions, too. And squash, peas, beans, beets...oh no!  

 

 

[nails4u2c]

 

If we tarp it for the summer, when do you mean that we should remove the tarp early next year? I was thinking of putting manure or other fertilizer down in early spring and then tarping it all summer long and just let it bake, in a way. Do you think that we should just tarp it for just a few weeks?

 

We use manure every other year to try and replenish the ground. And lucky us, one of hubby's good friends raises beef, so we have access to all the manure we want. Hubby still thinks that we should tarp it this fall and I think we should wait until early spring.....

 

And since I won't be having a garden next year...  :'(  :'(  :'(   ...does anyone know anything about the upside down tomato plants?  

There is no way that I can't have just a few plants, it'll drive me batty. I'm thinking of a patio garden....if the deer will let them alone, I'd like a couple of tomato plants and peppers. And I have to have onions, too. And squash, peas, beans, beets...oh no!  

 

 

Steelnut, I had a deck garden as well as my regular garden. I loved having tomatoes, grape tomatoes, (they are the only ones that survived the blight) lettuce and a good variety of herbs on my deck. It was so convenient to go out and pick a salad. I had two large round low to the ground bowl type planters for the lettuce. I would recommend waiting 1 1/2-2 weeks between planting of the lettuce so you have fresh lettuce spread over a longer period.

Can I ask why you are not having a garden?

Is it to promote better growing in the years following?

[Guest snellma]

We tarped ours during the summer to let the sun bake out any viruses that were in the soil.  Just remember - you have to keep it pretty airtight.  We laid landscaping timbers along all the edges.  Then that fall I put down newspaper, grass clippings, and leaves and left it all winter.  Then in the spring we just tilled it all up.  I would put the manure down in the fall and let it sit over the winter.  That is what we used to do when we lived in PA.

[lavender]

 

If we tarp it for the summer, when do you mean that we should remove the tarp early next year? I was thinking of putting manure or other fertilizer down in early spring and then tarping it all summer long and just let it bake, in a way. Do you think that we should just tarp it for just a few weeks?

 

We use manure every other year to try and replenish the ground. And lucky us, one of hubby's good friends raises beef, so we have access to all the manure we want. Hubby still thinks that we should tarp it this fall and I think we should wait until early spring.....

 

And since I won't be having a garden next year...  :'(  :'(  :'(   ...does anyone know anything about the upside down tomato plants?  

There is no way that I can't have just a few plants, it'll drive me batty. I'm thinking of a patio garden....if the deer will let them alone, I'd like a couple of tomato plants and peppers. And I have to have onions, too. And squash, peas, beans, beets...oh no!  

 

 

I don't think that tarping the garden over the winter would have much effect. It is the heat of the sun that does the work. I'd say tarp this spring after putting down your fetilizer and leaves. You can then untarp in the fall and let the soil breath and dry over the winter or untarp very early the next spring. A few weeks in the middle of summer might work but by the time you got done you probably wouldn't be able to put in a crop any way.

If you have ever looked under soil that has black plastic over it you will realize that it is not normal. It is very compact and wet. I have gardening friends who have a real problem with using plastic on the ground for anything other than what you are using it for. Air needs to reach the soil for the earthworms and many of the microbes that decompose organic matter to be happy. I'm not actually sure how well decomposition of the leaves will take place under the plastic. There are bacteria that work in airless enviornments but whether they will decompse those leaves in one season, I do not know. You rarely see earthworms under plastic.  You will need to get it dry so you can plow in anything that is left.

There is no one way to do any of this.

If you are worried about late blight spores surviving in the soil, they will not do so if you have cleared out all of the dead tomato plants. They can only survive in plant material overwinter. Compost piles do not get hot enough to kill them that is why it is important to seal them in plastic bags and leave them out in the sun. It might get hot enough under the black plastic to kill the fungi but it would be better to get all plant material out. If memory seves the fungus is killed at 165 degrees.

 

[steelnut]

 

I don't think that tarping the garden over the winter would have much effect. It is the heat of the sun that does the work. I'd say tarp this spring after putting down your fetilizer and leaves. You can then untarp in the fall and let the soil breath and dry over the winter or untarp very early the next spring. A few weeks in the middle of summer might work but by the time you got done you probably wouldn't be able to put in a crop any way.

If you have ever looked under soil that has black plastic over it you will realize that it is not normal. It is very compact and wet. I have gardening friends who have a real problem with using plastic on the ground for anything other than what you are using it for. Air needs to reach the soil for the earthworms and many of the microbes that decompose organic matter to be happy. I'm not actually sure how well decomposition of the leaves will take place under the plastic. There are bacteria that work in airless enviornments but whether they will decompse those leaves in one season, I do not know. You rarely see earthworms under plastic.  You will need to get it dry so you can plow in anything that is left.

There is no one way to do any of this.

If you are worried about late blight spores surviving in the soil, they will not do so if you have cleared out all of the dead tomato plants. They can only survive in plant material overwinter. Compost piles do not get hot enough to kill them that is why it is important to seal them in plastic bags and leave them out in the sun. It might get hot enough under the black plastic to kill the fungi but it would be better to get all plant material out. If memory seves the fungus is killed at 165 degrees.

 

Thank you as always, Lavender! I sooo appreciate all help that I can get.  

 

 

[steelnut]

 

Steelnut, I had a deck garden as well as my regular garden. I loved having tomatoes, grape tomatoes, (they are the only ones that survived the blight) lettuce and a good variety of herbs on my deck. It was so convenient to go out and pick a salad. I had two large round low to the ground bowl type planters for the lettuce. I would recommend waiting 1 1/2-2 weeks between planting of the lettuce so you have fresh lettuce spread over a longer period.

Can I ask why you are not having a garden?

Is it to promote better growing in the years following?

I'm going to have to have some veggie plants, so I'm going to work on how to do it without all of our critters getting to them. I just caught a squirrel yesterday helping itself to a pepper of all things, right outside the kitchen door, lol!