okay just recently my old uncle informed me that he would be gardenening in my huge backyard.... and since he just lives in a little house in town and wants a garden i was like okay, pretty much hes gonna pay for everything but i gotta take care of it, which is still no biggie, but i by NO means am a farmer or enjoy gardening and could use some shorcuts if some of you got any..... now we got it plowed a few days ago and we havent planted yet and heres just some thing that ive heard and want to clarify

- after plowing, is there really a need for me to get a tiller and till it again before planting?

- speaking of tilling, i hear im gonna have to do it every week to keep the weeds out, isnt there a spray that would kill weeds but not the veggies?

thats all i got right now....

thanks for anything

 

I've always tilled after plowing not sure if you have to just what we've always done.

Not too sure about a spray or anything, we do it old fashioned.

 

you do not want to spray chemicals around anything you want to eat. IMHO.
I'm not familiar with the soil in your area, but if it grows pine trees really well, you will need lots of lime tilled into the soil.{I used Pine as an example because it likes acidic soil}. Take a soil sample to you local county extension office, and they will send it to a nearby University for soil analysis, to determine how much fertilizers and lime you will need. It is all free of charge.
I would use a tiller for the troughs, but the furrows will need to be chopped with a hoe. Lots of work there, and carefully done or you will chop the plant down. After the plants are well established, they take a little less work, but then is time to reap the harvest. "Work" becomes the word in action.
I decided along time ago, I could buy food cheap enough I didn't have to garden. But things may be changing in that department.

 

The plow would leave large chunks which need to be busted up. You can just take a spade and turn the dirt over again. It's just easier with a tiller. then you get a nice crumbly dirt for planting.

If you have a narrow tiller and plant rows wide enough you can till in between. You have to enjoy weeding, either by hand or with a hoe.

The deer here eat every thing I plant. Two years ago we planed 150 tulips, and they eat half of them every spring.

 

Mulch can help a lot in reducing the weed problem. I had a good size vegetable garden a few years back. I used the grass clippings collected when mowing the lawn to mulch the garden. Don't do this if you spray the lawn with weed killers and/or lawn fertilizers. Everything that goes into the dirt in the garden has the potential to get into whatever you are growing. If you are growing things that you will eat, think about what you want included in your food.

Another good mulch is leaves. Leaves and grass both break down over time and improve the soil.

 

If it was sod after plowing I would add what ever type of fertilizer you want sheep chit or a triple 15 ..till it about 3" deep to incorporate .Don't mud it.. let it set for a week and spray with roundup that will kill off alot of the grass and weeds Giving you a clean start
Roundup is very safe you can almost drink the stuff

incase you don't know Roundup kills what ever it come in contact with

 

 

http://www.hardwarestore.com/media/msds/114965.pdf

Hmmmmm...

 

well its not like I do this for a living or anything LOL

 

I know what you're talking about, I just have reservations about chemicals.
When I see a crop duster I just cringe.
My personal problem!
I'm sure I eat plenty of it everyday.

 

Thats not straight roundup it has Dimension included /Dithiopyr with is safe by itself to use on grass to kill weeds But the roundup will kill the grass

 

Stay away from Chemicals, makes the food taste bad.

Organic is the way to go. Find some good compost. I use a liquid organic fertilizer.
I use AGGRAND and get it from this guy:
http://www.naturalfertilizer.info/
You can request a free catalog

Mulch between the rows is a great way to stop weeds. Newspaper works good too, put 3-4 sheets then cover with 1/4 inch of dirt. The newspaper will biodegrade and ad to the compost of your garden.

As far as breaking up after plowing, have the plow guy bring a disk and hit it a couple times.

 

I don't know what is in Roundup Dimension... never heard of it. Where do you get it from?

 

alright, thanks everyone, im leaning toward trying the mulch thing, so the all i would do is put mulch all over it then till? or plant everything then cover it with mulch/compost?

 

That works well because it traps the natural ground heat and it also traps moisture... it really helps out during the drier months.

But back to that Round Up... I read their website top to bottom, and it still doesn't quite convince me... but it says it's ok to use around edible plants.