Also add lots of different manures like cow, chicken, rabbit, whatever you can get. You can also add leaves in the fall and any other decaying matter. Also compost your kitchen scraps in there (plant based only & some egg shells, coffee & tea grounds) that will encourage worms which will give you good worm castings..if you do all that soon you will have a nice fertile bed of microbes. You will not need to weed or till and hardly have to water as the mulch will keep the soil moist. Good luck.
Dump a load of sand on top of it and mix it in..that will loosen it up and root crops grow good in sand because it gives good drainage. Lack of drainage probably caused that fungus, too. Just use sand and keep adding straw and wood chips too. Just build on top of that hard ground and soon you will have soft fertile soil.
You should try grow potatoes in containers or in a bag and use compost you buy from a garden centre, the soil you used may not be good for your potatoes thats why they not big. You should check out other youtube videos on here!
Your garden looks great. I tried growing potatoes in a raised bed this year with loose soil instead of the clay soil I have naturally, they seem to be doing much better as far as quality and quantity. I actually moved all my root crops into raised beds and left the ground for everything else. It's working really well.
your garden looks GOOD i realy like to use straw ours had a lot of chicken manue in it this year could you put some sand where you plant potatoes next year we planted all red potatoes this year, great onions....mm
Looks really good man, that straw seemed to really help and I think it would have helped me with my garden. All our stuff got burned to a crisp. Next year will be better. learning a lot.
You could try gypsum in you soil. It does take several years to work however. What I would do is to take a moldbord plow threw the whole garden and turn it over good this fall. Let froste and time break up the hardpan you got going on there.
@butcherbls I have put some gypsum in several years ago. I also had it plowed last fall. It was funny when I was turning the potatos out it would all most peal up where the plow turned the compost under last fall. There is a layer about 8" -10" down.
awesome. next year i am doing the same thing and i made a special spot for it cause our garden is too small for potatoes. the hey is a great idea. you did a pretty good job. potatoes are hard because they can ROT so easy.
35 yrs ago we bought a piece of land to build a house on. It was part of what had been a potato farm for ages. Dumbo me thought that the ground must then be reasonably good. WRONG! You never saw such a mess of rocks (in clay!). Mowing the acre surrounding the house was torture for years. We spent more time bending to pull out rocks, then mowing. I asked some neighbors how the heck they grew anything there. The answer was, " 'cept for tilling in some straw at planting time, he just let 'em be".
i used the hay to loosen my soil here in tx youve got em dug up put yer hay in the hole then yer soil and till thats the only thing ive found to loosen mine i did this in the fall and then again in the spring rite before planting
Wow what a garden!!!! Very nice. I love using hay... it is great on weed control. My potatoes this year didn't do good either. I only managed to get tree quarts canned. I think my problem was I did not get them in the ground soon enough.
@oaktreega I didn't get mine out early enough because it was raining so much at that time. I don't think I really got it all tilled up like I would have liked to have.
I personally would try to add more organic matter, such as decomposing leaves to try to loosen it. the hay does act as a cover for the mice and rats but it also aids in shading and holding in moisture. This was our first year planting sweet potatoes and with all the rain we've been getting, the grass is high and the rats had a feild day. we pretty much lost the whole crop. Maybe you and I will do better next season. Keep the faith!
@TheCajuntransplant I want to get a bunch of leaves this fall and add to as much as I can. I did that in the garden where I use to live. It made a big difference.
Also add lots of different manures like cow, chicken, rabbit, whatever you can get. You can also add leaves in the fall and any other decaying matter. Also compost your kitchen scraps in there (plant based only & some egg shells, coffee & tea grounds) that will encourage worms which will give you good worm castings..if you do all that soon you will have a nice fertile bed of microbes. You will not need to weed or till and hardly have to water as the mulch will keep the soil moist. Good luck.
kokonutbaby1 3 months ago
Dump a load of sand on top of it and mix it in..that will loosen it up and root crops grow good in sand because it gives good drainage. Lack of drainage probably caused that fungus, too. Just use sand and keep adding straw and wood chips too. Just build on top of that hard ground and soon you will have soft fertile soil.
kokonutbaby1 3 months ago
You should try grow potatoes in containers or in a bag and use compost you buy from a garden centre, the soil you used may not be good for your potatoes thats why they not big. You should check out other youtube videos on here!
shannan2000 5 months ago
garden looking good
sugerbear520 6 months ago
Your garden looks great. I tried growing potatoes in a raised bed this year with loose soil instead of the clay soil I have naturally, they seem to be doing much better as far as quality and quantity. I actually moved all my root crops into raised beds and left the ground for everything else. It's working really well.
fus7jo1 6 months ago
your garden looks GOOD i realy like to use straw ours had a lot of chicken manue in it this year could you put some sand where you plant potatoes next year we planted all red potatoes this year, great onions....mm
mmlrc6atgmailcom 6 months ago
Nice onion patch ! Straw does help retain moisture, but like you found, its an invitation for mice/voles to take up residence.
mhpgardener 6 months ago
Looks really good man, that straw seemed to really help and I think it would have helped me with my garden. All our stuff got burned to a crisp. Next year will be better. learning a lot.
ndcouey70 7 months ago
@ndcouey70 Yea I am really happy with what the straw did. We didn't hardly have to cultivate at all this year.
Buckrun11 7 months ago
You could try gypsum in you soil. It does take several years to work however. What I would do is to take a moldbord plow threw the whole garden and turn it over good this fall. Let froste and time break up the hardpan you got going on there.
It still looks like your doing OK though.
butcherbls 7 months ago
@butcherbls I have put some gypsum in several years ago. I also had it plowed last fall. It was funny when I was turning the potatos out it would all most peal up where the plow turned the compost under last fall. There is a layer about 8" -10" down.
Buckrun11 7 months ago
awesome. next year i am doing the same thing and i made a special spot for it cause our garden is too small for potatoes. the hey is a great idea. you did a pretty good job. potatoes are hard because they can ROT so easy.
babaloo42 7 months ago
@babaloo42 I only found a couple that were rotten most were about golf ball size.
Buckrun11 7 months ago
35 yrs ago we bought a piece of land to build a house on. It was part of what had been a potato farm for ages. Dumbo me thought that the ground must then be reasonably good. WRONG! You never saw such a mess of rocks (in clay!). Mowing the acre surrounding the house was torture for years. We spent more time bending to pull out rocks, then mowing. I asked some neighbors how the heck they grew anything there. The answer was, " 'cept for tilling in some straw at planting time, he just let 'em be".
tjbollman1 7 months ago
i used the hay to loosen my soil here in tx youve got em dug up put yer hay in the hole then yer soil and till thats the only thing ive found to loosen mine i did this in the fall and then again in the spring rite before planting
rdnkrfnk 7 months ago
Wow what a garden!!!! Very nice. I love using hay... it is great on weed control. My potatoes this year didn't do good either. I only managed to get tree quarts canned. I think my problem was I did not get them in the ground soon enough.
oaktreega 7 months ago
@oaktreega I didn't get mine out early enough because it was raining so much at that time. I don't think I really got it all tilled up like I would have liked to have.
Buckrun11 7 months ago
I personally would try to add more organic matter, such as decomposing leaves to try to loosen it. the hay does act as a cover for the mice and rats but it also aids in shading and holding in moisture. This was our first year planting sweet potatoes and with all the rain we've been getting, the grass is high and the rats had a feild day. we pretty much lost the whole crop. Maybe you and I will do better next season. Keep the faith!
TheCajuntransplant 7 months ago
@TheCajuntransplant I want to get a bunch of leaves this fall and add to as much as I can. I did that in the garden where I use to live. It made a big difference.
Buckrun11 7 months ago