Planting for the Spring of 2009

Its September and the corn, tomatoes, peppers, and other plants have been pulled out and the ground tilled under with some compost and cow manure. I have planted 152 white garlic, 39 German hard neck garlec, and 6 elephant garlic. The kale is just about ready to pick and it looks like the Brussels sprouts will be picked in about two weeks.

I planted snow peas where I had the corn this year as a cover crop and if the weather holds out I just might get a small harvest of snow peas this year.
Now that most of the "gardening" work is just about done for the season I will have time to plan and layout next year’s garden. I hope to have a new fence up and around the garden to keep rodents in there own area and out of my little garden. I have expanded the square foot of the garden for next year and plan to have one area just for herbs and a little area for flowers.
I am hoping to have some fruit trees planted and a little orchard started.
I am also thinking about adding some chickens to the mix to help out with the bug control.

I’ll have to see about that one.

2008 garden season

I need to talk a little bit about last year’s crop, so I can get caught up to date and talk about what is going on now for next year’s garden.
I planted corn in trenches instead of in mounds, I found that it works great, and uses a-lot less water than in mounds. (See photos)
The trench was about 6 inches deep with rows between each trench about 2 feet wide so I could weed and work the corn. I watered the corn with an over head sprinkler tell the corn was about 3 to 4 inches high. Then I flooded the trench every other day, and kept it well mulched with straw. The depth of the trench protected the little plants, and helped to hold moisture in the ground, the straw helped to minimize evaporation and keep the weeds down.
I used a cold frame this year and planted lettuce, spinach and radishes that made for a first harvest at the end of May.
My total harvest was, 38 ears of sweet corn, 3 rows of radishes, about 40 pounds of tomatoes, watermelon, squash, peppers, 5 quarts beans, garlic, onions, rhubarb, Brussels sprouts, kale, and 2 mounds of potatoes.
It turned out to be a good year, after a slow start.

RODENTS IN MY GARDEN

This is an article I wrote for Hort news news letter

Rodent species that you might see in your garden include rabbits, prairie dogs, voles, mice, rats, and
pocket gophers. At some time in your gardening career you will have to deal with damage from one, some
or all of these furry friends.
You could use lethal methods to control a rodent attack on your garden. To get anything from traps to
poison and how to use them, all you need to do is go to your local garden center. Let’s look at some of the
trouble with traps and poisons. Traps can be slow and could draw more trouble in the form of predators
to your garden. At the very least, you will have to put up with the sight of the trapped rodent. Poisons
may target more than just the rodent you want to get rid of. Poisons will potentially harm any animal
that might eat the poison and second generation poisoning from any animal that eats the rodent that
consumed the poison originally. That not only includes hawks, eagles, coyotes, and owls, but your pets as
well.
I have found that even with traps and poisons the furry little critters will and do come back. How do
we get them to go to another location without the use of traps and especially poisons?
Let’s look at some alternative ways to control rodents:
• Take a good look at your landscape. Look for places for the rodents to hide, from you and predators.
If you have a cat, watch where it goes and where it is looking; chances are that the cat is looking for
something to kill. If you have a dog, let it roam. The dog will tell you by where it goes and where it is
sniffing that there is something in its area.
• If you don’t have a pet just look for woodpiles, piles of branches, trash, what ever.
• Look for holes in the ground that will tell you where the rodent lives.
• Look for trees that will act as cover for rodents from birds of prey; fences can keep rodents out but
will also keep predators out.
• If you have a fence, let your dog roam inside the fence line. Often, the scent of the dog will send
rodents from your garden to your neighbors’ garden where there is no scent of a predator.
Use the fact sheets from the CSU Extension office (this includes other states’ Extension offices you
can find online), the Division of Wildlife and The Humane Society of the United States to learn about the
habits of the rodents and do what you can to disturb their peace. Much of this information is available at
the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management, http://icwdm.org
I will change the environment first, attract predators, and use non-lethal methods to deter rodents
and use traps and baits as the very last resort to control rodents.
I like to learn what I can do before I go and dump poison out for all the other animals to eat. By using
this method I can enjoy the bounty of my garden, songbirds and even hawks, owls, nighthawks and once
an eagle. It can be a lot of work but with dedication you can enjoy your garden and the wildlife.

Intro

I am doing this blog to keep everyone up dated on how I am working my garden here in Southern Colorado. I am living on one acre of clay and silt, that has generated quite a challenge for me. I have gardened for over twenty years. The past three years have been a challenge and a learning experience.

I have been a Colorado Master Gardener for three years. (I don't understand that title I am in no way a master or know everything I do know where I can find the information now.)
If there is a Master Gardeners program in your area I recommend you get involved. There are a-lot of very nice people who love to share there knowledge with you.

I am now learning how to blog also so this might become a big mess but I'm sure that I will get better as time goes on.
I will be posting on all kinds of gardening topics, composting, planting, vegetables, soil, and other gardening topics.
I will also be posting photos and if I can get this figured out even a video or two, what fun.
I look forward your comments and putting a lot of information on this blog.

Thank you
Rick