2022 Garden Thread

I top/side dress with some acidic compost and use rhodie/azalea fertilizer made for acid plants.
Seems to work fine, we moved them 5 years ago and dug huge holes with the tractor and filled with soil and compost, probably 3' around and 30" deep as the site soils are crap.
They like their sun, and acid soils.
 
Out backinthe alley. Corn salad/biennial broccoli, leeks, winter brussel sprouts, sweetmagnolia pole peas, a bit of my squirrel security system( ;) ) , elephant garlic and a couple yards of compost to dig out and spread.
 

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Capt Insano Emeritis said:
Been putting our used coffee grounds around them all winter off and on as well as miracid applications every couple weeks…. If you want to bring down the 7 ph to 4.5-5.5 in 3 or 4 months the blueberry bushes were transplanted and it is a work in progress / fun experiment
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Be careful, blueberries can be very sensitive to over-fertilization, especially in the winter when they can't fully utilize it. To Initially lower the ph quickly, while waiting for longer term results, you can also use 2 tablespoons to 1/2 cup white vinegar diluted in 1 gallon of water once a week to lower the ph. This will allow you to scale back on the Miracid fertilizer applications if you so choose.🙂
 
Greggor said:
Be careful, blueberries can be very sensitive to over-fertilization, especially in the winter when they can't fully utilize it. To Initially lower the ph quickly, while waiting for longer term results, you can also use 2 tablespoons to 1/2 cup white vinegar diluted in 1 gallon of water once a week to lower the ph. This will allow you to scale back on the Miracid fertilizer applications if you so choose.🙂
Click to expand...
This was not fertilization it was ph correction acidification. If anyone and i mean anyone knows soil and ph and its chemistry here you are talking to that guy. I was just sharing what i was doing . It has been effective. Ph is now at ‘ at 5.6… vinegar dilution next as it is less of an invasive adjustment with the dilution i just started. My methods have been gradual.
 
Capt Insano Emeritis said:
This was not fertilization it was ph correction acidification. If anyone and i mean anyone knows soil and ph and its chemistry here you are talking to that guy. I was just sharing what i was doing . It has been effective. Ph is now at ‘ at 5.6… vinegar dilution next as it is less of an invasive adjustment with the dilution i just started. My methods have been gradual.
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Got ya. I try to post for general audience interest and those seeking information. I can do that without replying directly to your posts going forward. Apologies.
 
Question to all those on here that know about Ph and testing soil conditions etc. I’ve honestly never gotten into soil stuff with gardening as I’ve been a life long renter until a few years ago and I’ve mostly always just relied on filling my beds with local compost (Cedar Grove, Tagro). My beds are currently filled with Tagro and I’ve had great success so far with most veggies I’ve grown for the past few years. That being said I know I have a lot to learn about gardening and soil composition etc. I kind of feel like I’m cheating with the “store bought” soil. I guess my question is: what is your recommended resource for knowledge on the subject of soil health and amendment for veggie gardening? Book or website.
 
Fuzzytugger said:
Question to all those on here that know about Ph and testing soil conditions etc. I’ve honestly never gotten into soil stuff with gardening as I’ve been a life long renter until a few years ago and I’ve mostly always just relied on filling my beds with local compost (Cedar Grove, Tagro). My beds are currently filled with Tagro and I’ve had great success so far with most veggies I’ve grown for the past few years. That being said I know I have a lot to learn about gardening and soil composition etc. I kind of feel like I’m cheating with the “store bought” soil. I guess my question is: what is your recommended resource for knowledge on the subject of soil health and amendment for veggie gardening? Book or website.
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I can tell you what i have done. I initially bought bagged compost of great quality here in Vancouver it had great ingredients with nice water retention and good drainage. Had composted ingredients,bark and ground wood fiber, yucca, some mycillium and organic amendments off cottonseed kelp and bone meal . It was a neutral ph of 6.7 to 7.2. A great neutral base for other amendments- i added a couple of 20 qut bags of wormgo(wilco) worm castings added lime( a key step) and a granular organic fertilzer … the amount i used for 2x2’x 6’ watering troughs i drilled and prepped was sustantial in each. I also added some of our excated soil in a 150 year old neighborhood with a gardening history of long habitation. The yard has a high amount of clay which if incorporated provides trace minerals which is a great thing. This was 3 years ago when i moved here and had not started in earnest composting yet. New construction soil in neighborhoods require a lo of work too. You have to learn to cultivate pick up the soil and squeeze it in your hand and know how to analyze what you have by how the hand squeezed soil holds and falls apart in your hand. It is a grandpa farmer kind of thing i remember as a kid when visiting grandpa Clarence and his Mt. Angel, OR garden in the very early 1960’s. That said … comes geology and the part of a state you live in , the old plots or new , the fill brought in and the general history of the land you occupy. From that perspective you can see that accumulation of history in that clump of soil in your hand as it crumples or holds its shape. That should tell you something.
 
Capt Insano Emeritis said:
I can tell you what i have done. I initially bought bagged compost of great quality here in Vancouver it had great ingredients with nice water retention and good drainage. Had composted ingredients,bark and ground wood fiber, yucca, some mycillium and organic amendments off cottonseed kelp and bone meal . It was a neutral ph of 6.7 to 7.2. A great neutral base for other amendments- i added a couple of 20 qut bags of wormgo(wilco) worm castings added lime( a key step) and a granular organic fertilzer … the amount i used for 2x2’x 6’ watering troughs i drilled and prepped was sustantial in each. I also added some of our excated soil in a 150 year old neighborhood with a gardening history of long habitation. The yard has a high amount of clay which if incorporated provides trace minerals which is a great thing. This was 3 years ago when i moved here and had not started in earnest composting yet. New construction soil in neighborhoods require a lo of work too. You have to learn to cultivate pick up the soil and squeeze it in your hand and know how to analyze what you have by how the hand squeezed soil holds and falls apart in your hand. It is a grandpa farmer kind of thing i remember as a kid when visiting grandpa Clarence and his Mt. Angel, OR garden in the very early 1960’s. That said … comes geology and the part of a state you live in , the old plots or new , the fill brought in and the general history of the land you occupy. From that perspective you can see that accumulation of history in that clump of soil in your hand as it crumples or holds its shape. That should tell you something.
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Thanks for the feedback 👍 I think I’ll start with testing the Ph and go from there. Since I’m growing almost exclusively in raised beds I think I’m gonna have to get the crop rotation thing down as well. Or at least know how to amend certain beds where the same crops are grown year after year.
 
Fuzzytugger said:
That being said I know I have a lot to learn about gardening and soil composition etc. I kind of feel like I’m cheating with the “store bought” soil. I guess my question is: what is your recommended resource for knowledge on the subject of soil health and amendment for veggie gardening? Book or website.
Click to expand...
Google is your friend. Find a highly rated book on the subject to gain general information.

Then, fall deep into separate rabbit holes by searching specifically on a vegetable or fruit. Best ph for x, best soil type for y, best light and growing conditions for z. The information is nearly endless, and sometimes includes myth debunking.

Pay special attention to the information available from local or (similar climate) university extentions. Typically, they provide advice via pdf files on some very specific subjects.
 
Fuzzytugger said:
Thanks for the feedback 👍 I think I’ll start with testing the Ph and go from there. Since I’m growing almost exclusively in raised beds I think I’m gonna have to get the crop rotation thing down as well. Or at least know how to amend certain beds where the same crops are grown year after year.
Click to expand...
I think you’ll find rotation of the crops will help keep down the pathogens
 
Got in a good Morning of garden work. Planted 36 more Lilies, bumped up a few plantings in the garden and then started a new area. Divided a few perennials, did some weeding, amended a veg bed and mowed the lawns....did some berry work and moved a few things around.
The only good thing about a slow, cold wet spring is you have more time to get things in shape before the perennials take off and it's too late to play around with them.
 
Speaking of soils, next week I'll be starting a project and will be bringing in about 150 Cy of topsoils...and another 60 Cy of lawn mix.
First I'll have an excavator in to loosen the very compacted site soils (from construction) to a depth of around a foot or so, depending on what I find when we start digging.
Two weeks ago I did a small job to renovate an older garden and expand the garden area in a client's second home, only used 30 cy of soils there, but at a foot deep I figure they'll be just fine after the compost goes in with the planting.
Then I'll bring in 15 or so cy to my own place to finish off a few beds, and actually do some lawn renovation (I hate lawn, but the circle by the perennial garden needs serious work and has for years) as my better half would like it done, so not waiting another year after successfully putting it off for the past five.
Lol
 
Mossback said:
Speaking of soils, next week I'll be starting a project and will be bringing in about 150 Cy of topsoils...and another 60 Cy of lawn mix.
First I'll have an excavator in to loosen the very compacted site soils (from construction) to a depth of around a foot or so, depending on what I find when we start digging.
Two weeks ago I did a small job to renovate an older garden and expand the garden area in a client's second home, only used 30 cy of soils there, but at a foot deep I figure they'll be just fine after the compost goes in with the planting.
Then I'll bring in 15 or so cy to my own place to finish off a few beds, and actually do some lawn renovation (I hate lawn, but the circle by the perennial garden needs serious work and has for years) as my better half would like it done, so not waiting another year after successfully putting it off for the past five.
Lol
Click to expand...
So you’re in the biz
 
Dr. Magill said:
So you’re in the biz
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41 years...design build, really more design consult these days as I am old, but still I get on a machine and still I love the planting part and the watching of paper drawings turn into a garden...but age makes it tougher the next day.

Lol

3 more years to go...Unless I pack it in early.
Then I'll finally be able to stay home and putter around on my own shit 40 hours a week.
Got 3 projects backlogged on the drafting table, 2 awaiting groundbreaking, so my year is pretty well set, a nice place to be in April.
I love the plants and the spaces I work to create with the clients, but I can do without the hustle of self employment these days, that part gets old...and being outside all day is great.
 
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