Greetings from the Pacific Northwest

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drivepirate

New Member
I have recently started using Tapatalk on my phone so that I can read forums anytime so I'm trying out gardenforum...

I live in the PNW and am on my 3rd year gardening on .5 acre with a small 20x20 plot plus an herb garden in the front.

I'm thinking about renting a tiller this year but worried the soil is still too moist. I'm wondering if anyone has done corn up here that has any advice on planting. Also I'm considering artichoke as a perennial on the south side of the house.

Well that's all for now. Thanks for having me.
 

lynpenny

Super Moderator
Staff member
It is nice to see you here in our forum. Feel free to post and tell us all about your projects. Spring is always a favorite time of year for most gardeners. Where are you from? I'm from Central Texas.
 

drivepirate

New Member
Lynpenny one of my favorite radio talk show hosts is from Texas (not sure what part) named Shannon Burke. I visited Galveston one time before we left for a cruise.

I'm in the Pacific Northwest, near Randy I think. I believe thats region 8a or 8b. The soil where I am is heavy clay on a slight grade so my main focus right now is collecting organic material and getting it in there. We have a few trees that drop leaves and I use those. We also have 5 chickens and I collect the bedding weekly and put it in the compost bin. I'm also thinking of hitting the neighbor up for his grass clippings. My main problem is watering and mixing the compost in the "green machine" I found on the road :). I'm too lazy to water it during the winter and it's really hard to mix it that small container. Our pitchfork needs a new handle and I'm afraid of breaking it when I mix the compost... anyways... Like I said before it's really wet here far into the planting season and I'm hesitant to rent a tiller if it's not going to make working the soil that much easier than using a shovel in wet clay. I think now is the time to plant root crops and I don't want to get too behind.

Oops breaks over time to get back to work. Bye
 

Mainegal

Super Moderator
Staff member
Welcome Drivepirate
Randy has veggie gardens so he'll be able to help you with
when you can plant what and if its too early to till.
Hope to see you around.
Love the blueberries out there. Yummy!! Everything is blue
 

Randy

Super Moderator
Staff member
The rain has been relatively light over the last few days so I am considering tilling the garden tomorrow. It's still too early to plant some of the things anyway, but potatoes, carrots, and spinach would be okay to plant. My target date for planting though is Memorial day. By then, I can plant everything. I tried an artichoke plant years ago, but it didn't do too well. I have talked to others though around here and they were successful. I will be planting beans, squash, corn, and peppers this year
 

drivepirate

New Member
Love the blueberries out there. Yummy!! Everything is blue
LOL, funny you say that! The home we purchased had been planted by the old lady that lived there for years and all the flowers around are purple and blue. So to add to it I planted two blueberry bushes this past winter!
 

drivepirate

New Member
I tried working the soil a bit tonight. It's still way too clumped. I don't see how I can effectively mix compost with it yet besides breaking it all with my fingers unless..... A tiller would make a difference.

My wife prepped a 4' x 4' area by hand and it took her an hour. Might be awhile before we get it together.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
 

Randy

Super Moderator
Staff member
At our last house, we had soil like that. I had a dump truck full of sand dropped off and got that spread out over the garden area. It took awhile to get it all worked in but it was worth it. I had a neighbor down the street that was a retired North Dakota farmer and he told me that was a big mistake, but I thought it worked out great. I bummed leaves from friends and in a few years I had really great soil there. We have a horse here and he provides an excellent soil treatment too.
 

drivepirate

New Member
That's great Randy! Gives me hope for ours too! I'm the kind of guy that figures things out the slow/hard way and this gardening thing is no different. I will need to research a larger scale composting system and dedicate some space for it. Maybe then I can move the "green machine" up front and some weeds from the flower beds will make it in there. The weather is supposed to be better next week so it's time to get my plan all together. I think I can skip the tiller again this year just working the same beds but if I decide to start another plot we'll need to rent one.
 

Randy

Super Moderator
Staff member
For awhile at our last house, I had to plant the Danvers Half-Long carrots because of the good soil depth, But after adding sand and leaves and getting that all worked in, I could use the full length carrots. Although I'm not sure there was any real difference in the taste, but it made me feel better to know the soil was not going to restrict the growth on any of the root crops.
 


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