Garden and Chickens 101

[adamsredlines]

I am not too sure that the okra will work here to be honest. They sell the seed so I am kind of hoping that they would not sell stuff that would not grow in this region but for a few bucks I'm willing to give it a try as I really do enjoy okra. I remember having to pick it everyday when I was younger but that was in Memphis and the climate is a bit different there than it is here in Nebraska.

Obviously the corn will grow here and I don't think the cucumbers will be an issue either so that should at least get me started with something.

 

[Oklahomabassin]

Scratched up my dirt last weekend, need to add some cow crap and get it planted over the next few weeks. Anyone ever cover theirs with straw? I hear it helps with weeds and helps keeps the moisture in, you just have to add nitrogen??



View attachment 257831

I would try get rid of more cedars. They are competing with your garden for moisture, light and nutrients.

 

[RickN]

Green beans are an easy grow and can be canned or frozen. Zucchini and yellow squash are good too if you eat them. I have a smallish yard with not enough room for a real garden, so I am planting in containers. I have to find one more good container to plant what we want.

One Roma tomato
Two yellow squash
Two Zucchini
and Two green beans.

That should keep the wife and I in veggies a while. Onions I do not plant. I do have some walking onions now growing semi-wild but mostly I just buy a case of Vidalia onions when they are in season. Chop most of them, place in small snack size zip-lock bags, and place those in gallon freezer bags, freeze. Good for cooking and last all year.

 

[THAT Gurl]

I am not too sure that the okra will work here to be honest. They sell the seed so I am kind of hoping that they would not sell stuff that would not grow in this region but for a few bucks I'm willing to give it a try as I really do enjoy okra. I remember having to pick it everyday when I was younger but that was in Memphis and the climate is a bit different there than it is here in Nebraska.

Obviously the corn will grow here and I don't think the cucumbers will be an issue either so that should at least get me started with something.

You might be able to get some okra. I have a fig tree that dies back to the ground every year and last year didn't produce a whole lot because we had an unusually cool summer but I got enough throughout the summer that I could enjoy the fresh figs. I cried like a baby at the first freeze though -- my tree was COVERED with unripe figs that didn't have a chance.

 

[adamsredlines]

Green beans would be good I just didn't know if those were easy and hardy for a first time gardener.

We also have wild asparagus here in two different spots. We have never really done anything to cultivate it and usually we are up here kind of late in season for it but it is always produced some for us. Since I will be up here during peak growing season it will be interesting to see how much the two plots actually produce.

Side note the neighbors last year asked if we wanted any more asparagus because the wife and her dad like to go hunt wild asparagus and roadside ditches. My dad said sure we will take some and they brought more than you could eat in a month and the husband was like please take as much as you want because he was tired of it already. I may have to follow suit and maybe hop on a four-wheeler in Hunt for roadside wild asparagus!

 

[adamsredlines]

I also would not be opposed to things like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce but I am not a fan of things like squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, peas, tomato.

 

[jbarnett]

Chickens are great to eat, for eggs and entertainment. There are a lot of coup plans on the internet for free. We started off with 6 chicks a few years ago and now have about 50 hens. We have already hatched out a few hundred this year.

 

[dennishoddy]

Green beans would be good I just didn't know if those were easy and hardy for a first time gardener.

We also have wild asparagus here in two different spots. We have never really done anything to cultivate it and usually we are up here kind of late in season for it but it is always produced some for us. Since I will be up here during peak growing season it will be interesting to see how much the two plots actually produce.

Side note the neighbors last year asked if we wanted any more asparagus because the wife and her dad like to go hunt wild asparagus and roadside ditches. My dad said sure we will take some and they brought more than you could eat in a month and the husband was like please take as much as you want because he was tired of it already. I may have to follow suit and maybe hop on a four-wheeler in Hunt for roadside wild asparagus!

We have wild around here as well. The birds eat the seeds in late summer and poop them while sitting on fences along roads spreading them even further.
Our home asperagus bed is over 30 years old and still produces more than we can eat every spring. Just burned it yesterday. I'm betting next week's warm spell will have some coming up.

 

[2busy]

First off just because they sell the seeds that doesn't mean they will do well for your area.
While they may grow and produce a crop , there may be better varieties that produce better.

There are onions specific for your growing zone. go to dixondale onions website and look at their varieties for your area and compare them to what you purchased.

One thing to consider is the "days to maturity" That will help you with when to expect getting a return on your plants. I would use it as a guide and not expect it to be right on the money.

starting your own seeds takes planning and most of the time starting them 6 to 8 weeks before you want to plant them in the garden.

okra is a warm season crop and planting them in soil too cold will hinder the germination.

if you use those seed starting trays with the clear dome you will need to make sure they do not get too hot if in a sunny location. You can actually kill the seeds if it gets to hot .

once the seeds sprout , I remove the dome and let them have air movement over them to help strengthen the stems and prevent damping off disease.

 

[OHJEEZE]

I have an old (1968) Cub Cadet garden tractor with a plow and disk

How about a pic of the tractor?