Garden!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[shorthairman]

I'm a whole state south of you guys and only have a little snow left so I am in a different situation than a lot of you. However the wife and I started about 120 plants this past weekend.

 

[WormWiggler]

My garden spot is under standing water, with snow to melt up the hill. I recall someone telling me the standing water will leach the nitrogen from the soil, any thoughts on that wife's tale?

 

[BDub]

I used to start tomatoes and peppers in March but no more. April 10th is plenty early. Walls of water are great but too much work. It really depends on where your garden is. If it's tucked out of the wind with a southern exposure you can plant earlier.

Bottom line is soil temps. Tomatoes and peppers love warm soil and most years June is the best time to plant.

There is a reason that most gardens are planted in late May, early June . For most people it works the best.

May is for fishing.

 

[shorthairman]

I agree BDub. I hate having to worry about a late Frost. Usually our Garden goes in around the 20th of May unless it looks like we are going to have an earlier warm up. My wife and I both teach and the garden is usually our first outdoor project. The only problem is that school starts back up about the time we want to start putting up all of our garden stuff.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Couple pics taken recently...

 

[Jiffy]

A very fine specimen of the extremely rare cock cacti....

 

[Auggie]

Leaching can happen. That is dependent on moisture and texture. Denitrification is another nitrogen loss pathway. 1-3%/day of your nitrogen will be lost to the atmosphere after 3 days of saturation. This is caused by anoxic bacteria. So denitrification is minimal in the spring since the soils are so cold.
You can soil test. NDSU, Ag Soil Science (Minot) and AGVISE (Northwood) are certified testing labs. I recently completed a study where I compared NDSU soil test results with various kits purchased from a few different retailers. Those kits are OK for pH and nitrogen, but not very accurate for phosphorus and potassium. I just submitted a poster on this for a national meeting (below)
Also, on Monday evening for the next few weeks, NDSU Extension is hosting a state wide gardening forum. It started last week. I'll be talking about soil testing next week.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Auggie, u know much about cover crops and green manure?

 

[Auggie]

I've done some research and have had some demos. On cover crops.

 

[Davey Crockett]

Thank you Auggie, That's interesting. I had a hard time enlarging it so I'll try again later when I have time to tinker. I'm happy to hear about the upcoming online garden forum , It looks like a great learning tool for us hobbyist. Posting the link for others . Sign up and let's see who can get a green thumb .


https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/springfever

 

[Davey Crockett]

Reminder if your interested


Hi Gardener,


Thanks for registering to attend the Spring Fever Garden Forums. The second forum is tonight!


Our theme is Fruits and Soils:
6:35 to 7:10 PM Raspberry Cultivars for North Dakota
7:15 to 7:50 PM Pruning Shrubs for Fruits and Beauty
7:55 to 8:30 PM Soil Testing Gardens and A Comparison of Three Garden Soil Test Kits With a Soil Testing Lab
Everything you need to participate is at the Spring Fever website: www.ag.ndsu.edu/springfever/

• You can join via Blackboard Collaborate Ultra or YouTube. The links for both modes are on the home page.
  
• Handouts are posted and available for downloading.
  
• Last week's presentations have been posted in the Archives section.

See you tonight!


Regards,
Tom

 

[Lycanthrope]

Reminder if your interested


Hi Gardener,


Thanks for registering to attend the Spring Fever Garden Forums. The second forum is tonight!


Our theme is Fruits and Soils:
6:35 to 7:10 PM Raspberry Cultivars for North Dakota
7:15 to 7:50 PM Pruning Shrubs for Fruits and Beauty
7:55 to 8:30 PM Soil Testing Gardens and A Comparison of Three Garden Soil Test Kits With a Soil Testing Lab
Everything you need to participate is at the Spring Fever website: www.ag.ndsu.edu/springfever/

• You can join via Blackboard Collaborate Ultra or YouTube. The links for both modes are on the home page.
• Handouts are posted and available for downloading.
• Last week's presentations have been posted in the Archives section.

See you tonight!


Regards,
Tom

Sounds interesting! Ill be watching remotely most likely, was quite crowded last week...

 

[Wirehair]

Wife & I attended this evening. Good info shared. Thanks Auggie for providing great info on soil testing, etc. Will be sending in soil samples soon.

 

[CatDaddy]

Gurneys has $100 off a $200 order with their catalog. Probably standard for them, but a good surprise for a first timer like me!

Never knew it was so easy to spend $200......:;:rockit

 

[Auggie]

Gurneys has $100 off a $200 order with their catalog. Probably standard for them, but a good surprise for a first timer like me!

Never knew it was so easy to spend $200......:;:rockit

Clearly not a crankbaiter.

 

[LBrandt]

Goes quick don't it, and fits in a little bitty bag. Then you need a truck to haul it around.

 

[dean nelson]

Odd ball question here but how long does a pumpkin seed need to be removed from the mother pumpkin to be able to sprout! Do they need to dry down first do they need to be cooled for a parody of time? Have a few jack b little that grew into more like perfect little round pumpkins and i want to see if it's hereditary. So you guys got any tips tricks or hints on wat would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance.

 

[Davey Crockett]

Dry them down real good, I'd probably throw them in a warm place until you know they are nice and dry. We have "Butchered" pumpkins in the fall and dried the seeds and planted the next spring they grew.

 

[Ristorapper]

Don't waste your time planting them after dry down... a little wash, salt and oven time and they will be delicious and healthy!!
Pumpkin seeds are some of my favorite.

 

[Auggie]

Here's the link to the NDSU Extension Garden Forums. All the past presentations are available on youtube.