How do you get those onions so big? It’s hit and miss with Missouri River bottom soil.
I’m fairly certain that the soil helps. That sandy loam is better for growing lots of things. I was told long ago that I needed river bottom sand to loosen my soil. Probably 25 years ago I purchased some soil that has a good amount of sand in it. It grows flowers like crazy. Also the best crop of sweet potatoes ever. But it was a one shot deal.
I like copra and redwing, they both store a while and are oniony tasting, some of the really sweet ones are too sweet imo. Same with sweet corn.
Wood chips are good generally, I use them a lot. They will suck nitrogen out of the soil though so you need to give a little extra. If you have grass, Id kill the grass, then put a couple inches of composted manure on top and then till it all in. Some people dont like roundup so there are other options. You can put down plastic to kill whatever is under it, but that takes a lot longer. if you till up live grass, youll have grass coming up in your garden forever.
Where can a guy get compost around that doesnt have chemicals in it? How would you kill the grass? I was thinking silage tarp for a few weeks here through May.
Compost is hard to find, ive had good luck with city compost, and also ive had it kill plants, so thats a risky option. Easier to find a cattle farmer with a feed lot, often you can get some manure from them cheap or free. check bisman or marketplace and you might find someone selling or giving it away. If you get manure, get stuff thats old, not fresh or youll have issues. best manure pile has been setting for quite a few years and has plants growing on top of it.
Grow bags directly on the soil can work well also, they tend to dry out a little faster, ive also used grow bags set into a hole so about 1/3 of them is buried, roots will grow right through into the soil as the plants get bigger. Peppers dont like cold ground, and they also like it dry, so they are probably about ideal for grow bags that will heat up in the sun and also dry out faster.Another option is grow bags , we use them for all our deck garden ' I like putting them on wheels so I can pull them in the garage if we get a bad storm or hot day pull them into shade. They make all sizes , about a buck each for 3 gal . just have plastic with berm of some type so you can get an inch or two of water.
I made a spot for grow bags by laying 50' of drip line on flat hard ground and wet it then drove my tractor where I wanted my grow bags, it sunk in just enough to made a perfect shallow trench that I filled it with grow bags and put the drip line back in. That works like a charm.
I'd consider covering the garden spot you want and set grow bags on the cover and leave spot covered during the hot months of summer and till it in the fall . By the end of august every weed big enough to die will be dead then you have all fall to work it up good. FWIW , Iv'e never had much luck planting first year garden spots but soil type has lot to do with it , we have heavy clay up here . For mulch I use straw since It's readily available .
