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Devv-2017-Having a good time in the dirt

Another season has come and gone. Time to start a new one!
 
Although I did already a few weeks ago :shh: . After last years dismal (late) start I jumped in a bit early to insure I could have viable plants come dirt day. I can always cut them back, if I need to. I have to compile a list yet, but I'm growing the full spectrum. Sweets, to supers, based upon what we will actually use. Most of my list is to make LB happy; I'm really glad to see her infuse peppers in more and more dishes. Can't beat that when the wife takes interest ;)
 
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Not the best pic; but the shelf is being sketchy, and I don't need all the babies bouncing off the floor.
 
Good luck to all this season :party:
 
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Got some dirt time in this morning. I set outside around 7 Am and planted 10 Annuum's in the IRT covered Hugel bed. I was impressed about just how warm the soil was that I was removing to make room for the plants was, that and the weather is favorable ;)  And the ten day forecast is mid April like, so we're good! I saw the rain coming and added 4 more maters to the dirt and then had to retreat by 10 AM. We then drove to my sons house in the pouring rain. I'll have pics tomorrow if the weather allows. And if the weather allows I'll add some more plants to the IRT area. We got an inch of rain here today, good for the ranchers!
 
 
 
Great news Scott!

If you really want to see the soil warm up... Put up a low row cover over the IRT and watch it heat up in the sun! 4 mil sheet poly over a framework of half-inch PVC pipe should do it.
 
stickman said:
Great news Scott!

If you really want to see the soil warm up... Put up a low row cover over the IRT and watch it heat up in the sun! 4 mil sheet poly over a framework of half-inch PVC pipe.
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I have all the materials in the wings, just in case. But look at the temps we're having:
 
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It's been this way mostly for 30 days! We've seen 90° already here!
 
A few pics from a wet weekend ;)
 
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Got a few Annuum's planted! And this is a double experiment.
 
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Hugel bed year 1 and IRT plastic mulch. The wood is 2 feet deep with a mix of garden soil (aka dirt :shh: ) biochar, and reground wood chips on top of the wood.
 
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Purple Jalapeno with some serious side branching going on!
 
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Kurts, I have the real name somewhere :rolleyes:
 
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Sore store bought Poblano's. I planted like 20 seeds, one came up and it's a slow grower :confused:
 
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Jalamundo's in the foreground, Gochu's behind them.
 
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GrowDown plant branching with enthusiasm :P 
 
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MoA starting to stretch out :party:
 
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Reaper stretching out too. I used Neem Oil to treat the Aphids, and it hurt the leaves.
 
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B-Goat, one of the better looking plants :dance:
 
 
stickman said:
Good enuf Scott! Did you say the wood in the Hugel bed was buried a year ago? That should be enough for it to rot down, shouldn't it? Plants look rarin' to go!
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Thanks Rick!
 
I made the Hugel bed during October-November. I'll be watching the plants closely to make sure they don't suffer any nutrient deficiencies this go-round ;)
 
 
Devv said:
 
Thanks Rick!
 
I made the Hugel bed during October-November. I'll be watching the plants closely to make sure they don't suffer any nutrient deficiencies this go-round ;)
 
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I helped a friend break in a patch of new ground last summer, and she put down wood chips on the walkways between the beds mounded up about 6-8 inches. The fungus mycelium was all through it in a month, and there's only 2 inches of it showing now. Granted, that was up in the air and not buried, but we had a very dry summer, so I'd be hopeful that the wood chips would have broken down enough not to be a nitrogen sink. The big chunks may be a different story. I'll be interested in your observations for sure.
 
 
Looking nice Scott... Neem can really effect some plants (even from one strain of chilli to another) ... I know my hop plants didn't like it at all.
I love this place for learning and your hugel beds are something I have read about but never seen done ... I will be watching with interest!!
 
randyp said:
That is an awsome experiment, Scott.I am very interested  how long that takes to break down.
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Hi Randy,
 
I'm thinking this year will be a year of adding lots of nutes, and I stocked up on tomato tone for way cheap. Next season should really show some great results; it needs to, digging out 20x4' x 2' deep was no fun! ;)
 
 
stickman said:
 
I helped a friend break in a patch of new ground last summer, and she put down wood chips on the walkways between the beds mounded up about 6-8 inches. The fungus mycelium was all through it in a month, and there's only 2 inches of it showing now. Granted, that was up in the air and not buried, but we had a very dry summer, so I'd be hopeful that the wood chips would have broken down enough not to be a nitrogen sink. The big chunks may be a different story. I'll be interested in your observations for sure.
 
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I only used the fine wood chips that came out of the chipper with some cow manure mixed in. I ground that up last spring I think, When planting, I saw the mycelium all throughout. It had 5 or 6 months to mature, and I filled the hugel bed at least 3 times until the water came to the top. That and I added 8 lbs of tomato tone to the bed at creation time 3"s below the final layer. I'm hoping we're good here!
 
Here's the tomatoes, that I planted in the wannabe hugel bed. I dug down and added 10-12"s of the finely ground wood chips.
 
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The 2 if the forefront were planted Saturday, the others last Saturday and Sunday. I feel that's some really good growth for week one. I put 2 tbls of Bloodmeal on top of the main rootball to kickstart things.
 
Datil said:
Awesome!
I'm sure that plants will do great :)
They're already nicely sized to survive some weather abuse :D
 
Datil
 
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Thanks Fabrizio!
 
Our weather looks really good for the next few days!
 
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I have off come next Monday for a week! By mid week everything should be in the dirt. This is of course if the weather looks this good for the 10 day ;)
 
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