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JT
01-28-2005 14:13:10
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Re: Cultivation in reply to GWT, 01-28-2005 10:38:57
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GWT,
The best thing to do is to mold board plow in the fall, then let it sit over the winter. If you plow in the spring the ground can get real cloddy, then you will never get a garden to grow. ground will never pack around seed/plant, so it looses moisture, is exposed to elements. The advantage of fall plowing is that when the gound freezes and thaws it fractures the soil, so all the big slabs will turn to good fine dirt. The thing you got to be careful about is to make sure your ground is dry when you work it. If you work it damp or wet, you will also have dirt cloads instead of a good seedbed. If you are plating large seed,such as corn, greenbeans, peas, you can get by with soil a LIITLE cloddy, but any fine seeds, seedlings, or plants need a good seed bed to make it out in the big world. If you cannot plow it, you can try a disk, but your root crops can have a hard time because the soil can be too hard to penetrate. Also make as few trips across as you can, including walking, every pass will pack you soil down and then it will be as hard as concrete. Depending on your soil type, this may not work for you, but it works good in this old black gumbo in Illinois.
Good luck
Jim
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