I'm starting from scratch "breaking up sod" I've been a truck driver but last November I lost my wife 😢. So I decided to semi retire and start living again. Trucking won't let you have a life. But I'm turning a new page. Thank you and God bless.
I used plastic fencing around my blueberry bed one year and crows actually snipped an entrance door into my blueberry bed! Not only that, I saw them remember where the opening was and hop right out. Geez! I can't fault them. Smart birds.
You're my favorite TH-cam gardening maven, because of your well-informed and correctly cited research sources, and your great passion for your work! "Burn! Asparagus beetles, burn!" was the best bit today.
6b for me. Today I was building up beds with compost, mulching my paths with woodchips, fixing a hole in my deer fence, and planning planning planning.
Ty for the barn cleaning update! You are too stinking cute, fessing up!!! I know you'll get it done. Often, the anticipation is much worse than actually just doing it. My big spring task is tearing down an old dilapidated shedd that we inherited with the property. Gonna clean it out, tear it down & get the spot readied for a walk in high tunnel in October. Be well. Happy spring from 6b, Illinois.
How refreshing! I am in z6a in the mountains of Virginia, and you are the first channel I've come across that does practical gardening that I can learn from and utilize.
You make me smile. I wish I had a barn to be a mess. I put cardboard down on what I plan on being my garden last Fall. Being on a fixed income and with all the craziness in the world, it both makes me want to focus even more on the garden and prevents me from doing so. I am going to make do as well as I can with this garden. My wish list would include some panels to grow things up on. I do have some odds and ends around so I will make something happen for this year.
💚I’m sure there are so many folks that feel much the same way. I hope you are able to find some supplies to make due… but I will say, keep an eye out on Craigslist, FB market place or even Freecycle- we’ve been able to find quite a few useful things for the garden for relatively cheap or free.
@@GrowfullywithJenna I'd not heard of Freecycle before, I'll have to check into that. The reason I moved to this area is family, they have been a wonderful resource. Of course they will want some fresh veggies. :-D
My asperagus is breaking ground now. 1/13 in 8a Avoid China cardboard, it's the type with ridges like corduroy. They use chemical waste for caustic/ lye replacement.
Gary Pylarchic just did a piece on diy trellises. Very creative ideas of using repurposed materials. I myself have used bamboo with success. This is often offered for Free on Facebook, to be cut and take on your own. I did need to invest in good clippers.
Not sure it is still relevant for you, but we used to be able to get soil and mulch from a lot where the County dumped all the leaves and wood chips. It went away a couple years ago, but might be worth seeing if your area has similar. And one of our local libraries also has a seed library where you can get seeds for free and then bring back if you harvest some.
I've gardened my whole life and now that I'm nearing retirement age, I've started an internship at a commercial greenhouse. I've always been the guy for vegetable starts within my family and church community. I'm thinking about kicking that up to include my greater community. This spring has been insane by comparison, for example, I started 10,000 German Johnson's just yesterday. So, no, I haven't cleaned my greenhouse.
You are a life saver!!! I'm so excited to follow along! I'm still learning so much and it's great to find another person in the same zone explaining things!!
I had a lot of large pines come down from storm last year so I made raised bed over stumps in my yard and in woods exspanding my yard adding growing space 😊 using Hugelkulture
YOU are the first to grow in zone 6A.... Im in the Smokies (Western NC) and Ive been looking for someone in my zone!!! Yay.... Ive got about 400 onions/ garlic planted and my seedlings for Kale, Spinach, Peppers, Cabbage, brussel sprouts and a myriad of other veggies.... Im super excited to have found you!! YAY
Thanks for all the advice. I'm in Pennsylvania and this is the first year of my serious gardening venture. Last year I grew everything in pots and I was very successful. Now I have three large raised beds to try out this year. I've spent endless hours researching articles and books but nothing beats hearing a friendly voice explain everything. I'm excited to watch your videos and learn more from someone in zone 6. We had some warm spells in February so we set up our beds then, they were brand new. My biggest struggle is going to be a water source Im going to have to try a free standing rain barrel and I think it's a better idea than hauling water every day. The other struggle is pest control with deer and rabbits. I know a lot of people are going to hate this idea but I think for the first year I'm going to use liquid fence. Our township won't let us out up any fence or barrier at all without a lot of red tape so I will have to put the fence off until next year.
You are welcome! I'm so excited to hear you are getting serious about your gardening! It sounds like you are off to a good start, as you've already taken into consideration some of the most important factors. One thing you might consider is hoops with insect netting. These can do a great job stopping rabbits from eating your veggies and deter deer (I'm not sure if it will stop a really persistent, hungry deer, but they seem to leave them alone at my parent's place with no fence). I'm curious why folks might hate the Liquid Fence... other than the nasty smell? I hope you have a wonderful garden season this year!
@@GrowfullywithJenna thanks for the advice about netting, I think I'm going to incorporate that for sure. I think with liquid fence definitly the smell is something people hate but then I also hear people say bad things about it because they think it might be harmful to the garden. I don't want to use it forever but my understanding is that it works well and it's safe but the smell and price are definitely cons.
I don't have a barn but a very large covered patio that stores a lot of my gardening supplies. I finally got the mess cleaned and organized up today. The garage and lawn tractor maintenance is next. Like you I just didn't want to work outside much in the cold weather.
I start my seeds indoors, down in the basement in one 10x12 ft. area. it looks like your Barn! and yes My plan is to try and find the floor, but I did start the seeds and now I will start the organizing of that area. Happy Gardening Jenna
Love your videos. Missouri here. I have my indoor greenhouse started with hydro lettuces, overwinter peppers and cherry tomatoes. Just started some more herbs. Still have some things growing in outdoor high tunnel.. Love my gardens. Need to start lotus pond seeds.
WV zone 6b. I have used hay in my walkways and as mid summer mulch for nightshades for years now. No issues at all. Little trick I use - I put a couple of bales of hay in with my 8 chickens and in 6 weeks time it is scratched up and is virtually seed free. I scoop up in a wheel barrow and use in the walkways and add new bales to the chicken run.
Thank you for sharing! Starting a pumpkin patch this year for my daughter here in southern Ohio after growing some volunteers last year from the previous fall season. My daughter fell in love with watching them grow which meant I had to figure out how to do it. Been scouring TH-cam and the internet for everything gardening and really appreciate your content.
Can I come help you clean the barn…please? I love doing that kind of stuff. NC isn’t THAT far from Ohio!! And my new obsession the year at my new home was to anxiously wait and wait to see the bright hosta plants come up next to the driveway - I thought I lost them all to voles or disease…but they came up like champs! …..and then yesterday I got distracted by a squirrel - SQUIRREL! - and …ran over several of them with my truck. Crap. Your garden looks amazing and your efforts exhaust me! Carry on strongly, my dear….we have always needed to have more women in farming in the US….and should totally recognize and champion all the strong women who have farmed…and will continue to farm…the world over!
Wow, a wealth of information. I planted spinach yesterday, garlic day before. Still working on the peas. Yes I need to expand my growing area good info. We have so many deer the fence dosnt work and I need too much. We use the liquid fence and it works well.
I agree! I live in 6b up near Cleveland. Like this clean up video. Just planted spring crops and tonight in poured. Ah well, hope they aren't laying in the muck. I did cover with pest covers! Hope that protected them a little. Looking forward to more information, Jenna. Have a great spring!
Every year I say I’m gonna clean out my shed in October or November when it’s not too hot and not too cold, but of course it never gets done. It doesn’t help that I have two young children that create a mess in the house constantly. I’ll get to in when they’re in college.
Worms love the cardboard too and give you free fertilizer as a bonus. I also use hay and love it. But I use hay that has been pulled out of the manger by the goats and gone through so the seed heads have been eaten.
Did most of my cleanup in fall, but have to clean up my winter garden. Got my indoor cells sewn, but still have to get to my out door garden spring prep, thx for the reminder Jenna
LOL! Cold and just doing it anyway are not good companions.... I totally agree. The spirit was wanting to but the flesh just beat it down....now is the time. Great video! Thanking you for the encouragement and tips too!
I organized my greenhouse and shed a few weeks ago. I am in the middle of updating my compost bins. (adding a 4th for making leaf mold and beefing them up a bit) and I am getting ready to install a fence/trellis around my garden and another rain water catchment system farther away from my house during March.
AMEN on the cover crop!! We live about 55 miles East of you. I buy a cheaper clover DEER plot seed at a TSC store. when it gets big enough in early Spring and put our chickens on it, give them some scratch grain on top of it, they do the rest. They till it in, fertilize it and so on. I move them off, work it in with a heavy duty rake and plant late Spring garden crops!! THANK YOU for your great worth while vids!!!
Thanks Jenna for so much good garden info. There’s a 20 x30 building calling my name this spring too.😂 I was so happy to find a fellow Ohioan in zone 6! Keep the garden videos coming! Always listening - Maggie
Up here in zone 4b all I can do in March is sow various alliums. It's too early to sow anything else, and I can hardly get to my shed through the snow. I'm hoping for an early spring and can hardly wait to get to work in the garden. Thanks for the glimpse of green.
This was great. Very thorough. My wife and I love your videos. We are in zone 6B and we are in overdrive trying to get things ready. The glimpses of nice weather have been motivating. Thank you.
No...I didn't get my messy mess (sunroom in my case) cleaned up either, but working on it now! I made the same error with the plastic chicken fence....I was blaming it on the weed whacker when I saw a bunny inside. Thanks for the reminder--I need to put some wire chicken fence up instead.
Jenna another great Video 👍 it’s getting hectic in the garden here in southern Oregon. I have a fair amount of over wintered veggies under row covers and just planted 72 well established starts from my grow cabinet. The grow area in my shop is organized ready to go. While the next wave of starts are growing it’s time to move onto the remaining bed prep. It’s a lot of work but I love it. Extra incentive is the times we are living in feeling the need to really maximize production.
Sounds like you are keeping very busy, Mike! It is a lot of work- but I agree with you- it's a labor of love (and yes, I feel that extra incentive too). Hope this year's garden is a great one for you!
NW NJ here. I am working on getting the fence supplies to fence of pasture and need to show some love to my garden among many other outside projects. 🙂
We use half inch hardware cloth to keep rabbits out. Since we raise rabbits, some in colony pens, we've learned there isn't much they won't chew through (they are rodents!) that isn't hardware cloth or chain link (which kits can just hop right through). Our fence at this point is cattle panels with field fence wired to raise the height to 6 feet, and 2 feet of hardware cloth wired to the base and laid flat on the ground around the perimeter as well. At this point, we also line the bottoms of our raised beds with the hardware cloth. Great video!
Thanks for sharing- sounds like you are well fortified! I'm thinking of trying the raised bed lined with hardware cloth this year in an attempt to keep the voles away from my sweet potatoes!
I got the tiller gas tank repaired this morning so I got the large compost pile turned over with the tiller. I got the 4 raised garden beds tilled with the small hand held 4 cycle tiller.
I also use hay in my aisles, especially where I am growing squash and pumpkins. It does a great job of weed suppression (I don't use cardboard under it) while also allowing the pumpkin vines to find nutrients.
Distory dried out weeds in garden with very gentle tilting just busting the weeds Little brroadfork for drainage. T post frame setup planning a space with after 7:00pm shade and giving tomatoes the full sunny spot. I'm blending compose and pig 💩 poo for bird house gourge for improving drainage and fertilizer. Adding wood ash for onions rows. I just started peppers and mid month starting tomatoes in your #3 seedlings mixture. Thanks 👍
Great video. Im in 5b, not far from zone 6. I am already doing most of the things mentioned. I am expanding my garden area along the south fence, I had to take out a bush to add a 20x25 section to the back fence. I will be cardboarding and wood chipping the area as I mainly do container gardening. I am cleaning out 15 tote sip's and getting ready to revitalize the soil in 20 five gallon bucket sip's. I have to put my three 55 gallon rain barrels back in place. This week I will be planting some brassica's a month before the last frost date and seeding radishes and carrots outside and starting lots of seeds inside. Now is the busy season for me, lots to do.
Going down to the single digits tonight so I have to go out to the cold frame and bring in all the greens and cold weather crops that have sprouted. I am so tired of winter. Doing an experiment with my leeks. I started them in late January, and have received one haircut. I started them in a rather shallow pan, so today I transplanted them deeper into a bigger tray. I am assuming giving them another 4 to 6 weeks with their stems planted deeper will yield a stronger and longer plant stalk for planting in the garden. See what happens. Leeks are like onions very tough and resilient. Continue to rethink what is going where in my beds, guess i will not know for sure until I start sticking things in the dirt. I know one thing I do not need over 80 pounds of potatoes. Warming up next week hope to get some cover crops in and check what my winter compost has produced for me. Biting at the bit to get out in the garden.
Brrr... it got chilly here too (not single digits, but down into the teens). I am also very over winter! I'm trying to do a better job of planning out my beds too- but I'm like you, I never really know till I start planting. I'd love to hear how your leeks do!
Love this! We have doubled our raised beds and have created the layout. We haven't had a path and mowing them was a chore so we are using cardboard and mulch to put in between and it's so much better! We use 1/4 inch hardware mesh under and around our beds for bunnies and voles. I'm installing a new hose reel and bringing the water source closer to the garden. And then some! It's an exciting time and perfect weather to work hard without dying.
I don’t have a barn, but I’d love to see the barn clean up! There is something very satisfying about the “after” when reorganizing a space, even when I dread actually getting started. Also, it’s fun to see the solutions others come up with for storage of seasonal stuff like seedling containers/pots.
HiJenna, tyvm for video's I wanted to tell I use cut up downed pinetree sections approximately 12 to 18 inches to secure my cattle panel arches worksreally well put one at each coener sometime i split them in half so i have a smoot edge to nail to tis way you can use your t posts on other projects in garden like exspanding your fencing or fr tomato suport lines i use florida weave with t posts tyvm !
I was so happy to see you use alfalfa hay, as I use that as well. Everyone thinks I'm crazy when I tell them that is what I use instead of straw. I have found it significantly decreases weeds and also has lots of nutrients. I learned the plastic fence lesson a long time ago. I lived in a subdivision and I wanted a less noticeable fence. Rabbit chewed right through it and we got a picture with an outdoor camera of him happily munching my bean plants. So we now use plastic tent stakes to stake out the entire perimeter of our wire fencing to ensure there are no gaps that the rabbits can get underneath. I would love an outdoor shed to keep all my gardening supplies in. My things have to stay organized because I store them in my basement. But...my outdoor gardening box is a disater.
By obtaining 4 old exterior doors, a faux outhouse could be made to store your garden tools in. If one is creative, carve a sliver moon on the door that would actually open and in the back door, cut a round hole to put a glass colored but still clear plate for a window. I have seen these on pinterest and youtube. They can be dressed up to look quirky and fun and still be useful to store shovels, rakes and small garden tools, too.
Oh, thank goodness - a gardening show set in Ohio! I live in eastern Ohio near the Ohio River, and although I watch several TH-cam gardening shows, the advice given from Michigan, California, Georgia and Australia doesn't always jibe with what I need to do when I need to do it. I do very little in-ground planting because it's just too hard for me to dig through the heavy soil in my back yard, which faces full west. Most of my gardening is done in pots - really big ones for things like tomatoes and cucumbers and smaller ones for herbs, lettuce and bell peppers. It works for me and I don't have to do a ton of bending over. As for over winter storage, I don't have a shed or barn, so most of the pots are emptied and scrubbed in the fall and placed as close to the house as I can get them. Many of the smaller clay and glazed pots are brought inside and kept on my enclosed back porch, where I spend several months tripping over them.
Hi Sandra, it’s always great to hear from fellow Ohioans! Sounds like you’ve got a great solution worked out with your containers-I hope this year’s garden goes great for you!
Jenna! I am so happy I stumbled upon your videos this last Winter. Your joyful spirit has given me such motivation to have this be the year of a successful garden at our farm! I’m currently 34 weeks pregnant so each day the kids and I are out working on small tasks to ready the garden for Spring planting. Also I started my seeds after watching your last video. Normally I would buy them from a store. Watering them and checking on them every day has made me so much more invested in these little seeds. I just love it! Thank you so much for your videos!
Thank you so much! And congratulations- what an exciting time for you and your family! Take care, and enjoy that garden (and very soon, new addition) 💚.
If your an asparagus 🪲 beetle RUN!!! LOL! Hay works great. I use grass clippings after mowing. It keeps weeds out loosens soil over time when plowed under. I like the cardboard 💡idea! Thanks!
Concur with the early clean-up to help with the "bad bugs" (I battled Harlequin Bugs last year). I'm in 7a/6b; over Presidents Day weekend, I cleaned out the Orangery, organized my potting bench/materials, and started some seeds, and last weekend, I cleaned out the raised beds and cattle panel arbors (filled 2 Kangaroo bags for the compost bin). I still need to clean-out/organize the shed, but I'm still giving myself a pat on the back for getting most of the tasks done. Next weekend I'll be filling/refreshing/fertilizing the existing raised beds, as well as building a new 4'x16' (36"H) bed and fill using the Hugelkultur method. Good luck everyone on the 2022 Season!!!!
Get babies growing indoors get soil prepped. Get fencing prepared to go up and when I’m sore or just to change it up I organize barn By hardening and planting time it all comes together somehow through my hands with Gods blessing Faith and hard work will keep me happy and fed with the added bonus of amazing flowers, and sunlight. Oh and every year I plan this year it will be the best garden ever!
Cardboard is what kept me from quitting. I tried all the landscape barriers, mulch, and all the other things only to get weeds coming threw or out of it. Cardboard is the only thing that worked. Also everyone says hay has weed seeds but I would spend all summer pulling oat grass out of my garden from using straw. Hay and leaves have always been pretty reliable and cover up the ugly cardboard.
Yes! I had that same experience with straw for some reason! I'm so glad to hear cardboard kept you from quitting- it is SO effective! Thanks for sharing.
I cleaned up my beds, trimmed my raspberries, added some trellises for peas, and we're in the process of finishing the fence around our yard to keep out the deer. Last year a mama deer left her baby in one of my raised beds for a day/night. I was a special treat to see but they all came back to eat carrots and beans later in the season.
Good to see you again. Late Summer/Fall I was mostly hacking my way thru Wisteria the idiot before me planted-it was choking out trees and growing all over the place-even caused one tree I Felled to hang up in a bad Rocking Chair situation where the bottom of the trunk could slip and swing wildly in any direction likely killing me [[ha;f b;find and stroke means I'd never see it coming or not be able to get out of the way]] but I resolved it. I do the cardboard thing-recently covered our Fur Children Sematary to end the issues with weeds, vines and Wisteria-looking for wood chips now. Newest raised bed going in this weekend. Oh, free months ago you did a video on potatoes. I mentioned I had dried some with bad resultss-they were clumpy and pasty. I did a ton of Mashed-soaked the small pieces after boiling in water to remove all remaining starch then bagged and froze after running thru the blender into a smooth paste. Pulled a bag, put them in the degydrator for a day then blended the clumps into a powder-good results. Not store bought instant-they use freeze drying for those but, not bad. [[Sorry so long and OT but I told you I would get back on the results]] I think freezing for a week or two helped-water expansion breaks down the cells. Also, and to be a downer but honest-if you or anyone reading this Needs anything-get it now. Tomorrow may be too late. Finacial Systems and Supply systems are collapsing. Be ready to repel Boarders and take care of Self.
I really appreciate you getting back to me about the mashed potatoes. I've still not tried them, but have continued to freeze mine as shredded hash-brown style, which works really well. I also appreciate the warning. I'd like to think it won't come to that, but do think everyone should focus on learning at a minimum a few lessons in self-sufficiency (I highly recommend growing one's own food as a start)... because you just never know. Take care!
Here in 6B we are pruning fruit trees and cleaning our beds and greenhouses for planting. Great insight into your processes, never know when you will learn something new.
Ha ha...I came here from another video to see the shape your barn is in...you weren't kidding, but I love how you admit to NOT wanting to clean it! Thanks for the chuckle! New to your channel...loving it.
At least you have a barn! :) I have a large shed with the floor covered in tools from my winter of garden tractor repair. Tomorrow is the big day tho. Hauling dirt and leveling the orchard and a neighbor gave us another DUMP TRUCK load of arborvitae wood chips. It's gonna be a rainy cold day of hard labor, but should be worth it. When you are cold, just remember, "The heat is in the tools" . :)
I love these videos as well as your month-to-month seed-starting videos. I'm in Kansas City Missouri which is also Zone 6A and have very heavy clay soil. Unfortunately my property that I purchased in late May last year had been sitting empty for 30 years with a gravel driveway that was raised up in proportion to where my garden is. This means I've spent a good part of the nice days out in my garden digging up rocks. And not Little Rock's we're talkin big 3 2in in diameter rocks packed so tightly nothing can get through. My poor late carrots never had a chance I am slowly but surely getting all of the Rocks dug up at least until things start to get a bit deeper in the soil so my plants have a chance and moving around what I'm planting where to make sure it has the best possible chance on the upside we're able to completely re gravel the driveway with what I've dug up out of the garden. Got my onions red and sweet planted indoors and a whole bunch of herbs started out that need a little bit of extra time before they get put in the ground in March or April. So happy it's finally gardening season
Pond rebuild! Also we did all this stuff you mentioned. Raised and manured the bed and got some cardboard on there last year. Looks like your climate is similar to ours in parts of the UK
Hello Jenna, I am in my third year and very happy to see someone in zone 6. I am about 30 miles north of Pittsburg Pa and dealing with the anxiety or should I say itch to get going. I noticed your concern about your critters were a problem with the garden especially the rabbits. I also had some issues with critters so I decided to installed a electric fence bout 6 to 8 inches from the ground. it doesn't hurt the animal but definitely gets there attention. Cost effective and real easy to install. Results were very good, just don't shock yourself, I usually unplug mind when working, however that was after I shocked myself a few times, Good luck and I enjoy your hard work and commitment to healthy food.
Hello Richard- great to hear from a fellow Zone 6 gardener! Thank you so much for the tip on fencing! I used to work at a farm where we used a netting style electric fence (I believe it was about 3 or 4 feet high). It worked pretty well, but once in a while we'd have rabbits jump through the opening in the netting and get into the garden! I'm curious what style of fencing you are using?
Lol. My barn looks the same! Plus I have thousands of black walnuts I haven't hulled yet. Glad to find another Ohioian. I started doing these the other day...now snow!!! Ugh. Make it stop I'm ready to garden
Thanks for all the useful info Jenna. I live in Nova Scotia and this winter a storm scattered all the parts of my greenhouse which by the way was very similar to yours all around our house. However there is still lots of motivation in the air from watching your video!
I’m zone 5a so this seems a little more practical than most videos on TH-cam! Thank you! For rabbits, and other critters, you might need to do an “L” with the wire. We don’t get too much trouble from the rabbits, it’s the darn groundhog! 🤣. This year, I’m planting a garden solely for the groundhogs/rabbits…hoping it will be a distraction from our food! 🤷🏾♀️. Thanks, for all these tips…with warmer temps this week, I’m ready. ☀️🌱
Here in south jersey we are headed for a warm up and getting my hands dirty and beds ready makes any winter doldrums seem distant! Thanks for the great cardboard advice. Also hay not straw!
I have blackberry trellis to build, need to finish pruning the raspberries and finish setup on my new 20x40 extension. Just need to get back above freezing
Jenna! As always I love the honesty! Burn Beetles, Burn! I am still trying to get all the leaves gathered from our wooded lot to get them into the new compost pile. I threw down grass seed right before it snowed on Friday (in Ohio) to try and get a bare patch of yard looking presentable. I have been doing indoor perennial seeds under grow lights, and then potting up. I am hoping that I don’t need to do as many next year. I have to get the beds ready outside and remove the former owner’s decorative plantings that are not functional or in the right place. The beds are not deer proofed and I am going to plant out some onions and other stinky perennials that they hate. I was inspired by your strawberry beds, so I grew plants from seed and am so excited to plant in a raised bed by the end of April. So much to do!!! Thanks for all your wisdom and advice.
And for you, too! I will follow your videos. Am looking at the calendar to see if I can get to your presentations on April 2. Kids have lots of soccer games…but Lima is close to Dayton
I tried too. I used yt videos for motivation, didn’t work. I used the reward system - clear up a corner and I can get another greenstalk planter, etc. I hired someone TWICE to clean up that costed me a gazillion dollars but then important garden things seem to be delivered faster than any person and his friends could clear up the space. When I think of how much garden stuff I own and how unorganized it is, it makes me don’t want to garden anymore. But after 1 second, I would realize that shopping is one of the most fun things about gardening. If only things have legs and could go to their proper places neatly.
Try moving two things that belong together in your storage area each time you go to garden. Sometimes you get in the mood then to move 4-6 soon after a while things are fixed and you barely felt you had to do anything :) P.S. grow wild letucce, it produces endless leaves almost all year for compost, and you can lay them on your beds in the spring for for hugelkultur. Which btw is fantastic. I do mounds or rows of with bolted lettuce stalks, their leaves, and some compost/old soil on top. Even on our coldest day, the hugelkultures were warm to the touch and tobacco seedlings sprouted and lived. May want to seed hugelkulture with extra spacing though as i got wash on small seeds, but they lived through even the extreme mountain winds! Thank you for your videos!
I’ve been tackling the paths in between our beds & when we get some good weather will be extending existing beds & tidying them up for planting. We’re in the uk and got a half plot allotment late March last year so didn’t have much time to plan if we wanted to get growing (which we did) so we had the winter to think about how we can maximise the space & make the best use of what we put in last year, which has been nice & much more relaxed than last year 😁 I’m lucky that my partner sorted our garage a couple of weeks ago so I can now easily reach all the tools & things! Good luck with yours, it’s my least favourite job too!
So glad I looked up zone 6 gardening channels this morning....I found you!! ❤❤ I live in Michigan, and look forward to some extra help ❤
Awesome! I'm glad you found me!
I'm starting from scratch "breaking up sod" I've been a truck driver but last November I lost my wife 😢. So I decided to semi retire and start living again. Trucking won't let you have a life. But I'm turning a new page. Thank you and God bless.
I am so sorry for your loss.
I used plastic fencing around my blueberry bed one year and crows actually snipped an entrance door into my blueberry bed! Not only that, I saw them remember where the opening was and hop right out. Geez! I can't fault them. Smart birds.
Lol, gotta plant more and teach them to share!
You're my favorite TH-cam gardening maven, because of your well-informed and correctly cited research sources, and your great passion for your work! "Burn! Asparagus beetles, burn!" was the best bit today.
Thank you!
Yup. I cleaned the shed, organized all the tools, built a ramp and shelves and now everything has a neat and organized home. Get busy!
Nice! You are on top of things!
6b for me. Today I was building up beds with compost, mulching my paths with woodchips, fixing a hole in my deer fence, and planning planning planning.
Ty for the barn cleaning update! You are too stinking cute, fessing up!!! I know you'll get it done. Often, the anticipation is much worse than actually just doing it. My big spring task is tearing down an old dilapidated shedd that we inherited with the property. Gonna clean it out, tear it down & get the spot readied for a walk in high tunnel in October. Be well. Happy spring from 6b, Illinois.
Ooh that’s so true!! I know I would feel really great getting it done… but I’m dreading jumping into it 😆
I appreciate that you have your planting zone in your title
My hope was that it would give folks a quick frame of reference for where I'm gardening- so I'm glad to hear that, Meridene!
It is a good simple video shows the lovers of planting what they need to do in Zone 6
How refreshing! I am in z6a in the mountains of Virginia, and you are the first channel I've come across that does practical gardening that I can learn from and utilize.
I'm so glad to hear that, Cynthia- thank you!
You make me smile. I wish I had a barn to be a mess. I put cardboard down on what I plan on being my garden last Fall. Being on a fixed income and with all the craziness in the world, it both makes me want to focus even more on the garden and prevents me from doing so. I am going to make do as well as I can with this garden. My wish list would include some panels to grow things up on. I do have some odds and ends around so I will make something happen for this year.
💚I’m sure there are so many folks that feel much the same way. I hope you are able to find some supplies to make due… but I will say, keep an eye out on Craigslist, FB market place or even Freecycle- we’ve been able to find quite a few useful things for the garden for relatively cheap or free.
@@GrowfullywithJenna I'd not heard of Freecycle before, I'll have to check into that. The reason I moved to this area is family, they have been a wonderful resource. Of course they will want some fresh veggies. :-D
My asperagus is breaking ground now. 1/13 in 8a
Avoid China cardboard, it's the type with ridges like corduroy. They use chemical waste for caustic/ lye replacement.
Gary Pylarchic just did a piece on diy trellises. Very creative ideas of using repurposed materials. I myself have used bamboo with success. This is often offered for Free on Facebook, to be cut and take on your own. I did need to invest in good clippers.
Not sure it is still relevant for you, but we used to be able to get soil and mulch from a lot where the County dumped all the leaves and wood chips. It went away a couple years ago, but might be worth seeing if your area has similar. And one of our local libraries also has a seed library where you can get seeds for free and then bring back if you harvest some.
I've gardened my whole life and now that I'm nearing retirement age, I've started an internship at a commercial greenhouse. I've always been the guy for vegetable starts within my family and church community. I'm thinking about kicking that up to include my greater community. This spring has been insane by comparison, for example, I started 10,000 German Johnson's just yesterday. So, no, I haven't cleaned my greenhouse.
WOW! That is a LOT of tomatoes! But what a great way to give back to the community!
May I ask your source for seed?
You are a life saver!!! I'm so excited to follow along! I'm still learning so much and it's great to find another person in the same zone explaining things!!
I'm so glad to hear this! Happy gardening!
I had a lot of large pines come down from storm last year so I made raised bed over stumps in my yard and in woods exspanding my yard adding growing space 😊 using Hugelkulture
Sounds great!
This has nothing to do with your beautiful garden tips, but i LOVE your jacket/coat! It looks so cozy!
Thank you!
YOU are the first to grow in zone 6A.... Im in the Smokies (Western NC) and Ive been looking for someone in my zone!!! Yay.... Ive got about 400 onions/ garlic planted and my seedlings for Kale, Spinach, Peppers, Cabbage, brussel sprouts and a myriad of other veggies.... Im super excited to have found you!! YAY
Oh wow! You are busy planting!
So happy to find a Zone 6 TH-camr as well! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
I love hearing from my fellow Zone 6'ers! You're welcome!
Thanks for all the advice. I'm in Pennsylvania and this is the first year of my serious gardening venture. Last year I grew everything in pots and I was very successful. Now I have three large raised beds to try out this year. I've spent endless hours researching articles and books but nothing beats hearing a friendly voice explain everything. I'm excited to watch your videos and learn more from someone in zone 6.
We had some warm spells in February so we set up our beds then, they were brand new. My biggest struggle is going to be a water source Im going to have to try a free standing rain barrel and I think it's a better idea than hauling water every day. The other struggle is pest control with deer and rabbits. I know a lot of people are going to hate this idea but I think for the first year I'm going to use liquid fence. Our township won't let us out up any fence or barrier at all without a lot of red tape so I will have to put the fence off until next year.
You are welcome! I'm so excited to hear you are getting serious about your gardening! It sounds like you are off to a good start, as you've already taken into consideration some of the most important factors.
One thing you might consider is hoops with insect netting. These can do a great job stopping rabbits from eating your veggies and deter deer (I'm not sure if it will stop a really persistent, hungry deer, but they seem to leave them alone at my parent's place with no fence).
I'm curious why folks might hate the Liquid Fence... other than the nasty smell?
I hope you have a wonderful garden season this year!
@@GrowfullywithJenna thanks for the advice about netting, I think I'm going to incorporate that for sure.
I think with liquid fence definitly the smell is something people hate but then I also hear people say bad things about it because they think it might be harmful to the garden. I don't want to use it forever but my understanding is that it works well and it's safe but the smell and price are definitely cons.
I don't have a barn but a very large covered patio that stores a lot of my gardening supplies. I finally got the mess cleaned and organized up today. The garage and lawn tractor maintenance is next. Like you I just didn't want to work outside much in the cold weather.
I start my seeds indoors, down in the basement in one 10x12 ft. area. it looks like your Barn! and yes My plan is to try and find the floor, but I did start the seeds and now I will start the organizing of that area. Happy Gardening Jenna
Best of luck with your basement, Kevin and happy gardening to you too!
Love your videos. Missouri here. I have my indoor greenhouse started with hydro lettuces, overwinter peppers and cherry tomatoes. Just started some more herbs. Still have some things growing in outdoor high tunnel.. Love my gardens. Need to start lotus pond seeds.
Thank you for your updates! Im in zone 6a and it helps to keep track of what to do, plant, and when
You are welcome! I'm glad it helps.
WV zone 6b.
I have used hay in my walkways and as mid summer mulch for nightshades for years now. No issues at all. Little trick I use - I put a couple of bales of hay in with my 8 chickens and in 6 weeks time it is scratched up and is virtually seed free. I scoop up in a wheel barrow and use in the walkways and add new bales to the chicken run.
That is a great trick! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing! Starting a pumpkin patch this year for my daughter here in southern Ohio after growing some volunteers last year from the previous fall season. My daughter fell in love with watching them grow which meant I had to figure out how to do it. Been scouring TH-cam and the internet for everything gardening and really appreciate your content.
Can I come help you clean the barn…please? I love doing that kind of stuff. NC isn’t THAT far from Ohio!!
And my new obsession the year at my new home was to anxiously wait and wait to see the bright hosta plants come up next to the driveway - I thought I lost them all to voles or disease…but they came up like champs! …..and then yesterday I got distracted by a squirrel - SQUIRREL! - and …ran over several of them with my truck. Crap.
Your garden looks amazing and your efforts exhaust me! Carry on strongly, my dear….we have always needed to have more women in farming in the US….and should totally recognize and champion all the strong women who have farmed…and will continue to farm…the world over!
Oh my goodness- that would be amazing!! And your incident with the squirrel- that totally sounds like something I would do!
Lol, I love the ending of this video. "It was really cold in here". 🤣 I personally know the pain of clean up when it's still freezing. ❄️👨🏾🌾❄️
Haha- thanks! You'd think I'd learn to not wait till it's freezing cold, but I never do 😆
Wow, a wealth of information. I planted spinach yesterday, garlic day before. Still working on the peas. Yes I need to expand my growing area good info. We have so many deer the fence dosnt work and I need too much. We use the liquid fence and it works well.
I'm glad you found some useful tidbits! Hope you have a great gardening season!
I agree! I live in 6b up near Cleveland. Like this clean up video. Just planted spring crops and tonight in poured. Ah well, hope they aren't laying in the muck. I did cover with pest covers! Hope that protected them a little. Looking forward to more information, Jenna. Have a great spring!
Ugh… same. We got dumped on last night and really did not need the rain. I hope your spring crops are ok!!
@@GrowfullywithJenna Just looked! They are happy! Yay!
Thank you for sharring our passion with us. You are fun to watch and learn from.
My pleasure!
Every year I say I’m gonna clean out my shed in October or November when it’s not too hot and not too cold, but of course it never gets done. It doesn’t help that I have two young children that create a mess in the house constantly. I’ll get to in when they’re in college.
A Zone 6 gardener..............yesssssssssssssssssssssss! Thank you!
You're welcome, Renee! Love hearing from fellow Zone 6 gardeners!
Worms love the cardboard too and give you free fertilizer as a bonus. I also use hay and love it. But I use hay that has been pulled out of the manger by the goats and gone through so the seed heads have been eaten.
Did most of my cleanup in fall, but have to clean up my winter garden. Got my indoor cells sewn, but still have to get to my out door garden spring prep, thx for the reminder Jenna
You're welcome!
LOL! Cold and just doing it anyway are not good companions.... I totally agree. The spirit was wanting to but the flesh just beat it down....now is the time. Great video! Thanking you for the encouragement and tips too!
Exactly!!
I organized my greenhouse and shed a few weeks ago. I am in the middle of updating my compost bins. (adding a 4th for making leaf mold and beefing them up a bit) and I am getting ready to install a fence/trellis around my garden and another rain water catchment system farther away from my house during March.
Sounds like you are keeping busy!
AMEN on the cover crop!! We live about 55 miles East of you. I buy a cheaper clover DEER plot seed at a TSC store. when it gets big enough in early Spring and put our chickens on it, give them some scratch grain on top of it, they do the rest. They till it in, fertilize it and so on. I move them off, work it in with a heavy duty rake and plant late Spring garden crops!! THANK YOU for your great worth while vids!!!
Excellent method!! For both your soil and your chickens. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jenna for so much good garden info. There’s a 20 x30 building calling my name this spring too.😂 I was so happy to find a fellow Ohioan in zone 6! Keep the garden videos coming! Always listening - Maggie
You are welcome, Maggie! And it’s always great hearing from fellow Ohioans! Best of luck with that building.
Lol the barn! Everyone has that problem cleaning up in fall is not fun but having everything organized is worth it!
Oh, I know it. I’m really regretting not doing it this winter
Just cleaned up the asparagus and fertilized yesterday. Good to know about burning the stems, thanks!
You're welcome!
10 sec in and I realize your my new favorite gardening channel !!
Thank you!
Love all method of garden care you talking
Thanks
Up here in zone 4b all I can do in March is sow various alliums. It's too early to sow anything else, and I can hardly get to my shed through the snow. I'm hoping for an early spring and can hardly wait to get to work in the garden. Thanks for the glimpse of green.
I hope you get an early spring as well!
Ahhh yes...... the barn; The ultimate collection device. Great vid..... thanks!!!!
Haha- the problem is, the more room you have, the more junk you seem to accumulate... making it even more daunting to tackle 😂.
This was great. Very thorough. My wife and I love your videos. We are in zone 6B and we are in overdrive trying to get things ready. The glimpses of nice weather have been motivating. Thank you.
Thank you so much! I hope you guys have a wonderful gardening season this year!
No...I didn't get my messy mess (sunroom in my case) cleaned up either, but working on it now! I made the same error with the plastic chicken fence....I was blaming it on the weed whacker when I saw a bunny inside. Thanks for the reminder--I need to put some wire chicken fence up instead.
That property looks amazing! I wish I could go out in the woods to dig up some topsoil when I need it.
Thanks- we are pretty happy with our little plot!
Jenna another great Video 👍 it’s getting hectic in the garden here in southern Oregon. I have a fair amount of over wintered veggies under row covers and just planted 72 well established starts from my grow cabinet. The grow area in my shop is organized ready to go. While the next wave of starts are growing it’s time to move onto the remaining bed prep. It’s a lot of work but I love it. Extra incentive is the times we are living in feeling the need to really maximize production.
Sounds like you are keeping very busy, Mike!
It is a lot of work- but I agree with you- it's a labor of love (and yes, I feel that extra incentive too).
Hope this year's garden is a great one for you!
NW NJ here. I am working on getting the fence supplies to fence of pasture and need to show some love to my garden among many other outside projects. 🙂
Putting up fencing is a major project!
Pray for me if you believe in the God of the Bible...I'll need it. Quotes with contractors are just outrageous 🙏 I'm a wimp trying to become a man 😆 🤣
We use half inch hardware cloth to keep rabbits out. Since we raise rabbits, some in colony pens, we've learned there isn't much they won't chew through (they are rodents!) that isn't hardware cloth or chain link (which kits can just hop right through). Our fence at this point is cattle panels with field fence wired to raise the height to 6 feet, and 2 feet of hardware cloth wired to the base and laid flat on the ground around the perimeter as well. At this point, we also line the bottoms of our raised beds with the hardware cloth. Great video!
Thanks for sharing- sounds like you are well fortified! I'm thinking of trying the raised bed lined with hardware cloth this year in an attempt to keep the voles away from my sweet potatoes!
I got the tiller gas tank repaired this morning so I got the large compost pile turned over with the tiller. I got the 4 raised garden beds tilled with the small hand held 4 cycle tiller.
Oh- getting equipment repaired is one thing I forgot to mention-- very important!
Sounds like you're keeping busy!
@@GrowfullywithJenna Sadly...they don't get themselves done!
I also use hay in my aisles, especially where I am growing squash and pumpkins. It does a great job of weed suppression (I don't use cardboard under it) while also allowing the pumpkin vines to find nutrients.
That is a great idea!
Distory dried out weeds in garden with very gentle tilting just busting the weeds Little brroadfork for drainage. T post frame setup planning a space with after 7:00pm shade and giving tomatoes the full sunny spot.
I'm blending compose and pig 💩 poo for bird house gourge for improving drainage and fertilizer.
Adding wood ash for onions rows.
I just started peppers and mid month starting tomatoes in your #3 seedlings mixture.
Thanks 👍
Great video. Im in 5b, not far from zone 6. I am already doing most of the things mentioned. I am expanding my garden area along the south fence, I had to take out a bush to add a 20x25 section to the back fence. I will be cardboarding and wood chipping the area as I mainly do container gardening. I am cleaning out 15 tote sip's and getting ready to revitalize the soil in 20 five gallon bucket sip's. I have to put my three 55 gallon rain barrels back in place. This week I will be planting some brassica's a month before the last frost date and seeding radishes and carrots outside and starting lots of seeds inside. Now is the busy season for me, lots to do.
Wow! You certainly are keeping busy- sounds like you're on your way to a great garden this year!
@@GrowfullywithJenna I hope it will be a great year, my 4th gardening.
Going down to the single digits tonight so I have to go out to the cold frame and bring in all the greens and cold weather crops that have sprouted. I am so tired of winter.
Doing an experiment with my leeks. I started them in late January, and have received one haircut. I started them in a rather shallow pan, so today I transplanted them deeper into a bigger tray. I am assuming giving them another 4 to 6 weeks with their stems planted deeper will yield a stronger and longer plant stalk for planting in the garden. See what happens. Leeks are like onions very tough and resilient.
Continue to rethink what is going where in my beds, guess i will not know for sure until I start sticking things in the dirt. I know one thing I do not need over 80 pounds of potatoes.
Warming up next week hope to get some cover crops in and check what my winter compost has produced for me.
Biting at the bit to get out in the garden.
Brrr... it got chilly here too (not single digits, but down into the teens). I am also very over winter! I'm trying to do a better job of planning out my beds too- but I'm like you, I never really know till I start planting.
I'd love to hear how your leeks do!
@@GrowfullywithJenna Will do, I'm sure it won't hurt anything... at least I hope so, never grew leeks before.
Yes,
You have rightly said that the month of March is a suitable time for gardening.
💚🌱
New subscriber from S. E. Ohio. Looking forward to your gardening tips. Have a great day!!!
Thanks for subbing- it's great to hear from fellow Ohioans!
yes. 6B here. glad to find this!
Love this! We have doubled our raised beds and have created the layout. We haven't had a path and mowing them was a chore so we are using cardboard and mulch to put in between and it's so much better! We use 1/4 inch hardware mesh under and around our beds for bunnies and voles. I'm installing a new hose reel and bringing the water source closer to the garden. And then some! It's an exciting time and perfect weather to work hard without dying.
Sounds like you've got some great things going on in the garden- very exciting!
I don’t have a barn, but I’d love to see the barn clean up! There is something very satisfying about the “after” when reorganizing a space, even when I dread actually getting started. Also, it’s fun to see the solutions others come up with for storage of seasonal stuff like seedling containers/pots.
I agree- it is very satisfying to see the before & afters... let's hope I get to the 'after' part 😄!
HiJenna, tyvm for video's I wanted to tell I use cut up downed pinetree sections approximately 12 to 18 inches to secure my cattle panel arches worksreally well put one at each coener sometime i split them in half so i have a smoot edge to nail to tis way you can use your t posts on other projects in garden like exspanding your fencing or fr tomato suport lines i use florida weave with t posts tyvm !
Smart idea! Thank you for sharing!
I was so happy to see you use alfalfa hay, as I use that as well. Everyone thinks I'm crazy when I tell them that is what I use instead of straw. I have found it significantly decreases weeds and also has lots of nutrients. I learned the plastic fence lesson a long time ago. I lived in a subdivision and I wanted a less noticeable fence. Rabbit chewed right through it and we got a picture with an outdoor camera of him happily munching my bean plants. So we now use plastic tent stakes to stake out the entire perimeter of our wire fencing to ensure there are no gaps that the rabbits can get underneath. I would love an outdoor shed to keep all my gardening supplies in. My things have to stay organized because I store them in my basement. But...my outdoor gardening box is a disater.
By obtaining 4 old exterior doors, a faux outhouse could be made to store your garden tools in. If one is creative, carve a sliver moon on the door that would actually open and in the back door, cut a round hole to put a glass colored but still clear plate for a window. I have seen these on pinterest and youtube. They can be dressed up to look quirky and fun and still be useful to store shovels, rakes and small garden tools, too.
Oh no! Sorry to hear you had the same rabbit experience as me! But I’m glad you’ve found something that keeps them out.
@@GardenGirl1956 thanks! Great idea!
Oh, thank goodness - a gardening show set in Ohio! I live in eastern Ohio near the Ohio River, and although I watch several TH-cam gardening shows, the advice given from Michigan, California, Georgia and Australia doesn't always jibe with what I need to do when I need to do it. I do very little in-ground planting because it's just too hard for me to dig through the heavy soil in my back yard, which faces full west. Most of my gardening is done in pots - really big ones for things like tomatoes and cucumbers and smaller ones for herbs, lettuce and bell peppers. It works for me and I don't have to do a ton of bending over. As for over winter storage, I don't have a shed or barn, so most of the pots are emptied and scrubbed in the fall and placed as close to the house as I can get them. Many of the smaller clay and glazed pots are brought inside and kept on my enclosed back porch, where I spend several months tripping over them.
Hi Sandra, it’s always great to hear from fellow Ohioans! Sounds like you’ve got a great solution worked out with your containers-I hope this year’s garden goes great for you!
Just found your channel & like so many others here … glad to have found your Z6 channel.
I recently moved and am looking forward to my first season in 6a!
Hooray- welcome to 6a! Best wishes for a wonderful garden season!
Jenna! I am so happy I stumbled upon your videos this last Winter. Your joyful spirit has given me such motivation to have this be the year of a successful garden at our farm! I’m currently 34 weeks pregnant so each day the kids and I are out working on small tasks to ready the garden for Spring planting.
Also I started my seeds after watching your last video. Normally I would buy them from a store. Watering them and checking on them every day has made me so much more invested in these little seeds. I just love it! Thank you so much for your videos!
Thank you so much!
And congratulations- what an exciting time for you and your family!
Take care, and enjoy that garden (and very soon, new addition) 💚.
If your an asparagus 🪲 beetle RUN!!! LOL! Hay works great. I use grass clippings after mowing. It keeps weeds out loosens soil over time when plowed under. I like the cardboard 💡idea! Thanks!
😂 🪲 I love my grass clippings too! I use them to mulch in my beds around my plants. It helps the soil SO much. Take care!
Great information, Jenna. I have been watching videos to learn what I needed to be doing now to get my garden ready. Thank you.
You are so welcome!
Concur with the early clean-up to help with the "bad bugs" (I battled Harlequin Bugs last year). I'm in 7a/6b; over Presidents Day weekend, I cleaned out the Orangery, organized my potting bench/materials, and started some seeds, and last weekend, I cleaned out the raised beds and cattle panel arbors (filled 2 Kangaroo bags for the compost bin). I still need to clean-out/organize the shed, but I'm still giving myself a pat on the back for getting most of the tasks done. Next weekend I'll be filling/refreshing/fertilizing the existing raised beds, as well as building a new 4'x16' (36"H) bed and fill using the Hugelkultur method. Good luck everyone on the 2022 Season!!!!
Wow! You were busy-- that's awesome!
Get babies growing indoors get soil prepped. Get fencing prepared to go up and when I’m sore or just to change it up I organize barn
By hardening and planting time it all comes together somehow through my hands with Gods blessing Faith and hard work will keep me happy and fed with the added bonus of amazing flowers, and sunlight. Oh and every year I plan this year it will be the best garden ever!
I believe you will have the best garden ever this year, Tammy! Happy gardening!
Cardboard is what kept me from quitting. I tried all the landscape barriers, mulch, and all the other things only to get weeds coming threw or out of it. Cardboard is the only thing that worked. Also everyone says hay has weed seeds but I would spend all summer pulling oat grass out of my garden from using straw. Hay and leaves have always been pretty reliable and cover up the ugly cardboard.
Yes! I had that same experience with straw for some reason!
I'm so glad to hear cardboard kept you from quitting- it is SO effective! Thanks for sharing.
My shed is also a disaster area. Looking forward to being able to get it all cleaned out and ready for the season!
Glad to hear it's not just me 😆. Hope you have a great season!
I cleaned up my beds, trimmed my raspberries, added some trellises for peas, and we're in the process of finishing the fence around our yard to keep out the deer. Last year a mama deer left her baby in one of my raised beds for a day/night. I was a special treat to see but they all came back to eat carrots and beans later in the season.
Sounds like you're on top of things, Heather!
Mama deer knew where the good stuff was!
Good to see you again. Late Summer/Fall I was mostly hacking my way thru Wisteria the idiot before me planted-it was choking out trees and growing all over the place-even caused one tree I Felled to hang up in a bad Rocking Chair situation where the bottom of the trunk could slip and swing wildly in any direction likely killing me [[ha;f b;find and stroke means I'd never see it coming or not be able to get out of the way]] but I resolved it. I do the cardboard thing-recently covered our Fur Children Sematary to end the issues with weeds, vines and Wisteria-looking for wood chips now. Newest raised bed going in this weekend. Oh, free months ago you did a video on potatoes. I mentioned I had dried some with bad resultss-they were clumpy and pasty. I did a ton of Mashed-soaked the small pieces after boiling in water to remove all remaining starch then bagged and froze after running thru the blender into a smooth paste. Pulled a bag, put them in the degydrator for a day then blended the clumps into a powder-good results. Not store bought instant-they use freeze drying for those but, not bad. [[Sorry so long and OT but I told you I would get back on the results]] I think freezing for a week or two helped-water expansion breaks down the cells. Also, and to be a downer but honest-if you or anyone reading this Needs anything-get it now. Tomorrow may be too late. Finacial Systems and Supply systems are collapsing. Be ready to repel Boarders and take care of Self.
I really appreciate you getting back to me about the mashed potatoes. I've still not tried them, but have continued to freeze mine as shredded hash-brown style, which works really well.
I also appreciate the warning. I'd like to think it won't come to that, but do think everyone should focus on learning at a minimum a few lessons in self-sufficiency (I highly recommend growing one's own food as a start)... because you just never know. Take care!
Here in 6B we are pruning fruit trees and cleaning our beds and greenhouses for planting. Great insight into your processes, never know when you will learn something new.
Oh- that’s another thing I forgot to mention- the late winter pruning. Thanks for sharing!
Ha ha...I came here from another video to see the shape your barn is in...you weren't kidding, but I love how you admit to NOT wanting to clean it! Thanks for the chuckle! New to your channel...loving it.
😆
I am in Michigan, it's the first day of Spring. Subbing due to your honesty in showing your shed ! Heading back outside for another couple hours ☺️
Happy 2nd day of spring- I hope you enjoyed your time outdoors yesterday! And thank you for subbing- I appreciate it!
At least you have a barn! :) I have a large shed with the floor covered in tools from my winter of garden tractor repair. Tomorrow is the big day tho. Hauling dirt and leveling the orchard and a neighbor gave us another DUMP TRUCK load of arborvitae wood chips. It's gonna be a rainy cold day of hard labor, but should be worth it. When you are cold, just remember, "The heat is in the tools" . :)
That is true!
Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you- but what a great thing to get from your neighbor!
I’m using cardboard too cleaning up my grow bags🙋🏽♀️ I’m so READY to get GARDENING. Very informative thank you for sharing
Ooh- I feel like all of us are SO ready! But spring is almost here 😀!! Have a great day, Angie!
I love these videos as well as your month-to-month seed-starting videos. I'm in Kansas City Missouri which is also Zone 6A and have very heavy clay soil. Unfortunately my property that I purchased in late May last year had been sitting empty for 30 years with a gravel driveway that was raised up in proportion to where my garden is. This means I've spent a good part of the nice days out in my garden digging up rocks. And not Little Rock's we're talkin big 3 2in in diameter rocks packed so tightly nothing can get through. My poor late carrots never had a chance I am slowly but surely getting all of the Rocks dug up at least until things start to get a bit deeper in the soil so my plants have a chance and moving around what I'm planting where to make sure it has the best possible chance on the upside we're able to completely re gravel the driveway with what I've dug up out of the garden. Got my onions red and sweet planted indoors and a whole bunch of herbs started out that need a little bit of extra time before they get put in the ground in March or April. So happy it's finally gardening season
Wow! That sounds like quite the task! Glad to hear you’re making progress. What hope you have a wonderful season!
Pond rebuild!
Also we did all this stuff you mentioned.
Raised and manured the bed and got some cardboard on there last year.
Looks like your climate is similar to ours in parts of the UK
The music at the barn bit!!!! I am deceased!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
😆
I always use hay never straw. Totally agree
It's good stuff!
I feel the same way about pigweed that you do about asparagus beetles.
Ooh... I understand that!
Hello Jenna, I am in my third year and very happy to see someone in zone 6. I am about 30 miles north of Pittsburg Pa and dealing with the anxiety or should I say itch to get going. I noticed your concern about your critters were a problem with the garden especially the rabbits. I also had some issues with critters so I decided to installed a electric fence bout 6 to 8 inches from the ground. it doesn't hurt the animal but definitely gets there attention. Cost effective and real easy to install. Results were very good, just don't shock yourself, I usually unplug mind when working, however that was after I shocked myself a few times, Good luck and I enjoy your hard work and commitment to healthy food.
Hello Richard- great to hear from a fellow Zone 6 gardener!
Thank you so much for the tip on fencing!
I used to work at a farm where we used a netting style electric fence (I believe it was about 3 or 4 feet high). It worked pretty well, but once in a while we'd have rabbits jump through the opening in the netting and get into the garden! I'm curious what style of fencing you are using?
Lol. My barn looks the same! Plus I have thousands of black walnuts I haven't hulled yet. Glad to find another Ohioian. I started doing these the other day...now snow!!! Ugh. Make it stop I'm ready to garden
Haha- yes MAKE IT STOP! But spring in Ohio is always such a tease!
I’m happy that that algorithm thing recommended you. Subscribed and rang the bell. Lawrence, Ks here.
I'm happy too, John! Welcome to the channel and thank you for subscribing! I hope you find some useful tidbits here.
So glad I found you 🎉😊
I'm glad you did too!
New subscriber here. I'm glad to find a channel for a zone 6 gardener like myself (albeit zone 6b in Missouri).
Great to hear from a fellow Zone 6er, Dave! Welcome to the channel and thanks for subscribing!
Thanks for all the useful info Jenna. I live in Nova Scotia and this winter a storm scattered all the parts of my greenhouse which by the way was very similar to yours all around our house. However there is still lots of motivation in the air from watching your video!
Oh no Peggy! Will the greenhouse be salvageable?
I’m zone 5a so this seems a little more practical than most videos on TH-cam! Thank you! For rabbits, and other critters, you might need to do an “L” with the wire. We don’t get too much trouble from the rabbits, it’s the darn groundhog! 🤣. This year, I’m planting a garden solely for the groundhogs/rabbits…hoping it will be a distraction from our food! 🤷🏾♀️. Thanks, for all these tips…with warmer temps this week, I’m ready. ☀️🌱
I'd love to hear how the food garden for the critters works!
We are also in zone 5 in the higher elevations of WV, and the groundhogs may become dinner this year lol. Which state are you in Shelia?
I’m in zone 6 and still have 2 feet of snow on my garden. Can’t wait for it to melt so we can get started.
I hope it melts soon!
Here in south jersey we are headed for a warm up and getting my hands dirty and beds ready makes any winter doldrums seem distant! Thanks for the great cardboard advice. Also hay not straw!
Oooh- enjoy that warm weather and feel of hands in the soil!
I have blackberry trellis to build, need to finish pruning the raspberries and finish setup on my new 20x40 extension. Just need to get back above freezing
Sounds like you've got plenty to keep you busy- hope it warms up for you soon!
Jenna! As always I love the honesty!
Burn Beetles, Burn!
I am still trying to get all the leaves gathered from our wooded lot to get them into the new compost pile. I threw down grass seed right before it snowed on Friday (in Ohio) to try and get a bare patch of yard looking presentable.
I have been doing indoor perennial seeds under grow lights, and then potting up. I am hoping that I don’t need to do as many next year.
I have to get the beds ready outside and remove the former owner’s decorative plantings that are not functional or in the right place. The beds are not deer proofed and I am going to plant out some onions and other stinky perennials that they hate.
I was inspired by your strawberry beds, so I grew plants from seed and am so excited to plant in a raised bed by the end of April.
So much to do!!!
Thanks for all your wisdom and advice.
So much to do is right! Sounds like you are staying busy, Melissa- you've got a lot going on! I hope it's a great gardening season for you this year.
And for you, too! I will follow your videos. Am looking at the calendar to see if I can get to your presentations on April 2. Kids have lots of soccer games…but Lima is close to Dayton
Hello from WV!! FINALLY someone who plants close by in zone 6!! I subscribed immediately! 🙂
Hello Brandy! Great to hear from a WV neighbor! Thanks for subscribing 😀
I tried too. I used yt videos for motivation, didn’t work. I used the reward system - clear up a corner and I can get another greenstalk planter, etc. I hired someone TWICE to clean up that costed me a gazillion dollars but then important garden things seem to be delivered faster than any person and his friends could clear up the space. When I think of how much garden stuff I own and how unorganized it is, it makes me don’t want to garden anymore. But after 1 second, I would realize that shopping is one of the most fun things about gardening. If only things have legs and could go to their proper places neatly.
Oh, how I wish they had legs 😆!
Try moving two things that belong together in your storage area each time you go to garden. Sometimes you get in the mood then to move 4-6 soon after a while things are fixed and you barely felt you had to do anything :) P.S. grow wild letucce, it produces endless leaves almost all year for compost, and you can lay them on your beds in the spring for for hugelkultur. Which btw is fantastic. I do mounds or rows of with bolted lettuce stalks, their leaves, and some compost/old soil on top. Even on our coldest day, the hugelkultures were warm to the touch and tobacco seedlings sprouted and lived. May want to seed hugelkulture with extra spacing though as i got wash on small seeds, but they lived through even the extreme mountain winds! Thank you for your videos!
Thank you for the great tips!
My husband and I made hinged hoop covers for four of our raised beds. I have a lot of aphid and cabbage worm trouble.
Smart!
We use old roofing tar shingles to keep the weeds down in the garden.
I'm sure those do a good job preventing weeds!
I’ve been tackling the paths in between our beds & when we get some good weather will be extending existing beds & tidying them up for planting. We’re in the uk and got a half plot allotment late March last year so didn’t have much time to plan if we wanted to get growing (which we did) so we had the winter to think about how we can maximise the space & make the best use of what we put in last year, which has been nice & much more relaxed than last year 😁 I’m lucky that my partner sorted our garage a couple of weeks ago so I can now easily reach all the tools & things! Good luck with yours, it’s my least favourite job too!
Sound like you’ve got some good things going there, Sarah! Enjoy your allotment and that clean garage!