Looking for some garden tools to rent/take on loan

[AnarchoJesse]

In the upcoming weeks after the ground thaws I'm going to start working on the garden I plan on growing. I have a rake for clearing away the debris, but I need a hoe/rototiller and spade to help me tear up the grass where the garden will be. I'll only need it for about a day (not sure when yet, but likely in the first or second week of April), and will return it the day of/or after.

Thanks in advance for any offers.

[AntonLee]

anything good?  This will be my first year growing a garden as well.  I'm looking to grow tomatoes, onions, and I'm curious about blueberries and some other berries.

[AnarchoJesse]

anything good?  This will be my first year growing a garden as well.  I'm looking to grow tomatoes, onions, and I'm curious about blueberries and some other berries.

Monadnock grows wild blueberries, so I'll be climbing it when I want some.

But me, personally, I'm growing cukes, tomatoes, and basil.

[Tom Sawyer]

We would be willing to bring the whole famn damily over with a tiller and various implements of destruction.    

Sunday prior to Social Sunday would work for us.

[Free libertarian]

A couple of tips for aspiring gardeners.  Perhaps you can learn from some of my mistakes.

Walmart has some inexpensive seed packs. They are from American seed, .20 and .59 per pack.
Some heirloom varieties can cost 2.99 per pack.  If you like gardening you can dry seeds and use them next year (I won't tell Monsanto  ).  A trip to the book store or library will explain how to do this.
The mature dates on the back of the seed packs are target dates only. If you decide to grow onions or melons get the variety that has the best chance of maturing in your climate. Nothing worse than seeing an almost ripe water melon that you've watched grow all summer get destroyed by September frost. Consider buying a tarp and covering the night before the frost.     

Also, pay close attention to your areas last frost dates in the spring. Start your seedlings in containers, cut up plastic milk containers, dixie cups or soda bottles will do in a pinch, and don't put them in the soil until frost danger is past. Usually the last week in May, but maybe earlier for flat landers in the Keene area. Plant resistance to cold is not uniform, Tomato plants are not very hardy some other plants can take a light frost.

Wind in the summer will dry out your soil. Mulch with hay can help hold moisture and keep the weeds down.  Also cut up black garbage bags can serve as an effective weed barrier and help retain the suns heat in the soil in late spring.
   
Some manures contain more nitrogen than others. Fresh chicken shit will burn your plants. It's good to know your shit.   Good luck.


   

[AnarchoJesse]

flat landers in the Keene area.   

Ouch, baby-- that hurt.

But otherwise, thanks for the advice, and Roger... It's not a big plot of land (it's like maybe 15'x10'), but if ya'll want to get dirty, I appreciate the offer and may take you up on it

[Sam A. Robrin]

flat landers in the Keene area.   

Ouch, baby-- that hurt.

But otherwise, thanks for the advice, and Roger... It's not a big plot of land (it's like maybe 15'x10'), but if ya'll want to get dirty, I appreciate the offer and may take you up on it

Some flatlander--ya'll is "you will"; "you all" is y'all . . .

[jaqeboy]

flat landers in the Keene area.   

Ouch, baby-- that hurt.

But otherwise, thanks for the advice, and Roger... It's not a big plot of land (it's like maybe 15'x10'), but if ya'll want to get dirty, I appreciate the offer and may take you up on it

Some flatlander--ya'll is "you will"; "you all" is y'all . . .

Yankee flatlanders  for sure.

Jesse,  a customer of mine is threatening to give me an ancient roto-tiller in unknown condition. I might take it in, but that creates another job for me if it doesn't work...

[Jan]

Jesse:  We live on the southern boundary of the White Mountains and grow veggies.  We have a lot of success with container gardening (we also use raised beds). 

Container gardening really saves space and you can stick your containers in any sunny spot (deck, driveway, etc.)  We use whiskey barrel halves, old sheetrock mud pails, plant pots, whatever we have on hand.  We plant a variety of tomatoes, cukes, zukes, squash and beans in our containers. 

Frankly, our container gardens do much better than our beds.

We supplement our soil with horse manure and I bet you could get some good manure from the Travis farm. 

[AntonLee]

this is an excellent thread. . . keep the tips coming I'm saving this stuff.

[Tom Sawyer]

Roger... It's not a big plot of land (it's like maybe 15'x10'), but if ya'll want to get dirty, I appreciate the offer and may take you up on it

We have a small powerful tiller that would make short work of it. Let me know when you're ready.

[Jan]

No matter how small your bed, tilling it is still better than pitchforking it IMHO.

[Recumbent ReCycler]

I've got peas growing in my kitchen.  When it warms up, I'll transplant them outside.  One shoot is several inches tall already.  One cheap way to get seeds is to buy them in the grocery section.  Peas, lentils, garbanzos and other beans can be had for about a dollar a pound, and can be sprouted inside before transplanting outside.  I have a large assortment of pepper seeds that I should start sprouting.

[AnarchoJesse]

Roger... It's not a big plot of land (it's like maybe 15'x10'), but if ya'll want to get dirty, I appreciate the offer and may take you up on it

We have a small powerful tiller that would make short work of it. Let me know when you're ready.

Whenever the last frost is.

[Vitruvian]

Container gardening really saves space

Has anyone tried using tires as planting containers?  I got the idea from this article.

EDIT: Also, I'm eager to try remineralization, which seems to be a simple and sensible method to increase yields.