We've had a wet late winter/spring as well. I finally got a chance to till today. It wasn't "dry" but it wasn't really wet. I had to get some strawberry plants in so I figured I could live with some clods from tilling wet dirt. Yep, peas went in too.

Winters here are dry, so I have trouble waiting for the ground to warm enough. I tilled 3 swaths about 3 weeks ago and planted spinach. The next weekend, did it again and planted peas and beets. Then had to wait for it to be warm enough to get out the hose to water it. The spinach came up last week, but nothing yet on the peas/beets. I tilled my mother in laws garden over the weekend and it was so dry she did not even notice. BUT we had such a wonderful 4 inches of wet, heavy snow yesterday, so it all looks much better.

Patience is a hard thing to have in the spring though. I understand your pain! Carol

I put in a row and a half of potatoes here in Wisconsin on Thursday evening. The spot was still covered with 4 inches of snow that morning. I just used a shovel and mudded them in, mostly out of spite for all the garbage we've got here (99.5 inches, which breaks the record by more than 20 inches). We got another 8 inches of snow the next day on Good Friday. They pry will rot if it doesn't dry off this week but maybe not. I've had potatoes volunteer from the year before's missed and discarded potatoes.

It looks like it'll be two or three weeks before I touch a patch of ground with my new-to-me BCS 715 with 26 inch tiller. Then again, we had snow on April 13th last year.

ARGH!

{{gwi:34471}}

Finally got mine tilled Tuesday and still hit a couple of patches of frost.Now that it's worked up it should warm quicker anyway.

Hope to get my peas and chard in next week if it warms up some:>)!

Man farmer,you are hard core LOL!!Shoveling the snow to get them taters in and all!!

Mike

I till in the Fall, rake the soil up into raised beds, and cover with plastic over the winter. In Spring, just pull back the plastic and plant.

That is an interesting tiller you got there farmerbill :)

We also set a new snowfall record. The only veggies I'm growing are inside....unless my first attempt at garlic last fall is a success. Kinda hard to tell with the recent 12 inches of white that fell.

FarmerBoyBill, looks like you need a snow blower for that nice new tiller... lol
Back in the fall I broke the land (with a three wing bottom plow) where I am planning to plant corn and cow peas. Checked it today to see if I could harrow it, but still too wet in spots. Don't want to bog the tractor down... too hard to get it out! According to the Farmers Almanac the next good days for planting above ground crops is in April :(
Shot

Why till the cover crop? Why not just mow it down, wait 2 weeks and plant?

Too wet to till? Hell, mine is still frozen 4" down. It won't be dry enough to till until May. Spring crops? We have no spring. We only have too hot and windy, and too cold and windy.

Tom

Hey ya Mike,
I didn't move snow to plant 'em. The 4 inches melted off by evening. The only thing I moved was mud. One and a half rows isn't all that much in my garden. I plant crossways in 20 foot rows vs. lengthways in 50 foot rows. Hopefully, I didn't do any lasting damage to the soil structure because of spite.

Hey shot,
If you look close in the picture, my 715 IS a snowblower AND tiller. The snowblower is on the 715 in the foreground and the tiller is waiting to be attached in the background. I just unhook the blower with two bolts, swing the handles around, and attach the tiller.

Nature,
My garlic was a success so far. When all the snow was melted off, I saw one inch tall shoots. I'd really like to get a picture of them poking through snow but I don't think they'll grow fast enough before these 40 degree days make the ^%$#^ white stuff go away.

Outsiders, Winter rye just loves to be mowed and then grow back with a vengence. We've grazed ours in early spring and still got a good seed harvest. It's a dangerous cover crop unless you turn it in early or have equipment that is strong enough to do it later. Tom

I have tilled mine twice. Already planted radishes and peas. Waiting another week or so to plant lettuce and my late started broccoli. OOOPPPPPssss

So mowing it as close to the ground and then possibly mowing it again a week later won't kill it off?

I am in mid/north east ohio. My yard is so wet and there is more rain in the forecast. I am afraid I will never get to till. How dry should it be?

I try to get winter rye turned/tilled in at least ten days before planting anything because I've noticed an alleopathic effect.Basically,either no growth or stunted growth.
You can scalp rye off very close and mulch heavily to kill it, but this isn't the time of year to typically access lots of mulch.

Spring is here! Thank goodness. I tilled part of my garden March 16 and planted lettuce and mixed lettuce mix and spinich....tilled the rest of it this past Sat.

We've had a lot of rain this winter but now since I planted seed only one rain! We had terrible drought last spring/summer. Hope this isn't another sign we will have it this year again.

Glad to read about all the die hard gardners. Hope your weather gets better.

Well, I can't wait any longer. I am going to give it a go tomorrow and hope it's not too wet. I will post pics of before and after.

i needed to till mine but had to go out of town before the ground dried enough. soon as i get back home next week i will till and row it up though. i need to get my beans in the ground.

I tilled on the 16th of march, put in about 5 pounds of 15-10-10 granular fertilizer. Don't think I put enough as my soil tester says the soil is on the low side of being fertilized properly. This weekend I am going to put a bag of Miracle Grow water soluble fertilizer in my drip filter and test again.

Here is a link that might be useful: My garden blog

I keep looking at my garden but it is still hard as a rock.
Today it was close to 60 for a few minutes, so it won't be long now!!!
I can't stand the wait. I have reorganized my seeds twice now and fiddled around with everything I can think of. I have read all my catalogs.... I want to grow something!!!

I just tilled mine yesterday when I got home from work and threw some nice, dark, rich compost that's been sitting over the winter on it. I've been driving the wife crazy 'cause it hasn't been warm or dry enough to do anything for quite some time now. It tilled up very nicely too by the way. I also threw a couple bags of fert on parts of the yard too.....and good thing. It started to pour the rain overnight last night and they are calling for cooler temps and more rain all thru the weekend!!! AAArrggghh!

Here is a before pic.
{{gwi:34472}}
And this is what you get when it's too wet. Luckily, I was able to pull it out with my jeep. Lesson learned? WAIT!
{{gwi:34473}}
Here is the garden ALMOST tilled. I will wait and hit the last strip later.
{{gwi:34474}}

Plowing and tilling in wet soil destroys the nitrogen in your soil, according to agronomists.

Peas are large enough to just punch into the soil. have you tried that? Or maybe you could run a knife once through your planting area, drop the peas into the slot, then push the soil back together?

Sue

Unbelievable as it may sound, I went back out and attempted another run at the quagmire of mud. (I think the four or five beers helped).
I succeeded!!
I think it actually dried out a bit in the course of a few hours.
Here's the completed garden all tilled!
Sue, I will just do as I have, and plant the peas after I till. I trust the nitrogen will be just fine. Thanks. ;)
{{gwi:34475}}
{{gwi:34476}}

Tilling when too wet can cause the soil to clump into compact rock hard clumps that are next to impossible to break apart in the future. Best way to tell is an old farmers trick. Grab a handfull of soil, sqeeze and release. The soil should stay together in a ball and then fall apart as you bounce it around your hand. If it doesnt fall apart then it to wet. If it doesnt form a ball then too dry.

I'm planning on tilling tomorrow. We got 4 inches of snow yesterday, I'm hoping it isn't too wet. We are brining in a bunch of compost as well. Billinpa thanks for the tip on checking if the soil is too wet!

Here is a link that might be useful: backyard farming