Garden thread.

Started by peg_688, April 12, 2006, 08:45:41 PM

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jonseyhay

#25
May 13, 2006, 01:28:22 AM Last Edit: May 13, 2006, 01:37:07 AM by jonseyhay
Here is my veggie patch. We have winter stuff in right now, broccoli, cabbage silverbeet (spinach). A few late beans, tomatoes and swedes. No rain yet so the lawn is struggling.



Oh yeah carrots, leeks and onions

glenn-k

#26
May 13, 2006, 01:32:15 AM
I planted Lithuanians many years ago, Jonesy - they're all grown up with kids of their own now. :)

jonseyhay

#27
May 13, 2006, 01:40:52 AM
Wrong type of Swedes, huh? ;D  perhaps another eeeeeeee?

Amanda_931

#28
May 13, 2006, 08:02:18 AM
Sassy, that looks incredibly lush!

Wisteria in the south is considered almost up there with Kudzu for invasiveness.  Although I remember it as not that unreasonable when I was a kid in North Carolina--made a nice screen on the west side of the house in the summer, let in sun in the winter.  But we didn't do the yard maintenance there except for my mother's vegetable garden.

peg_688

#29
May 13, 2006, 08:51:48 AM
Quote 


this is what I see looking out from the kitchen

I've also had to place rocks & misc barriers around because one of the dogs likes to dig up my plants, chew up the yard lights & my lawn ornaments so I put rocks, logs, pots, what-have-you to try & keep her out.. :-/



 How do you keep the crockie from eatin ya  ;D  Is it semi domestacted like Glenn?

 Nice gardens BTW  :)

  Looks like lots of work , for something ya can't eat, but then again rattler is the norm around your place  ::) Maybe it attracts barn swallows / starlings and such  ;D

Sassy

#30
May 13, 2006, 09:41:19 AM
PEG, I haven't domesticated Glenn yet!  ;D  When the house in the valley was bought, it was totally barren, except for a couple trees.  Glenn put in all the brick work, ponds, carports, railroad tie planting beds etc.  There are a lot of grapevines out front & growing around by the trellis over the pond & have even grown over the carports & into the eucalyptus etc.  So you see bunches of grapes all over the place.  Yeh, it is a lot of work - more than my old bones can do, but I try to take care of it as best as I can.  We planted several nice veggie gardens, everything would be looking really nice, the next morning you look & the gophers had pulled the plants down into a hole & eaten them!   >:( It's kinda an oasis in the desert, cuz it gets so doggone hot down there... same weather as Jonsey gets across the pond.  

Amanda, I would say that the wisteria is very invasive.  It looks really pretty, especially when it blooms, but I have to keep cutting it back because it wants to grow into everything.  I have to pull up runners in the yard, & everywhere.

Jonsey, your veggie garden looks good enough to eat!

peg_688

#31
May 13, 2006, 09:55:43 AM Last Edit: May 13, 2006, 10:06:40 AM by peg_688
Quotelooking really nice, the next morning you look & the gophers had pulled the plants down into a hole & eaten them!   >:(

 [size=12]

 Another job for Carl , eh ;D

  [/size]   

 
Jonsey, your veggie garden looks good enough to eat!

 Crokie Jonsey "Now that's a garden!"  :)


 


 

 

jonseyhay

#32
May 13, 2006, 06:47:47 PM
For a small patch it is productive. I have been trying out the Terra Preta method, which seems to be working well.  http://www.philipcoppens.com/terrapreta.html.
We only grow a few of any one veg and as it is harvested it is replaced with seedlings that I start in trays. The onions are grown between and under the rows of cabbages and broccoli so there is very little wasted space in the garden. I also grow spuds and pumpkins in tires outside the main bed.

Sassy

#33
May 13, 2006, 07:33:05 PM Last Edit: May 13, 2006, 07:34:51 PM by Sassy
Jonsey, I read the article you cited.  I think we are pretty much using the same method with our soil & gardening as the article explains.  We 1st mixed our clay soil 1/2 & 1/2 with composted horse manure, then spread it on our roof 12"-18" deep (I should know cm/meters, I have to use it at work, but still have problems with it... :-/).  We then planted seedlings & seeds.  We've applied some fertilizer & also spread the ashes from our woodstove.  We read somewhere, possibly in Mother Earth News, to not disturb the soil by turning it over as that kills the beneficial bacteria & also exposes the weed spores/seeds to sunlight & helps them grow.  We let the plants we don't eat go to seed so almost have a self-propagating garden.  I bought a bunch of seeds from a garden catalog - they featured heirloom & organic seeds... haven't planted any of it yet - no room.  I did spend several hours yesterday weeding a couple places so now they are clear to plant.  Lots of work in that way   :-/ that I don't especially enjoy.

Your method sounds a lot easier, just a small plot & keep replacing as you eat the produce.  I should say that the few flower seeds we planted have been exceptional reproducers & they are interspersed between the veggies, but looks pretty  :) & my $1.99 roses are just gorgeous right now.   The ones I planted a couple
weeks ago are doing great too.  I like flowers!  

jonseyhay

#34
May 13, 2006, 07:50:02 PM
Terra Preta is a slash and char method. If you take a look at sugar cane production you will see that the soils are remarkably fertile. The burning off of the cane is the secret behind that. I have simply added charcoal to my soil along with compost and worm castings. It all makes the plants simply leap out of the ground. My neighbour is gardening an area about 3 times the size of my plot with about half the production. He is forever looking over the fence to see what I'm up to. One of these days I'll let him in on the secret.  ;D

Amanda_931

#35
May 13, 2006, 08:39:02 PM
On a soils and gardening list there was a thread featuring the things listed in the Terra Preta site--a couple of people were following that and learning to make charcoal from brush piles.

Sounds awfully nice and scientific and esoteric and....

I decided to do this the easy way, bought some out-of-season charcoal at one of the very country grocery stores nearby, mentioned what I was doing, guy stocking the shelves said that he'd heard people say it was a god idea, he thought he might try it this spring.  So it also qualifies as an old wives' tale.  The asparagus seems to like it.  But it just got planted.

I've been enjoying Jeff Gillman's book Garden Remedies, What Works What Doesn't and Why because he's got the facilities (greenhouse, gardens, and students looking for projects and good grades!) and the interest (he did his own slug tests) to check out some of this kind of thing.  Doesn't mention charcoal, though.  Some he likes, some he thinks are totally worthless.

Enjoying it, that is, until he stepped on something both my parents taught me to do!  (What he said makes sense, though).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881927481/102-0546009-6592130?v=glance&n=283155







jonseyhay

#36
May 13, 2006, 09:28:13 PM Last Edit: May 13, 2006, 09:30:15 PM by jonseyhay
That's pretty much what I did. I just got a couple of buckets of charcoal from one of the local charcoal makers and dumped it in the garden. The rest is just compost and horse manure from the neighbour's stable. The worms take care of the digging and what the bugs don't eat is mine. So far there is no disease problems so everything is hunky dory.  :D
Amanda is that book worth buying.

peg_688

#37
May 13, 2006, 09:38:29 PM
Updated garden photos , starting to pick lettuce , onions and radishs.


 

 

 Peas and beans are growing , rabbits clear cut the spinach one night the garden sentry is now up and ready  ::)

 PEG

Amanda_931

#38
May 13, 2006, 09:52:28 PM
I gave it 5 stars.  Really enjoyed his attitude, and descriptions of how they tested ideas, that is, the whole book.  Not quite sure if it's a "must have."  

I do know people who ought to borrow it from me.

jonseyhay

#39
May 13, 2006, 09:58:04 PM
I'll put it on the wish list. May get it for my birthday ;D

Sassy

#40
May 13, 2006, 11:53:47 PM
Up in Oregon, they burn huge fields of grass straw after harvesting the seed, adds nutrients back into the ground.  I was kinda wondering how you burned your garden, Jonsey  :o..  I just read the cover article on the link you posted, didn't get into the particulars...

PEG, your garden is looking really good!  We got one of those motion sensor sprinklers to keep the deer out of our garden the 1st year... didn't help much, they just ate it all up anyway...  :(

After we put our garden on the roof, everything was growing great... Glenn & I are sitting in our recliners talking & I said "I wonder when those deer will be up in our garden?"  The next morning we get up & look at the garden, about a third of the garden was eaten... the rest of the day we built fences around it.  So far, so good, except for the gophers  >:( & the raccoons that like to run around on top of the house... in fact last night they came in through the cat door & there was an old bag of hard Christmas candy they had gotten into on the ground.  And right now it sounds like they are fighting outside...  Glenn just went to check.

peg_688

#41
May 14, 2006, 12:11:48 AM
Run little racoons  :o :oGlenn L kill ya's  :o

   The sprayer works for the bunnies , bet your deer where nice and clean  ;D

We have something eatin the bunnies. Our  yards is  fenced but a coyote could be jumping in/ over or it could be a owl . Night time kills,  just a bit of fur left , twice now , not sure a owl would clean up so nice , cat either.  I'd think more rabbit would be left.

I go out with the dog , she's small but thinks she's big and she'd just go try and play with a coyote , thinking it was a dog , I think . So I go out with her at bed time , to be safe .

  Sort of a defencive plan , just in case ;)    

glenn-k

#42
May 14, 2006, 12:24:45 AM Last Edit: May 14, 2006, 12:25:56 AM by glenn-k
It's getting close to time I'll have to do something about the racoons or I will have to restrict my cats freedom and that would defeat the purpose of having him.  He has the job of harassing the vermin.  I guess I could close the borders.  They are cute, but mean little devils.

The story on the automatic sensor sprinkler was that I put it in-- left the house --came back home --the sensor sensed the car --turned on the sprinkler --- the deer jumped up from the garden as they were sleeping under the sprinkler - probably scared off by the car.  :-/

peg_688

#43
May 14, 2006, 12:44:00 AM
People = food to racoons . Easy pickins , remove the free food they'll go away like welfare bums at a closed food bank.   Quickly with a bad attitude  ;D

Sassy

#44
May 14, 2006, 01:03:30 AM
We're not here all the time so have to leave food out for our cat.  The raccoons aren't supposed to go into the house... kinda like the illegal alien situation  ::)

peg_688

#45
May 14, 2006, 01:16:20 AM
 Humm lets see they(coons) got in thru the cat door , your leaving food out for the cat, who stays at the bunker / undergnd house while your in the valley, the cat can't take on one racoon let alone a few or more . I see a potental issue here, like
 
 [size=20]Racoon party at Glenn and Sassy's place next week :o :o  [/size]

 Better get a bigger cat , this guy or gal :-/might do,

 

 Of course that's just another problem isn't it  :-/  
 

 

Sassy

#46
May 14, 2006, 01:22:39 AM
that kitty is soooo cute!  :)

Amanda_931

#47
May 14, 2006, 09:06:53 AM
When I lived in Nashville I just put up with a couple of groundhogs and possums and a neighborhood rooster eating the outside cats' food.  It did make for a big food bill.  An acquaintance here has skunks as well coming into his kitchen via the cat door--so far, they haven't reacted defensively--and they've been doing this for years.

But the time I got two young, possibly once "pet" raccoons walking up to me to say "feed us, feed us", it scared me.  I asked them to leave, never saw them again.  Don't think that would have been as likely to have worked with the groundhogs and possums.  It didn't work with the neighbor's dog, at least partly because they encouraged it.

I also lived there full time with at least one dog, got pet-sitters to care for the outside cats if I left town.  Which means that the idea won't translate to Glenn and Sassy's situation.

Pet bobcat might work!

glenn-k

#48
May 14, 2006, 09:45:07 AM
They fought with Sassy's cat last night  - she attacked them - she's a rather aggressive indoor Persian cat with few teeth - gets out once in awhile- she got scratched a bit but is OK.

I thought about feeding them - the neighbor used to but said they even fought between each other rather viciously.

Amanda_931

#49
May 14, 2006, 10:21:14 AM
Transfer cats when you go from one house to the other--keep them inside with a litter box at night (sawdust, pellet litter or possibly pellet fuel work pretty well, all compost nicely)?

The groundhogs and the possums got along fine with my cats, never heard them at each other.  There was plenty of food for them all.  But, for instance, the coyote that we saw walking along the railroad tracks pretty frequently never came over--or was scared off by my guys or the neighborhood wolf hybrid making a fuss.

Persians are deceptively passive looking.




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