any gardeners?

“Ox,

1) Go to photobucket.com and set up a free account.

2) Upload your photos there.

3) Copy and paste the "Tag" here in the message box.”

“you gotta compost everything!
well, not the bad stuff

my compost situation is totally out of control. i was stupid and now i'm paying the price.

the trick to getting a really nice, no-tiller-needed, patch of garden is a combination of patience, bugs and a big tarp.
dig a shallow trench or two or more if you want your neighbours to think you're hiding the bodies back there. throw in all your compostable stuff - fall leaves, grass clippings, nonseeded weeds, kitchen scraps, i think i even put in chopped up twigs and old garden chips. mix it all up and toss some dirt over top so it's mounded up, throw your tarp over top and weigh down with a few big rocks. wait while the worms and ants and all the other bugs do their thing. ignore weird looks from neighbours.

i do this every autumn when i clean up my gardens; plus i dump out all my composters and dig those in under the tarp too.
it works amazing and is probably the source of my little compost problem.
last edited: 9/10/05 1:46:47 AM”

“I garden just over an acre of area without the use of a tiller or tractor.

With a shovel and hoe, I have constructed about 5,000' of raised beds (thats 25 rows 200' long about 8' apart use gas powered push mower between the beds occasionally during summer, partly on a flat hilltop and partly on a fairly steep slope but have zero net erosion because I continually move soil uphill and leaf litter from the woods at the bottom of the hill) and it is simple to rip the top of the beds (if somewhat wet) with a hoe (even though it started out as heavy red clay) for each new planting. Plus no need to bend over so far for weeding and harvesting. Yearround average of about one hour per day of effort.
last edited: 9/10/05 8:22:15 AM”

“that is a lot of work Lonesurveyor. But it sounds great. I like the not bending over all summer and the reduced soil compaction you must have without driving a tractor over it.

gotrek
www.mytrekkingpoles.com”

“Sass, Birch and Pekka. I meant to tell you all that the things that you folks sent me all came up this year. I'm not sure who sent what but I had some lillies, a blue Iris or two and some greens also. Many thanks to ya's it was really cool to share flowers and stuff.”

“glad to hear it sirpete! I have been out in the yard for some time today and will be back out after I finish my beer.”

“who all has a compost bin. Did you buy it or build it yourself.”

“My compost bin was construction wire, squashed, twisted and knocked over by racoons. Obviously I need something beefier. It was cool though, to fill that thing to the top again and again and it's only 1/3 full now. It also has some very pretty yellow mushrooms growing out of the side right now. That's something it usually doesn't do.”

“Alot of my rows are planted with the likes of soybeans, field corn and sunflowers for the wild birds and animals.

Observation: Even though I live in an area with a rural agrarian heritage, even when I grow, harvest, clean and preliminarily prepare many of my crops, I find that often if they are given to friends, neighbors and family they may well not be utilized.

Our modern culture has so indoctrinated people to prepare and consume processed, manufactured, packaged and fast food that many particularly those younger than 25 years old just

do not know or seem to care what is good or good for them.

Do any of you other gardeners encounter such a reaction?

And another thing, fresh crops of some kind can he had yearround (at least here in the NC foothills), so canning and freezing of produce is a complete waste of time and energy (besides making a house way to hot during hot months). Much of the canned (jarred) and frozen stuff (which by the way has degraded flavor and nutritional value) just eventually gets thrown out anyhow.
last edited: 9/11/05 6:33:35 PM”

“Believe it or not

I have often heard the human physiology is adapted to most ideally utilize foods that are in season

so jarring and freezing summer foods for winter consumption may not be such a good idea anyhow.

But with proper technigues the months that many crops can be available fresh is actually of a much wider range than many realize.
last edited: 9/11/05 6:44:36 PM”

“ewker we have abig compost heap. Its in the corner of our yard. Its is made up of the fence corner (two sides) the 3rd side is an old piece of fence that is 6ft long. The front is open. The corner is ideal since my neighbors can toss their clipping in. Since the sides are fence the pile does stay a touch dryer than ideal though.”

“Haven't peaked into Trail Talk in many months, but there's sirpete with a garden report!

Well, sirpete, the yellow iris you sent me came in gangbusters this year --- glorious. The day lilies you sent grace the right-of-way strip between sidewalk and street. The front garden as a whole was spectacular, as I had expanded the beds. The only grass left in the front yard was the pathway around one of the main beds -- just wide enough for a mower, and that grass is going either this fall, or first thing after the snow departs next spring. I took about a ton of sod out this past spring before I said enough is enough.

The extensive heat wave and drought, along with a very taxing summer on the family/personal front, put a big crimp in my gardening, but other than the hanging baskets of petunias, things survived our having to abandon them for two weeks of the hottest, driest weather earlier in the summer. I found out that "patio" variety tomatoes planted in good compost remember that they are tropical plants and shrug off heat. Have to pick a bunch when I get home as they are really ripening fast -- I think the drought just put development of the fruit back a bit. Rain has been promised for quite a while, but when I get home (it's in the 80s today in the north woods, after breaking 90 over the weekend) I'm going to put the sprinkler on again. That's pretty unusual for September up here.

The biggest issue I had this year was birds, bunnies and squirrels digging and nibbling. Something was nipping the flower stalks off my perennials -- often just one of each variety, as if it wanted to taste, but not eat. I'd find the neatly nipped flowers laying on the mulch.

Anyway, glad I stopped in on a whim to see what was up. No hiking or bping for me in a long time. Not sure if my legs are going to be up to a full backpack anymore. My feet have been doing well, but my knees are showing their age. The joys of joints are myriad.”

“Pekka, I hope you don't have wood chucks! Those little buggers are very destructive!

A few summers ago, one of them tried to live on our flowerbed until Thinkbubelz decided to take revenge and peed in its hole (human urine shoos these critters away very quickly.) It was a last resort before having to hire an animal control company. The woodchuck used to eat off the lower branches of our burning bushes and knawed off the bark of our maple tree as well... so ha! we got rid of him! :-) I think it might have had an encounter with a skunk this summer as we saw him belly up with rigor mortus mid summer...

About the compost bins:

we have 4 pallets leaned against a tree that we keep putting in grass clippings and leaves. We had done that for about 8 years before trying to open it and to see what was inside... When we did, thinkbubelz said to me-- "Hey, where'd that dirt come from?!" to which I replied, "I think that's our compost!!" It was the richest, darkest soil we have ever had.. :-)

a couple of years ago, we invested in a black plastic "compost cube" (it has doors ont he bottom to remove the compost and little venting holes all around). It works okay, but I think our pallets are still better.

I cannot wait to get my flowers and plants in next summer once our deck is complete!

:-)”

“for christmas I got a compost bin (plastic with doors at teh bottom) and have been putting stuff in it all the time. I have already been harvesting great compost for the garden :)”

“great to hear from ya Pekka, how you are doing well.”

“Thanks, sirpete. It was truly serendipitous that you had posted about the flower exchange. Not much else on TT for my attention, which is why I drifted away. But flowers, mmmm, keep me in touch with the earth. They don't care if you're having a bad day, they just bloom anyway if you've done your part.

One of the high points came early in the summer when the peony in the front yard was blooming. I was running the sprinkler and was sitting looking out the front window with my wife, admiring the way my plantings were doing. A hummingbird came and hovered over the peony bush, then set down on a leaf and took a bath in the water that had gathered in the tiny depression where the lobes met the leaf stem. The hummingbird was so light that the leaf didn't even move through the whole process. After it had splashed out the water, it took off and came back in a minute after the sprinkler had replenished its bath water, finishing its high vibration ablutions. So cool.”

“I cant believe I missed this event this year...I compleatly forgot! Or did I? I was in the buff but not gardening...http://wngd.org/
last edited: 9/13/05 7:18:03 PM”

“Oh great, now the firewall security guy is gonna get me for surfing pr0n. That's what I get for not reading more closely!

(just joking)”

“From one of the links from Spirit Coyote's website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4740403.stm

This is unbelieveable! The man is dead in a coffin, nobody will see him, and they can't grant him his wish? Geez o' petes!”

“anyone use plastic lumber or timbers in their garden.”

“ewker plastic timbers are not such a swift idea if you want organic food. I have seen it used for benches and for walkways and docks and they seem to last forever... way to go with recycled milk bottles.”

“ewker plastic timbers are not such a swift idea if you want organic food.
hiking
4:56:19 PM
9/14/05


why not? So far most articles I have read about bldg raised beds for veggies talk about using the plastic lumber over reg lumber. A lot of teh plastic lumber now days is made from recycled plastic.
If you want to use lumber the articles suggest cedar, redwood or another brand I can't think of. They do tell you not to use treated lumber.”

“ugh, I have to harvest all the tiny leaves my basil plant grew this year, and I'm putting it off, but the plant is starting to yellow now, so I have to get going.

Then my husband stops at an outside market while he's out and picks up two big bunches of basil at $2. a bunch, but also with smaller type leaves. I'll be picking leaves forever. I'll grind them in my small mini cuisinart with oil and freeze it in a plastic container like I usually do.”

“LH, harvest the whole stem and wash them, let them dry a little then just slide your hand down the stem from the top and all the leaves come off nice and neat. This works well for me.

Also Ewker, from what I've read about the "plastic" timbers, like trex, you're not supposed to keep them against the ground becasue they will leach and degrade.”

“I contacted a manufacturer of plastic/wood fiber decking (sorry I can't remember which) about using their product for a low retaining wall. They said constant soil contact would make it fall apart.

I know there are some 100% plastic products on the market - they may work better - I don't know.”

“From the Trex site:

http://www.trex.com/Universal/faq.asp#contact
Can Trex Wood-Polymer lumber be used in full ground contact? Is treating required?
Trex lumber is ideal for ground contact applications such as landscaping timbers and edging. Trex lumber is highly resistant to rot and insects, and absolutely no treating is required.”

“http://www.vegherb.com/parts.html

here is a site selling the plastic timbers for raised beds. I emailed them to get there response to what treebait and violin said”

“The Veranda decking (stocked at Home Depot) cannot be used http://www.verandadeck.com/faq/

I think that's who I called.”

“The woman who sold me my present house had made raised beds with those joints and pressure treated lumber, Ewk. They seemed to work pretty well (I took them out).”

“maybe I will do that, order the joints and get some cedar or redwood timbers.

The place next door to where I work has a bunch of pallets. There is my compost bin material”

“If you're not in a huge hurry, hold off ordering them Ewker. If I still have them, I'd be happy to mail them to you. I think there were eight. One might be cracked.”

“no hurry on my part. email is on profile. let me know the cost to send them and I will pay that”

“tree, I'll try that. I don't know about pureeing the main stem though. I'm not sure if it has the same exact taste as the leaf.

When I used to puree my basil in the past, I even took the tiny stems off the leaves. I think if you don't, you may have some crunch where you don't want crunch in your food??? I'm pureeing my basil more, so maybe I can leave the tiny leaf stems on, but I don't know. I'm feeling them now and they are pretty hard. I'd have to really puree the basil down to mush to make sure the stems were not hard. I have to think about this.

I have enough basil now to last me through to next summer and maybe more. I just wanted enough to get me through until next year's crop. I'll have to make some pesto dishes.

I was vacationing on Virgin Gorda in the B.V.I. and they had a pasta bar as part of lunch. The pasta (penne) was fantastic. It was a long time ago, but I think the chef added chicken broth to the pesto to dilute it and it tasted great.”

“You don't keep the stem, you strip the leaves off the stem.”

“treebait, Okay, but I'm not sure about keeping the tiny stem on the leaf either. It's pretty hard.”

“Ewker I am glad you and tree and violn worked out something you could use. I was away from my computer. My primary reason for recommending Not using it lies simply with organic certification standards, which are not likely to be needed for home applications. I just did some certification work for a friend and they were advised not to use plastic lumber in their greenhouse or bed construction.

So you know where my comment was coming from.

Yep stay away from treated wood. Leaches chemicals into the soil which then gets in the plants.

Happy planting
Go trek
www.mytrekkingpoles.com”

“Sorry Ewker - I don't have those joints anymore.”

“Violin, thats ok but thanks for checking”

“Well, the koi pond is roughed in now. I just need to get the concrete blocks HPM insists on putting around the outside perimeter (he wants a raised lip), finish pulling out the frickin' roots, and wait for the big brown truck to bring my pond liner in. Wahoo!
My sweet potato vines were supposedly a dwarf bush type; they've taken over a big chunk of the side yard with sprawling vines. I don't mind, I think they look good. It's really funny to look closely at them during the heat of the day; the outdoor cats crawl under the big leaves and vines for a snooze. My tomatoes officially bit the dust, but the pimiento and bell peppers are still going strong. The lemongrass is doing battle with the sweet potato vines for domination, and sprawling around are Mexican tarrgon runners gone wild.”

“Well, if you all define raised beds as constructed with timbers

my gardening is not raised beds, how about earthen ridges.”

“How about raised earthen ridges?

The key is the raised part.



go trek
www.mytrekkingpoles.com”

“I picked up a really nice 10' tall lavender crepe myrtle at 50% off this morning. I can't wait to plant it.”

“That sounds nice.”

“I'm just glad they have bred them to be hardy in my area. I drive down south during the summer and get envious.”

“Violin, southern NJ right ;)”

“nevermind.
last edited: 9/23/05 1:15:54 PM”

“There's breeders who have varieties they say are hardy into Michigan. They may die down to the ground every winter, but that means they never get too big.”

“I wonder if that is what I have growing on each side of my driveway. I have no clue as to names of all this stuff”

“Something like this Ewk?: http://www.marthas-web.com/images/crepe.JPG

I actually stopped at the nursery to see if they had a willow oak - which they didn't - when I spotted this crepe myrtle. I had been thinking of getting one.

You should have seen the guy's face when I told him I wanted them to load it into the trunk of my Camry.”

“yep that looks like it except lots of branchs coming from the ground instead of a trunk like a tree. One is taller than the other one and less bushy looking”