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Big storm rolled through last night and in 30 minutes tore to shreds half my parsley and the tops of some of my tomatoes (one of which was finally starting to recover after my... ahem, frost-pruning technique). My corn, now that it's nice and tall, seems to have weathered the whole thing remarkably despite my fears for it. Of course it's stinking hot here. Yesterday was high-20s and thunderstorms with a side of flash flooding, today was bone-dry and 32. And the heat-wave doesn't start until tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if my surviving tomatoes develop abs after all this workout.
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Nov 29, 2012 11:44
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Aaronicon posted:Big storm rolled through last night and in 30 minutes tore to shreds half my parsley and the tops of some of my tomatoes (one of which was finally starting to recover after my... ahem, frost-pruning technique). My corn, now that it's nice and tall, seems to have weathered the whole thing remarkably despite my fears for it. Keep an eye on the temperatures. If it starts to get into the mid-to-high 30s, your tomatoes might need afternoon shade. Tomato pollen fries at high temperatures. Congratulations on the corn! I am a lazy wimp and never bothered with corn. It's notoriously difficult to grow in my area, plus you only get one or two ears per plant. Too much work, not enough pay off. How many plants do you have growing? Next year, I want to talk the family into growing quinoa or amaranth instead.
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Nov 29, 2012 13:02
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I need some suggestions. I am lazy and I own a house with a size-able yard. I have already planted a few fruit trees and a few artichoke plants. Tomatoes and peppers I have to plant every year, and I'm looking to eat delicious things with minimal work. A list I have made so far: Rosemary Thyme Sage Asparagus What else can I plant that will stay around for years to come?
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Feb 7, 2013 00:08
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Fozzy The Bear posted:I need some suggestions. I am lazy and I own a house with a size-able yard. I have already planted a few fruit trees and a few artichoke plants. Tomatoes and peppers I have to plant every year, and I'm looking to eat delicious things with minimal work. Mint, but be careful it can take over a garden/yard. Some of the basics are pretty easy an not so labor intensive. My family always grows "salad fixins" with a minimal amount of work. A few different types of lettuce as well as things like tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots, radishes, spinach as well as jalapenos. If you have room, Corn is pretty easy as well.
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Feb 7, 2013 00:55
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Fozzy, you could sink a pot into the ground with the rim 1" or so above and plant mint in that. It spreads by runners and is horribly invasive. I planted some on my barren weed-infested tree-shaded rocky, clay-ey hillside figuring the conditions would keep it in check (and yet hoping it would grow anyway because mint lawn? HELL YEAH). It's not lush, but it sure is spreading! In the front yard I have a thriving lemon balm (a mint relative) which is also attempting to take over the sidewalk and the yard. I have to keep yanking runners and cutting it back. I've found baby plants on the other side of 3' of solid concrete walkway. It's a good thing I love lemon balm in my tea. Here's my question, guys! Is it too early in zone 7b to start seeds indoors? I NEED GREEN. We've had a really ridiculous January (temps fluctuated between -4* and 60* F (that's -20 - 16 C for you metric users)) which got my hopes up and then dashed them against the bitter icy wind, and February looks like snow, snow, and more snow. I'm annoyed and I want spring but last year I started things like peas too early, they got leggy under the grow light and then failed when I set them out. So I don't want to repeat that mistake. I was thinking though that broccoli and my melon seeds would be ok, right? I want to give the melons a head start, hoping for earlier fruit that way... In other news I'm trying houseplants again despite past experiences with cats chewing them up. We sell houseplants at work and a spider plant, wandering jew (spiderwort) and jade all dropped bits on the floor at various points. My head cashier helpfully gave them all to me to take home and root and I stuck them in little pots on the windowsill with some nice organic potting mix. They seem to be happy hanging out next to my cactus (the only plant the cats have yet to chew). And because I'm a hopeless optimist I took the pit out of my last avocado and am attempting to root that, too... plus a mango seed someone handed me today! WOOO! I don't hold out any hope of getting fruit off either of them if they even bother sprouting, especially given how long avocado trees take to mature. Still, it's gardening practice!
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Feb 7, 2013 02:22
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Fozzy The Bear posted:What else can I plant that will stay around for years to come? Just FYI, we have a more active veggie gardening thread over in DIY. What you're looking for are called perennials (versus the typical veggie which is annual) OR an open-pollinated annual that easily goes to seed. Most gardens that have planted OP tomatoes end up with volunteer tomato plants popping up all over since you inevitably bump a tomato off the plant while picking the previous year. Some other things to consider: blueberries and other berry shrubs or even brambles like raspberry or thornless blackberry, chives, strawberry. Potatoes can be perennial if you miss a few intentionally when harvesting. You can take a look here for more ideas based on your specific climate: http://perennialvegetables.org/ If you want to get really far-out you can look up "food forests"
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Feb 7, 2013 03:30
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So is sage supposed to die down to the ground during the winter? I have a potted sage plant in my front yard, and recently I noticed that it was still alive, and growing, looking pretty healthy... even though we've had horrible icy weather and storms and below-freezing weeks on end. It's even developing woody stems. I'm certainly not complaining, but seeing as all my other herbs have been pains in the rear end to keep healthy and growing, I'm surprised as all gently caress.
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Feb 7, 2013 03:33
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Faerunner posted:Fozzy, you could sink a pot into the ground with the rim 1" or so above and plant mint in that. It spreads by runners and is horribly invasive. Keeping in mind the laziness. I have left mint along in a pot for a week or two over spring, and the pot was a good 30cm off the ground, and the mint had grown up over the lip, down the side and was just planting itself in the ground outside. I have also left the pot alone for too long and had the mint grow out from the drainage holes, and establish itself that way.
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Feb 7, 2013 03:42
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Faerunner posted:It spreads by runners and is horribly invasive. I too have learned that particular lesson. Planted some in the corner of the garden and remembering it only months later, was greeted with a veritable forest of mintyness. Luckily it was far enough away from everything else not to be a problem. I believe the solution shall be to begin consuming mojitos; stopping only when I have run out of mint. Or died of alcohol poisoning...
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Feb 7, 2013 09:08
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I grow it in a big pot, the stuff is a pest if you plant it in the garden. Mint and horseradish, the only two things I grow.
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Feb 7, 2013 17:44
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One of my friends bought a house and didn't really inspect the back yard too closely...about a third of it is entirely spearmint plants, no grass. She doesn't even really like mint. I wished her luck eradicating it, but I'm not too keen on her chances. I did offer to loan her my little wire exercise pen so she could let her guinea pig run around out there, the little thing absolutely loves mint and would be in tiny piggy heaven.
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Feb 7, 2013 21:29
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RazorBunny posted:One of my friends bought a house and didn't really inspect the back yard too closely...about a third of it is entirely spearmint plants, no grass. She doesn't even really like mint. I wished her luck eradicating it, but I'm not too keen on her chances. The mental image of her guinea pig running around in piggy heaven made me smile, but if she's really looking for a solution, she may want to try to solarize her garden. It would put it out of commission for a 6-8 weeks of the hottest part of the summer, but would probably get rid of the problem. Basically, you weed the garden, spray it with water, cover it with a sheet of plastic, then let the sun bake the problems away. Here's an article that talks about it in the context of getting rid of disease, but it's the same process to get rid of weeds. http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=565 But seriously, the guinea pig is the best option, especially if she does a webcam of it on ustream.
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Feb 8, 2013 04:07
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Solarizing only works if you're in an area that gets hot enough. They talk about that further down in the linked article. Sheet mulching is probably worth trying since it's effective against most types of weeds. Water, cover with cardboard, newspaper or kraft paper, then layer on as much compost as you can afford and plenty of mulch like straw or leaves.
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Feb 8, 2013 04:22
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I grow a bit, but root knot nematodes and fruit fly are a PITA. In winter I grow spinach, silverbeet, broccoli and pak choi. In summer I grow heaps of hot chillies, try at tomatoes - I'm not very good at them - tomatoes that is, I'm a chilli growing fiend. Still trying to suss out cucumber, beans and zuchinni. Year round I grow parsley, coriander, dill, rosemary. thyme, mint. Still need to expand/get better at other herbs. Anyway, the main reason for posting is I have a heap of yellow 7 pot chillies (cap chinense), and a heap of aji pineapples(cap baccatum). I suck at growing annuums though, so no jalapenos or serranos (cap annuum). Annuums too easily killed by pests for me. Anyway, has anyone tried nosmoking's sauce on the wiki? http://www.goonswithspoons.com/Mango_Habanero_Hot_Sauce Thinking of doing it with the yellow 7 pots as I have soo much of them. It's not that big of a difference between heat levels, I mean habs have about 300k SHU and yellow 7 pots about 700k, but the yellow 7s are sweeter and fruitier. I'll probably only do about 250 grams, whatever that is in moon units...
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Feb 12, 2013 19:37
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Does anyone know some good resources for container-only gardening for super-beginners? I want to start growing some edibles. Things I'm interested in growing are herbs (basil, mint, parsley, cilantro, thyme, rosemary), veggies (especially tomatoes, bell peppers, beets, turnips, maybe zucchini or eggplant but I love most veg and am open to anything) and maybe some strawberries or blueberries. Pointers toward what supplies (size containers, etc) would be needed or what edible plants are happy in containers would be very appreciated. In terms of climate, I'm on the Texas Gulf Coast. My parents kept a garden but we lived in the Northeast and actually had a yard, so in addition to never having container gardened before, I also have no idea what the growing seasons down here are. Areas I have access to are: Outside porch-Will be hot and humid all summer long. Plants would be at the mercy of grackles/gulls and stray cats. Partial sun (in the morning). Inside porch-Not temperature controlled, so will likely be even hotter than outside, same sun conditions as outside porch Study-Inside, temperature controlled (we keep it between 68 and 75), inside cats might be interested in munching, partial sun (evening)
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Feb 18, 2013 06:14
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I have an AeroGarden 7 and am about 14 days into my first grow. I used the Gourmet Herbs starter kit that came with the garden. Five of the pods have sprouted and are almost up past the pod label. Two of the pods (Dill and Mint) sprouted something that looks like a gray ball of fuzz. Would I be correct in assuming the fuzz is some kind of mold and I should toss the pods and replace them? Has anyone else ever had this problem?
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Feb 20, 2013 16:34
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I get white fuzz mold in my soil blocks every year regardless of what potting medium or seeds I use. When I used pods the fuzz was rampant on the top and killed the seedlings. Last year I made soil blocks from my own potting soil mix and the fuzz didn't spread much and the seedlings were mostly fine except I killed some from underwatering (the mold however was unaffected by not being watered, ha!). I have given up on not getting mold because it likes warm damp places and so do seeds. You can't kill the mold without harming the seedlings, at least in my experience, because anything that will harm fungi is also likely to harm itty bitty sprouts. If the seeds haven't sprouted yet and the mold's taking over, you can and probably should replace the pods and re-start. Arkham Angel, your best bet is probably the porches because the study won't get enough light for veggies. (Does anywhere get over 6 hours of light a day? If so, and if you can supply it with a fan to keep airflow for coolness and enough water, you have a great spot) If you can name a plant there's probably a container version of it. You can even grow citrus fruit in containers! Peppers and tomatoes like the heat (as long as it doesn't get too hot - many tomatoes won't set blossoms in extreme temperatures) and are readily available in all sizes and shapes for containers big and small. As far as I know most herbs don't give a poo poo and will grow pretty much anywhere although a few are divas (I think rosemary is one). Basically when you pick containers you want something you can lift or roll if it needs to be moved (Huge clay pots might as well be permanent fixtures once full of wet soil), with a drainage hole or something easy to drill holes in, deep enough for the roots of your plant and/or wide enough for multiple plants to be spaced appropriately. When in doubt, use bigger containers. Use saucers under them. Don't water so much that the saucer overflows. Fiberglass is awesome for being lightweight, coming in millions of decorative options and being easy to punch holes in when you need drainage, but check a couple of container gardening blogs and you will see that people will use anything deep enough for soil, especially for ornamental plantings. A few quick links (I cheated and googled "container gardening Texas" for some of these): Mother Earth News - Growing Tomatoes This is a link collection of tomato-growing articles. Mother Earth News has ALL of its archives up online and many, many gardening articles. You can probably find a million container-gardening ideas there, too. A comprehensive list of Perennial Herbs. Since you're in an area where you can theoretically grow such things year round you can really take advantage of some of the more frost-sensitive herbs on this list. This is a PDF from Texas A&M on veggie gardening in containers. Sounds right up your alley. Container Garden Tips and other such info. Basic veggie lists, etc. Lots of pretty garden porn. This one's mostly flowers but might be helpful if you want ornamentals or perennials. Some of them have medicinal or culinary uses. It's "central Texas", not sure what that covers geographically but it will get you started. Plus the ever-helpful Square Foot Gardening. You can space your plants with this and put lots of things together in your pots! In other news my broccoli seedlings are sprouting and way too leggy already, my 4-year-old bell pepper seeds are slowly germinating (Ohgodspleaseletthemsurvive) and I'm waiting halfheartedly for the similarly old tomato seeds to germinate and the seedlings to show their little green heads.  There is still snow on the ground and in the weather forecast but the crocuses I planted in the fall are coming up already! I'm so excited!
Faerunner fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Feb 20, 2013 |
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Feb 20, 2013 20:56
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Faerunner posted:I get white fuzz mold in my soil blocks every year regardless of what potting medium or seeds I use. When I used pods the fuzz was rampant on the top and killed the seedlings. Last year I made soil blocks from my own potting soil mix and the fuzz didn't spread much and the seedlings were mostly fine except I killed some from underwatering (the mold however was unaffected by not being watered, ha!). I have given up on not getting mold because it likes warm damp places and so do seeds. You can't kill the mold without harming the seedlings, at least in my experience, because anything that will harm fungi is also likely to harm itty bitty sprouts. If the seeds haven't sprouted yet and the mold's taking over, you can and probably should replace the pods and re-start. Thank you so much! Those links look super helpful, especially the one from A&M. I am curious as to what comprises 'too hot' for tomatoes and peppers, though. Summer is conistantly 95-100 with high humidity here. Edit: Oh, and the porch is facing directly east so it basically gets full sun til afternoon. Arkham Angel fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Feb 21, 2013 |
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Feb 21, 2013 00:32
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Arkham Angel posted:Thank you so much! Those links look super helpful, especially the one from A&M. I am curious as to what comprises 'too hot' for tomatoes and peppers, though. Summer is conistantly 95-100 with high humidity here. Peppers like it warmer than tomatoes, but I couldn't say exactly how much more. I went to a talk on growing tomatoes last year and the handout had this chart: quote:Fruit set temperature: Min 55-56, Ideal 59-68, Max 72 So 95-100 is pushing it but as long as you get fruit set before the temperatures get too high then you've got a chance. Be careful not to overwater when it gets really hot because plants will wilt to protect themselves. If they aren't wilting the next morning then everything is fine. Testing the moisture to about 2" deep with your finger is the best guide for watering.
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Feb 21, 2013 07:05
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Faerunner posted:I get white fuzz mold in my soil blocks every year regardless of what potting medium or seeds I use. When I used pods the fuzz was rampant on the top and killed the seedlings. Last year I made soil blocks from my own potting soil mix and the fuzz didn't spread much and the seedlings were mostly fine except I killed some from underwatering (the mold however was unaffected by not being watered, ha!). I have given up on not getting mold because it likes warm damp places and so do seeds. You can't kill the mold without harming the seedlings, at least in my experience, because anything that will harm fungi is also likely to harm itty bitty sprouts. If the seeds haven't sprouted yet and the mold's taking over, you can and probably should replace the pods and re-start. The rest of the sprouts are doing fine, it's just the dill and mint. I'm giving them a few more days to see if the seedlings emerge from the fuzz or not. If they don't, I'll compost those two and order some more pods. Would I be correct in assuming that seed pods have an indefinite shelf life?
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Feb 21, 2013 12:54
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Martello posted:Would I be correct in assuming that seed pods have an indefinite shelf life? No, it depends on the seed and how they are stored. The cooler and dryer you can keep them the better. I think the best you will probably see for shelf life is about 5 years or so, usually less for most seed.
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Feb 21, 2013 13:05
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Martello posted:The rest of the sprouts are doing fine, it's just the dill and mint. I'm giving them a few more days to see if the seedlings emerge from the fuzz or not. If they don't, I'll compost those two and order some more pods. Would I be correct in assuming that seed pods have an indefinite shelf life? I've had trouble with Aerogarden seeds in the past. Contact them to let them know that the pods failed. I just got four new seed pods from them because three of my seven pods failed. In my contact with them, they said to store the seed pods in a cool, dry place. She even recommended storing them in a refrigerator if there is a substantial lag between purchase and use. Their customer service is quite good and they stick by their guarantee.
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Feb 21, 2013 13:13
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I just bought a place and it has a 5'x4' raised bed built into the yard. The bed is full of dead weeds and stuff and generally hasn't been attended to for a year or more. It's northeast-facing and gets a lot of shade; I'm in Zone 7a. I'd like to make a nice low-maintenance herb garden of mostly culinary herbs, here's what I'm thinking for starters:
I also have some garlic growing in a pot, in case it hasn't been mentioned before, garlic is super easy and I find that it's rewarding as hell to pull a whole head of garlic out of a pot in the summer.
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Mar 5, 2013 18:51
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demozthenes posted:Any other suggestions for hardy culinary or medicinal herbs, preferably perennials or especially hardy plants? Anything that shouldn't be in a shady raised bed or should be potted and stuck in full sunlight instead? Mint should be in a pot that is not in contact with any other soil. It will spread through the drain holes and you'll never get rid of it. Most herbs prefer full sun but as long as you can get at least 6 hours of direct sun they should survive. I think with the Basil especially you're going to have a hard time in shade. Have you grown these herbs before to have an idea of how fast they grow and how much you'll need to plant? One sage plant should be plenty but oregano is a slow grower. Chives will be perennial, sprouting back up in the Spring and catnip will reseed itself if you let it go to seed. There are tons of options for culinary herbs, it just depends on what you like. Some others to consider: marjoram, thyme, tarragon, summer and/or winter savory, bay, cilantro (and coriander from the seeds), lemon balm, lemon verbena, parsley.
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Mar 5, 2013 19:29
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Today I found a million little fragrant blue violets in my yard so I candied them! I had some castor sugar and egg white left so I candied the remaining leaves of spearmint I had as well. These things are ridiculously fragrant and delicious. They keep indefinitely in the freezer; I see them hanging about for a few months to top cupcakes or lemon shortbread later in the year. They are much prettier and purple in person.  
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Mar 6, 2013 07:15
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I have a question regarding an unidentified alien plant that somehow entered my square meter garden. I built a 1m x 1m gardening box and planted 4 varieties of tomato, white radishes, white lettuce, string beans, shallots (never sprouted), chives (also never sprouted), carrots (only 2 sprouted). The box is on the rooftop of a 12 story building, where it gets a good amount of sun and pretty safe from birds. I planted San Marzano, Purple Cherokee, Black Krim and Black Sea Man tomatoes in four squares that border one of the sides of the box. In these squares, some some weird plants have appeared. I have no idea how they got there as I have not used any of the surrounding soil, all the soil was store bought. Can anyone identify these plants? Are they weeds? Will they interfere with my tomatoes? Edit: thanks Cpn, I'll try the gardening forum. It definitely could be a weed as it has grown in several of the little squares, including some that had nothing planted. TerryLennox fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Apr 20, 2013 |
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Apr 19, 2013 19:01
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TerryLennox posted:I have a question regarding an unidentified alien plant that somehow entered my square meter garden. Weeds are poop, plants out of place. Things growing where you didn't plant them and don't want them. It's not impossible for store-bought soil to have weed seeds in it as it can take a fairly high temperature to kill them off. If it included compost and the inputs to the compost pile weren't screened carefully for weeds gone to seed and the pile didn't get hot enough because it was poorly managed, then you get weed seeds in your soil. Weeds are going to happen, it's just a fact of life. It just sucks when you try to start a new garden with weed seeds already in the soil. It's very unlikely that they will interfere with anything else growing there, assuming you pull them out. That big one is on it's way to making more seeds so you definitely want to get it out before they are spread over the rest of your garden. I can't tell what it actually is but most likely it's a common weed in your area, wherever that is. You might have more luck posting it over in the gardening thread over in DIY: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3085672
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Apr 19, 2013 22:33
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In general you want to remove any plant that isn't something you specifically planted there or that you want for a particular purpose. Even if it's a useful plant, it's competing for resources with whatever you planted there deliberately. If you set up a little compost heap, you can tear those sorts of things out without feeling too bad about being wasteful, if that's something that bugs you.
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Apr 21, 2013 23:27
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alright, I'm a little late to the party. possible moving woes compounded with generally being busy pushed my growing schedule from feb/march to ok it's almost the middle of may. I have a couple large (8'x1'x2') planter boxes that get a lot of sun. one has some dead tomato bushes, some thriving oregano, some cat poo poo from where my cats have dug up one side of it. the other has a giant 8ft dead basil plant, some jalapenoes left over from last year (still drying/living/??), a dead tomato plant, a couple of chives that have spontaneously popped up, some tarragon that sprouted up in the last 4-5 weeks (no idea). anyways, so I have a couple of questions.
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May 3, 2013 10:17
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I'm in mindphlux's boat. We just moved into a house in the country, zone 5a, can I still put in some raspberry bushes now in May just to get them established? I've given up any hope for clearing a garden in time and will be container-ing it on my deck for the first year. ...but I'm clearing one motherfucker of a patch somewhere on my back acres for next year. edit: I dunno about the rest of your crap, but: mindphlux posted:[*] I bought a ton of expensive 'potted plant' soil last year to make sure my plants turned out well. now it's just kind of dusty lifeless poo poo - I can reenrich it with compost/organic material right? or is that somehow bad in a container garden scenario? first year I tossed it all, but it seemed like a horrible waste. I'd like to keep the existing soil but fix it up, if that's at all possible... Yah. That's fine. Keep it. Even if you plant stuff in your native soil, mix in some of that 'good stuff' with it. It doesn't go bad per say, and while it will presumably lose some of its chemically enhanced status, most of what you're noticing is water loss from over priced miracle grow soil bags. It's still good soil and stuff, just...dry and old. RE-EDIT: Unless you've got bags of miracle grow or whatever soil you decided to buy at some store, kept it in your garage, and now you open the bag and it's a solid white mass of roots and fungus. Don't keep that and stop loving up. By the way - any gardening goons have any advice for small land clearance by burning, prairie planting or how to turn a non-cared for plot into a veg garden? I see that there. fucked around with this message at 05:33 on May 18, 2013 |
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May 18, 2013 02:51
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I see that there. posted:
How bad is the land? You could mow it, put down a layer of cardboard, and then build a raised bed on top. I was skeptical at first because I had only ever done flat earth gardening, but raised beds are pretty darn awesome. You may also want to check out "All New Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. It has great hints for growing in limited space.
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May 18, 2013 14:45
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some books I read said enriching existing soil was mostly ok, just don't plant tomatoes in soil that had tomatoes and some other caveats. naturally, I ignored this advice. dug up all my old soil, tossed out big root clumps, and mixed it all together in a couple big bins with about 30% BLACK GOLD COMPOSTED COW MANURE. planted tomatoes in it because gently caress the man holdin me down. I've also planted some seeds and some potted plants from a store, everything seems to be doing really well. I bought a PH test kit to see what's up with my old soil, but haven't used it yet. will sprinkle lime / sulphur / whatever on top to adjust PH once I get around to it I guess. hope this works!  edit : was really nice money wise this year too. what was a $120-150 endeavour of lake pebbles, overpriced potting soil, seeds, planters, wood, etc was this year about a $35 couple of bags of compost and plants. I have about as much planted as last year right now, and we'll actually probably come out ahead food wise. got some serious production of zucchini, peppers, herbs and tomatoes last year - $70-100 worth for sure. mindphlux fucked around with this message at 22:26 on May 18, 2013 |
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May 18, 2013 22:21
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luloo123 posted:How bad is the land? You could mow it, put down a layer of cardboard, and then build a raised bed on top. I was skeptical at first because I had only ever done flat earth gardening, but raised beds are pretty darn awesome. I built an 8x8, 8 inch high raised bed at my last duplex that was nice. I think this is too big for something like that, I'm looking at like a 75x75 patch or more. The land is currently what I would call 'overgrown'. My backyard has (courtesy of the previous owners) sections of lawn that were allowed to run wild, so it's a mix of native Wisconsin prairie and 'junk' interspersed with trees and wide paths of 'normal' grass. I want to clear a nice, not too grown over rectangle of it, I've just never done controlled burning and stuff. I think I might just run the john deere over it and then till it, I guess. edit: vvv Thank you. Wasn't aware of that discussion, and yes, I'd be heavy-duty rototilling it at a minimum after clearance, but no I don't need a tractor for a large garden. vvv I see that there. fucked around with this message at 04:30 on May 19, 2013 |
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May 19, 2013 02:56
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I see that there. posted:I built an 8x8, 8 inch high raised bed at my last duplex that was nice. I think your best bet would be to become best friends with somebody nearby who might have a tractor or something. You're going to need something heavy duty to break up untilled and overgrown soil, unless you want to be at it for weeks/months with smaller equipment. And that's even after clearing out the scrub brush, small trees, big rocks, etc. If you're lucky, somebody will have the various attachments, like a sifting screen that will collect up the bigger rocks and roots. Also, I think this thread would be more your speed: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3085672. Drop some pictures in there and you'll get all sorts of good advice. Probably.
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May 19, 2013 03:41
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I see that there. posted:I built an 8x8, 8 inch high raised bed at my last duplex that was nice. Sheet mulching with cardboard and layers of organic materials (leaves, straw, grass clippings, wood chips, compost, manure, etc) is really the best way to do this without using heavy equipment. You could always take a slower approach and sheet mulch the larger area over a period of several years, doing a little more each year.
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May 19, 2013 07:52
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My community farm group sheet-mulched an entire baseball field's worth of garden beds and it worked out great. Turned them from hard-packed clay into slightly lighter, workable clay mix in about two years... five years on the beds look pretty good and we don't have to till, although we do use a broadfork to loosen things up. Every year we add more compost to the beds and sheet mulch the aisles again with cardboard and wood chips, pulling any really persistent weeds in the pathways as we go. Pick up a ton of used boxes from your local grocery store or other large retailer (whoever will let you have them) and lay 'em down! Bonus: Worms loooooooove cardboard and will do some of the tilling for you. So guys: I have a compost heap. It's easy to reach from the kitchen door although it's not terribly convenient to my garden (small city lot - garden out front, compost in back). I'd like to contain it somehow for easier turning and faster decomposition and am considering a black plastic trash can because buying a plastic box labeled "composter" seems ridiculous. Other than drilling drainage holes, any advice on turning a trash can into a non-stinky composting machine?
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May 21, 2013 03:38
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Plastic composters are a little more complicated than your average trash bin, but my recommendation would be to take the bottom out entirely (so you don't have to actually dump it out when it's full), and to make sure the plastic in your trash bin isn't going to leach into the compost. You might want to check your local classifieds or freecycles or whatever - someone with money to burn might have thought composting would be a great idea but didn't make it out of the honeymoon phase. You might be able to get a dedicated composter that way. Also, when I was a kid and the cost of those composters was really prohibitive? Dad made a wooden composter. Basically a big wood bin made out of old pallet wood. Across the middle he put some spaced slats to make two compartments, and we'd fill one side at a time and then switch over. Latches on the lids to keep out wildlife. As the worms finish with one side they move over to the other side through the spaces in the slats. Something like that would be able to be built to exactly the size that works for you. Again though, you'd want to check whether or not the wood's been treated with something and if so, what it might do to the resulting compost.
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May 21, 2013 03:59
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Faerunner posted:Other than drilling drainage holes, any advice on turning a trash can into a non-stinky composting machine? I want to build a tumbling composter one day, because they speed the whole process up and are fairly easy. 2 lengths of wood (2*4 is fine) in an x shape at each end of the barrel for support. Drill two holes in the middle of the top and the bottom, and reinforce with another smaller X of wood, then shove a piece of dowel through both the holes, and cradle them in the larger X / supports. That will give you a barrel that turns easily, and all you have to do then is cut out a hole to put scraps in through, and add some hinges to that and you are done.
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May 21, 2013 04:57
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Faerunner posted:My community farm group sheet-mulched an entire baseball field's worth of garden beds and it worked out great. Turned them from hard-packed clay into slightly lighter, workable clay mix in about two years... five years on the beds look pretty good and we don't have to till, although we do use a broadfork to loosen things up. Every year we add more compost to the beds and sheet mulch the aisles again with cardboard and wood chips, pulling any really persistent weeds in the pathways as we go. Pick up a ton of used boxes from your local grocery store or other large retailer (whoever will let you have them) and lay 'em down! Bonus: Worms loooooooove cardboard and will do some of the tilling for you. That's great to hear about the sheet mulch. Do you mind sharing where/what your farm group is? Assuming you don't put meat, oil, dairy, fish guts into your compost then the only way it gets stinky is when the pile is really out of balance on greens, browns, water or air. I've seen people make their own rotating bins by building a simple frame with some rollerblade or skateboard wheels mounted on it to act as bearings. You can almost always find them cheap at Goodwill or yard sales.
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May 21, 2013 07:20
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| # ? Jun 8, 2024 19:46 |
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Yeah, my pile as-is isn't stinky so much as it's just a terribly slow and somewhat dry pile, but I've tossed things in it before that take a looooong time to break down and I've gotten some nasty whiffs when turning it (I bury those again with non-smelly material). It's also not a hot compost, which means I am afraid to toss in a lot of weeds (they'll just take root and grow and I'll be spreading their seeds all over my garden again). I'm hoping that an enclosure helps to keep the pile compact, makes it look nicer and encourages a faster breakdown. I like the pallet idea and know where to get some but to fit in the space I have I'd need to downsize the frame. That's why I was considering a trash can. I could slice the bottom off one easily enough. I haven't seen anything good on the local freecycle lately (but you never know!). Cpt. Wacky, the community farm is in Pittsburgh - it's called Ballfield Farm. It's just a group of enthusiastic people who, with guidance from a local nonprofit, are reclaiming an abandoned baseball field. The lot is still technically city-owned but we have permission to do a lot of stuff including planting trees and shrubs, building small structures and harvesting the food for local restaurants or food banks (or ourselves). I'm totally enamored of it as a place to experiment with things like weird squash varieties and pawpaw trees and pallet compost bins, which we had tons of last year before we bulldozed it all into a massive pile.
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May 22, 2013 03:35
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