Gardening Gardening

Leaves high in tannin, such as oak, horseradish, and grape are great at keeping crisp, if you didn't want to use pickle crisp. I've never had luck canning them and find myself doing just refrigerator pickles for the best crunch. I did ferment some last just too, they have a superb
flavor

 

Ice bath prior to packing in jars, pour hot liquid over them, have your lids boiling, cap and process for ~5mins
http://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/threads/pickling-time.4801/#post-127779

 

Dried out enough yesterday to finish planting. I have some more carpet remnants for weed control - need to get those cut up.
My Rhododendron bloomed for the first time in 3yrs(might have pruned it too hard) and the first wild rose bloom.

 

Thank you so much! I think I processed mine too long the last 2 years, which, is precisely how long I've been canning/ pickling anything.

 

Almost $400 for 8 yards of dirt for Mrs loon making this old garden a little bigger?

Will post pics as I do it my way.

 

$50/yd for loam delivered is about on par from what I can remember in Maine from the 90's.
My garden consists of the shale that was here and 2-3yds of swamp compost, plus my annual adding of random compost, each year it gets more level and richer

 

Local guy here only wants $15/yard for topsoil, but $75 for delivery. He's about 2 miles away.
Maybe I should just take my trailer and a tarp over and let him dump a load in.

 

Better to try a yard that way & see if it's good soil.
What some call top soil & like last weeks cut wood is seasoned

 

It isn't light stuff 1 yd will squat a 1/2T pickup pretty hard. Dual axel trailer you might be ok

 

Small 5x10 utility trailer rated for 2000# including the trailer weight.
Might be a bit much.

 

yeah a 1YD bucket will destroy the trailer.
flat rate delivery of 75 - dumped and not shoveled by you is fair depending on the # of yards you're looking to get

 

Yep, but I didn't ask how much he could deliver. I know he's got some big dumps though.
If flat rate, up to his max would be the best deal, but I don't need that much.

 

Seriously consider time/workout involved with shoveling it off
I couldn't tell you how many guys used to come into the farm looking to save $3/yd to spend the whole day shoveling the stuff. On their last trip they'd state they'd have it delivered next time
I've got my bed roller on Ole Blue - crank and unload

 

We get mushroom dirt for about 20 a yard, and leaf gro for 34. Unloading is rather easy if you can get closer enough to the drop point, did 6 yards Saturday.

 

I started mixing peat moss into our garden a few years ago. We have a lot of clay in the soil and it's really helped to loosen it up.

 

Vermiculite would help too, But the peat does add organic matter.

 

I plan on adding vermiculite this year, if I can find it.

First year we grew potatoes, they did terribly in the hard soil. Last year, when I grew potatoes in a box with half and half top soil and peat, they were the best yield yet with good size and shape. I'll probably add vermiculite to those this year also.

 

Sand would be a good sub if vermiculite is unobtainable.

 

My garden is only like 8'x14', so after using landscape timbers to make a raised bed, I've added several bags of garden soil and better dirt to make the soil much better than the very heavy clay soil we have at my house. I'll need to add some liquid fertilizer as I didn't get manure on it like I wanted to last fall.

 

I saw the potato boxes in one of your pics.
Do you plant and then fill as they grow?
All the Youtube videos show lots of mixed results with them