Just chiming in. Pulled the onions into the cellar tonight. Been under the deck, tented by tarp, since July. I didn't want to chance it with tonight's weather. Only a half dozen or so gone bad
A question for you gardening expert, what to do with my ashes? I cleaned up my cutting area and added the shaving to my garden today. Any benefit to empting my ash bucket in the garden before I till it for the winter and continuing to add during the winter? I have heard that ashes are high in acid and not to put them in the garden. My soil is very clayey and trying to break the clay down. Not really a first time gardener, but first garden in many years and am getting serious.
They're usually alkaline, so you don't want them on acid loving plants like blueberries or rhododendrons. I've read the nutrient levels are a bit low, like 0-1-1 or so, so fairly safe to use.
Thanks for the reply. I bought a tiller attachment for my Mini-Steer this year and put in a 15' x 120' garden this year. I learned a lot. One thing is, I will put the rows 5' a part so I can run the tiller between them. Use the tiller attachment for my Kombi to cultivate closer. I am not at all limited to space. The space was a pasture for 20 years so weeds were a problem. I am going to till it under soon and add what I have over the winter. I plan on tilling very early spring and then burn the early weeds down with Round-Up before my final tilling before planting. My thought is that this should help with weed control. Also I plan on researching Preen to apply after planting. Weed control, as expected, was a big problem this year.
Are they weeds flame-weeding could take out quicker ? RoundUp sometimes persists longer than claimed and Preen gets expensive. They have their place though.
Honestly, tilling is the worst thing you can do to a garden, short of applying synthetic chemicals (to your food). When you till, you break up (kill) all the beneficial microbes, etc. that breathe life into your soil. Every time you till, you're disrupting weed seeds from down deep, they germinate and you get more weeds. Tilling also compacts your soil, which leads to more tilling, chemicals, etc. Horrible (and expensive) downward spiral to be caught in. Try the deep mulch method. Essentially, you put as much organic material in/on your garden as you can get. Food scraps, wood chips, straw, manure, leaves, whatever. These will breakdown and feed the soil, and your food. After you plant your veggies, cover the bare ground with at least 4" of mulch, straw or wood chips. When you see weeds, pull them. Yes, it sucks the first year, but keep on it. The subsequent years will be less weedy, and the ones that come will be easy to pull (non-compacted soil). Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Also, the use of cover crops in the early spring and/or fall will aid in weed suppression and soil enrichment. Plant them, let them grow and "chop & drop" them. Peas are good, as they fix nitrogen into the soil. Annual grasses (winter rye, vetch, etc.) are also good. I actually grow plants specifically to use as mulch/fertilizer for my gardens. There have been zero chemicals in my yard for 5 years, and honestly, it looks better than ever. I've also noticed an increase in wildlife, insects, etc. I haven't had any problems with disease or infestations either. My son walks through our gardens and immediately eats whatever he picks. No worries about residual chemicals. I'm not a tree-hugging hippie. I'm just trying to provide the most nutritious food for my family with the least amount of inputs. Instead of fighting nature, use it to your advantage. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Just my experience here... for a while I added the wood shavings from our chicken coup to my garden. My wife prefers the low dust shavings bought from tractor supply co. in compact bags. I guess there wasn’t enough time for them to break down and it had a very negative affect on the soil and my gardens production. I have since slowed way down, so be cautious of how much you add. I do also add several buckets of ash spread out evenly through out the burning season, which has not affected it negatively. I’m no soil expert, just what I’ve observed.
I've always wanted to, excited to see how it goes for you. Pics? I couldn't keep the outdoor compost bin moist so I did not try the worms.
I just made 2 foot square boxes out of 8 foot 2x4s and stacked them. Put some legs on the bottom box and some plastic sheeting on the bottom to catch any flow of water. The upper boxes have 1/4 inch mesh on the bottom. When one level is full I'll start putting the food in the top most box and the worms should migrate up to it through the screen. Then I can take the castings/compost from that box and then put it on top and just repeat.
Not to rub it in too hard... I was able to mow back a patch and till/dig out a pot for some asparagus. Don't ask me why I've put off planting a patch for the past 12yrs, but its happening this week!
I've been missing a plant I gave away back in 2009 after caring for my entire inside "jungle" when watering all of them became too difficult. It's this as well as an Angel Wing spotted Begonia. I found a plant website that will ship with heat packs................... I am down to the minimum since then, I'm ready to add a couple more. Oh Boy! Unless any of you have cuttings you're willing to sell? On another note basod , we should have ~ 20 x 20 ft patch of lawn to mow in June, and I am jealous.
Common plant name is "Swiss Cheese Plant" (yes, healthy happy ones get the holes). From the philodendron family. Many times it's mistakenly called a split leaf pothos, but the split leaf is huge, this is smaller. I've seen two different latin names and I cannot differentiate between the two.... The Begonia looks like
Thanks Tim . Hope this helps clear up the confusion . Split leaf Philodendron Philodendron pandiuriforme Pothos Epipremnum aureum Swiss cheese plant Monstera deliciosa All are closely related Here's a link to a web site with pics that explains the differences between all 3 . /search?source=hp&ei=XsKQWuycJ5DWzgKlzp3ABg&q=swiss+cheese+plant&oq=swiss+cheese+&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0i131k1j0l2j0i131k1j0l6.4421.15432.0.20733.13.13.0.0.0.0.102.909.12j1.13.0....0...1.1.6
