Gardening 101: Tips, Tricks and So Much More

www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au...

Some really good things for your garden on this site as well.

Originally posted by crimvelvet
reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn

 

It has been a while since I had a garden. I have been raising livestock instead. (building barns, the house, putting in fence and more fence and more fence...)

Here are some suggestions. Consider fruit trees and bushes when you landscape. I put in a beautiful eatable crab tree, Jan and Jill?? bush pie cherries, everbearing raspberries, Kiwis, my blueberries and strawberries. (All from eatable landscaping)

Pick the easy care no spray fruit. I have dealt with apples, pears and peaches - you do not want to go there. If you miss the twelve hour window for spraying PLUM CURCULIO you will lose your WHOLE crop!

Next do not forget the herbs. Often if you grow herbs you can trade them for all the tomatoes, zucinni... you want from your neighbors.

Third PLAN your garden. If you want to plant this year use containers but take the time to PLAN!

For example: I have the most beautiful pile of composted manure. It is a combination of sheep, goat, cow, chicken and horse. Unfortunately it will be weedy. So it is worth it for me to "sterilize" it by moving it into the full sun and placing a black tarp over the whole pile. Include a registering thermometer and make sure I kill all those weed seeds now instead of pulling them later.

Next - What about a raised bed? If you have pure sand or pure clay, this may be you best bet. Besides it is a heck of a lot easier to sit on the edge of a rock wall and weed than it is to get down on your knees, especially when you are 60!

RR ties and landscape ties can leak nasty chemicals into the soil so natural rock, cinder block or retaining wall block are a better bet. The last time I build rock retaining wall (in New England) I took my 3/4 ton pick up to a farm and offered to pick rocks out of the farmers fields/pastures. He was so happy to get rid of them he helped with his tractor! Why pay for something I can get for free and help some one at the same time. (You may get a free load of manure tossed in too)

Check out books on raised bed gardening. As I recall I used a couple of layers of landscape cloth on the bottom and some gravel/sand for drainage followed by another couple layers of cloth. I then put in my topsoil.

You might also consider putting PAINTED small mesh chicken wire between two layers of landscape cloth to keep critters out of the soil. (to paint galvanized metal first wipe/spray with distilled vinegar, rinse well with water, dry and then paint with latex primer and outdoor latex top coat)


Another idea: If you want to make a quick CHEAP green house (convert your raised beds?) how about Cattle Panels? Link

Heck cover the panels with chicken wire and you have a chicken tractor! Link

Here is another way of using cattle panels in building:
goatseeker.com...

atinyhomestead.blogspot.com...


I hope those ideas get people thinking "outside the box"

If you move the compost do not put it next to a building and put a large hole in the top of the tarp. This helps keep it from over heating and catching on fire! Also watch where it runs off to from rain water. In South Carolina
you have to file a manure compost plan if you have a certain amount of horses or livestock. I learned all this in a stable management state course offered by Clemson University.

reply to post by Slipdig1


Sorry, Slipdig1.....I have been meaning to respond to you for days now and it just seems like everytime I sit down to do it something else pops up.... go figure. But I wanted to thank you for the link. I was able to read up on it some and it really does seem like a cool product!

The website also has some other interesting items as well and links to other organic gardening sites.Thanks again!

reply to post by frugal


Never even heard of a manure composting plan before, much less it being required if you have over a certain number of animals. I can see where that would be a good thing however. Found this interesting article from the University of Minn. on the subject of manure and composting while trying to find more about the manure composting plan requirements, there are also some interesting links at the bottom of the page.

Using Manure and Compost as a Nutrient Source

Thanks for stopping by frugal and adding more good info to a thread that I feel is really chocked full of good info already!

I post this for general information only and not to contribute to any fear mongering out there about radiation or anything like that. I just came across this and found it extremely interesting that with all the sophisticated technology out there, mother nature has already provided a way of detecting radiation and air pollution..... its called 'Spiderwort'.....

Info on Spiderwort

Originally posted by MyMindIsMyOwn
I post this for general information only and not to contribute to any fear mongering out there about radiation or anything like that. I just came across this and found it extremely interesting that with all the sophisticated technology out there, mother nature has already provided a way of detecting radiation and air pollution..... its called 'Spiderwort'.....

Info on Spiderwort

WOW. Thats really cool. Very pretty also, I have lots of blue, low growing wild flowers (aka weeds!) on the lawn that grow in like a blue and purple carpet in late spring. They would complement the colors in some corner somewhere.
Since I'm on purple......Heal-all seems like a good weed to have a little patch of.

Prunella vulgaris, known as common selfheal, heal-all, heart-of-the-earth, is a medicinal plant in the genus Prunella.

It has been used as an alternative medicine for centuries on just about every continent in the world[citation needed], and for just about every ailment,[citation needed] Heal-All is something of a panacea, it does seem to have some medicinal uses that are constant. The plant's most useful constituents are betulinic acid, D-camphor, delphinidin, hyperoside, manganese, oleanolic acid, rosmarinic acid, rutin, ursolic acid, and tannins. The whole plant is medicinal as alterative, antibacterial, antipyretic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, antiviral, astringent, carminative, diuretic, febrifuge, hypotensive, stomachic, styptic, tonic, vermifuge and vulnerary. It is taken internally as a medicinal tea in the treatment of fevers, diarrhoea, sore mouth and throat, internal bleeding, and weaknesses of the liver and heart.[2] Clinical analysis shows it to have an antibacterial action, inhibiting the growth of pseudomonas, Bacillus typhi, E. coli, Mycobacterium tuberculi, which supports its use as an alternative medicine internally and externally as an antibiotic and for hard to heal wounds and diseases.[3] It is showing promise in research for cancer, AIDS,[4] diabetes, and many other maladies.[5][6]

Sorry I haven't been able to contribute much to the thread, I have had a house visitor and family stuff going on. I still do, but I got a little time for myself and wanted to stop in and read the thread and add a little something-something!

I'll check back later when I have the time....

reply to post by mutantgenius


Hi you! I was starting to get a little worried about you, haven't seen you around lately. Glad to see you at least able to hit the threads a little bit and look forward to the time you can be here a little more.

Thanks for that contribution, that seems to be a handy little thing to have around. I've shown this to a friend of mine here and they apparently have a lot of it growing wild on their farm.... guess who will be going to harvest some there this season... I want to read a little more on this but it really does seem to live up to it's name of "Heal-All"

Another good solution for squirrel problems is to take an aluminum can (beer,pop,soda) whatever and roll it between your palms back and forth until you get an ungodly noise......crackle crackle and then some.
If you are doing this in the vicinity of a bad squirrel he will make haste big time out of your yard.
Regards, Iwinder

reply to post by Iwinder


I will have to try that. I scold them and clap my hands but they seem to think it is some kind of a game and won't go unless I am nearly close enough to touch them.

I want some of that heal all but haven't found a site that gives really good distinguishing features. I don't want to accidentally bring the wrong weed into my garden. I have enough of those!

Originally posted by Pauligirl
anybody tried straw bale gardening?
www.growandmake.com...
my nephew has put his tomatoes in bales for the last two years and it seems to work really well.

I put the bales with string still on in the chicken coop for about 6 months. They crap & climb all over them, and it seems to work really well to help fertilize the bales. From there it goes out in to the garden, and I plant in them. Once the crop is done I cut the strings and spread out the bale for the chickens to scratch through. Once it's broken down enough it gets raked up and in to the compost pile, which feeds the rest of the garden!

reply to post by 1FullHouse


Hi there! Glad that someone that has some experience with this type of gardening chimed in here. While I had heard about it, I never tried it. Nor have I known anyone to do it so I'm really very interested to learn some more about it! It sounds like a great way to use the life cycle of the 'garden' so to speak. What other kinds of things have you grown in the bales or have heard of growing in them?

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn


Tomatoes & potatoes both do really well. I imaging peppers would be great too. This year I want to try sweet potatoes and then the vines can droop over the bale, quite pretty! I'm limited in what I've grown, but I wouldn't hesitate to try something new! With both potatoes & tomatoes though, I have to be careful not to get the vines to the chickens, they can be harmful for the birds.

I usually chop out the top of the bale a bit before planting anything, create a little divot of sorts to plant in. I'll also throw a bit of compost on top, and it seems to work great!

reply to post by 1FullHouse


Excellent! Hmmm....this has me wondering if it would be worth while to try an experiment with cukes, squash and melons since they are vines that like to be in mounds. It may be beneficial to the plant but it also may be easier to control if the roots are in the bale with the produce hanging down... only thing is it may promote the produce to drop off too early due to the heaviness of the melon, squash or what have you.... perhaps if I broke down the straw into the 'mound' formation, did the divot in the middle like you do with some compost and plant them in the divot? Sounds plausible to me and would lesson ground rot I would think...... I don't know. Just thinking out loud. What are your thoughts on this?

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn


I think it would work great. Just trim down the edges of the bale, to create the mound your looking for. Even just mounding compost on top of the bale should work fine. If the fruits get too heavy, you can get some old pantyhose, fit it over the fruit, and tie it off to the strings of the bale. I use the pantyhose when trellising watermelons and other squash that vine. They let in air, and will stretch while the fruit grows.

reply to post by 1FullHouse


Fantastic idea. Pantyhose.... who knew? I think I'll be trying this as an experiment in a corner of my garden this year as the more I think about it the more I'm really liking it. Then I can compost the hay. Very interesting indeed. Like you said in another thread.....you can have been gardening for years and years and still learn new things! Besides.... experimenting in the garden is fun to do I think.

Thanks again for contributing valuable information to the thread!

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn


Glad to have helped! Fairly new to ATS though I lurked for quite a while. Glad to see other like minded people, and not just in the conspiracy realm.

Have fun playing dress up with your garden!

reply to post by crimvelvet

I love the smell of roses!
Rose hip syrup is delicious and easy to make. Its highly nutritious and rich in vitamin C. It stores in bottles over winter in a cool place and is a valuable natural anti viral against winter colds, coughs and flu. Rose hip oil is a rich, healing, soothing moisturiser. The aromatic flower will attract pollenators from far and wide ... which is good news for your vegetable garden.
Thankyou for your post - I agree,the rose has a place in any vegetable garden.

reply to post by katseyes


Thank you for the reminder katseyes. Roses can be used in so many ways its amazing. Good thing to have for beauty but also keep in mind the edible side to it. So thanks again for bringing this to our attention! Because it can be used in landscaping it's easy enough to have around and does not have to take up room in a garden plot.

For anyone who is interested. I got this email from Nicols Garden Nursery this morning. Apparently they hare having a discontinued seed sale. $1 per packet and they will 'eat' the shipping for orders over $8. I like these guys because they are non-GMO seed suppliers and have signed the safe seed pledge. Just a little FYI

Nichols Garden Nursery

Somehow I got unsubscribed from this thread and there appeared no way to re-subscribe. I want to keep it at hand to refer to to as the growing season is going full steam. There is a ton of good info here. This post is simply my feeble attempt to get it back into "my ATS".

Happy gardening.