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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Apr 22, 2013 - 10:59pm PT
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Bermuda will survive even if a foot deep in well aerated soil.
(been there dun that)
Horse manure works great because it isn't as "hot" as steer manure and has a lot of incompletely digested fibrous material that really helps loosen up clay soil, and you can also usually get it for free or next to it.
Just make sure you compost it for a few months and don't put it on fresh or you will burn up your plants, mostly from the overabundance of the nitrogen in the urine. Also it gives time for any anti parasitic agents the horses had in their system time to break down. Horse wormer even in incredibly small concentrations will nuke all the earthworms.
Roundup on the other hand breaks down completely in about two weeks.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Apr 22, 2013 - 11:01pm PT
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Had the craziest strong Brandy wine Amish heirloom tomato last year. We have 6 strong starts off the biggest tomato warming up in the bullpen. Suppose to warm up soon and they'll be planted.
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Michelle
Social climber
1187 Hunterwasser
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Apr 24, 2013 - 10:31pm PT
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so back to this project. Round-up, no. unfortunately, I can't do a raised bed, so the next best thing would be to dig and haul. I can't get the depth being suggested but I suspect if I clear most of the "offending" soil, I can line it and replace. I have to be ghetto cheap about this, so I'm scavenging things. I'm also starting plants in toilet paper rolls! I the previous grass infested patch, I was thinking planting sunflowers, zuchinni and herbs in the ground. maybe corn. to disguise my mj plants in containers. tomatos and maybe peas. for sure cucumbers to pickle. then I started thinking I could do greens in the ground too. I need to do more research. your stuff all looks awesome folks! since I live on the SF peninsula, the weather is bomber and I get lots of summer sun. the Star Gazer Lily is in heaven and I also have orchids that are stoked to be outside in the shade.
I can't wait to buy land and grow more food and rustle chickens. maybe goats for cheese. plus guns to keep the zombies out of my food.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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May 17, 2013 - 04:21pm PT
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Dug up in my vegetable patch:
Wine cork for scale:
I'm pretty sure it's an old-timey injectible vial. Medical waste.
Back almost a hunred years ago, the big place next door was a tuberculosis hospital - and it's built like one. My place - a hundred yards away - was the doctor/nurse quarters.
The real estate guy told me about potential medical waste when I got the place. "If you dig up any jars, DON'T open them".
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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May 17, 2013 - 04:51pm PT
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Glyphosate (trade name RoundUp, etc), is the most widely applied agricultural chemical in the country. If you're fretting over if being applied near food crops...well, that ship sailed decades ago.
It's basically an enyzme synthesis inhibiter. It only works on actively growing plants, the uptake method is through the foliage (i.e. it won't work as a pre-emergent). And it does breakdown relatively quickly for an herbicide. EPA gives it one of the lower toxicity ratings.
Still, I wouldn't want it on my food.
Hey Chaz, you coughing yet?
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mechrist
Gym climber
South of Heaven
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May 18, 2013 - 11:04am PT
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It is going to be awesome!
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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May 18, 2013 - 11:36am PT
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No garden this year.
I'm really bummed, as this has been a hobby of mine for a few years now.
The irony of poverty is not being able to afford to get my garden going this year. If I could fund the startup, I'd be paying less for the veggies I love to eat.
Being really poor sucks.
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mechrist
Gym climber
South of Heaven
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May 18, 2013 - 11:52am PT
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How long does that plastic last? We were thinking about doing some of those, but it seems like 2-5 years max before the plastic would deteriorate up in Tahoe. Currently harvesting used windows in the tahoe area...
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Jun 11, 2013 - 12:18am PT
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I'm real happy with what I've got going this year.
No problems. No setbacks.
This is when it's fun. Production matches exactly what I can cook and eat. Sometime in the next couple weeks the work will start and I'll be firing up the canner.
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Jun 11, 2013 - 12:27am PT
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She canned a case of Boysenberry jam weekend before last. Probably need to do at least two more batches and a batch or two of Raspberry
Thanks to climate cooling I'll have a bumper crop of tomatoes so the Salsa and sauce canning production will start in about two weeks.
The heat loving plants like the corn have been a dud this year. The Sweet potatoes are rather stunted, but the beans are finally starting to take off late from a state of arrested development.
I will have to transplant the Shallots this weekend.
when you grow them from seed you get clumps like Scallions and then you need to replant them and give e'm some room.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Jun 14, 2013 - 04:40pm PT
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If you can't quite reach something...
...you can always try to knock it over.
Happiness is a black wok.
( serving suggestion )
The Goat got hers, too. She gets rid of the ends, peels, seeds, etc. Unlike the Dogs, who know there's no future in begging, the Goat thinks she needs to be front-and-center for the whole process.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Jun 14, 2013 - 04:55pm PT
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This is what I found lying on a pile of topsoil in the garden yesterday.
No mark of violence. And I have no idea why it was on top of the dirt pile, unless a crow moved it there, but hadn't started tearing it up yet.
Ugly-looking creature.
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Snowmassguy
Trad climber
Calirado
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Jun 14, 2013 - 05:00pm PT
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^^^^ I bet that thing could do quite a bit of garden damage !
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Jun 14, 2013 - 05:58pm PT
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Chaz, I like your setup. Nice big garden, avo trees, goats, what's not to like?
I'm a wee bit envious. Not too much, as I have my own sweet garden, but I like goats.
I wasn't going to plant this year, but crumpled at the last minute and got my babies in the ground. Good thing too, because we had snow over Memorial Day weekend. I put 'em in the ground the next weekend.
I'm growing my hot peppers in pots again this year, I had outstanding success last year. This year I've added habaneros into the mix. Pots are great for peppers, as you want a lot of sun to increase the capsaicin. Mobility is key if you live in an area with many trees and you can't find a site with all day sun.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Jun 22, 2013 - 01:13am PT
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So far, so good!
Organic pesticide at work:
Got enough cucs today to can five pints of sweet pickle relish.
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Jun 22, 2013 - 09:04am PT
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Great looking garden Chaz, those avocado trees are amazing!
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Rain? Hasn't rained here in months, and if it rains here before Thanksgiving, it'll be big news.
A few hours ago:
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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I never thought I'd say this, but damn, I wish it would stop raining!
We've had over ten inches of rain in the last couple of weeks. My babies are well watered, but we need some sunshine!!!
Luckily, my peppers are in pots, so I've been controlling their watering very carefully.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Brandon,
I've always grown my peppers in pots. Ever since I saw my neighbor do it. We were both living in apartments, and he had a dozen 5-gallon buckets planted with peppers lining the stairwell.
Rsin,
I have six KAP ( kite-aerial photography ) kites. I've used five of them to get pictures. ( The sixth - and as yet not utilized - one is a Kiwi Fishing Kite from New Zealand. I'm having a tough time tuning it so that it flies straight, and I don't feel like paying the $70 one-way postage back to New Zealand to get someone who knows what they're doing to look at it. ).
The one I used yesterday is the one I use about 75% of the time - it covers a wide range of wind speeds. It's a nine-foot delta ( ITW 9ft Levitation Light ). Besides flying in a wide wind range, it has less bad habits than my other kites, so it does OK in squirrelly, gusty winds ( like yesterday ).
And it flies at a very high angle, so it's the one to use if I'm close to trees or other obstacles.
Yesterday I got the kite hung up at the top of a 60' eucalyptus ( just to the left of my photos ). I had already taken the camera down because the wind was starting to get funky ( kite and camera were separated by about 150' ), and before I had the kite down it dove into that eucalyptus. No slack was enough to allow it to "fly itself out" of either the dive or the tree, but it was enough to allow it to eventually continue its power-dive into the ground, after being stuck up in the small eucalyptus branches for a few minutes. Good practice!
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