Back to Eden Gardening

[baymule]

Wood chips are better than potato chips....betcha can't shovel just one!

 

[bobm]

That "back to eden " gardenng system sounds great but... if your area has termites, the wood chips are the perfect invitation for the termites for free food and housing and an easy short walk to your own home and outbuildings. That will be COSTLY !!!

 

[Beekissed]

Rented a 6x12 trailer from U Haul this morning and put over 200 mi. on the truck today, making two trips of hauling wood chips from three counties over...I thought they were only two counties over but I was wrong.

I hurt in places I didn't know I had. I've been going and going since 6 am and we only got two loads, with three people working on it and we didn't even have time to unload the last load before the sun went down. We are getting up early to get it off the trailer and truck so I can return the trailer by 9 am.

And such is the reality of a dream...takes hard work, time, money and striving sometimes.

These chips are not a good quality, got lots of long strands and branches, so it looks like I'll be fighting long fibers.

We don't even know if what we've got will cover the garden completely but we are going to put them down and pray for the best. I'll be putting an ad in the locals for possibilities of more chips that are closer to home.

I'll get pics up when I can, but right now I'm hitting the shower and bed...got an early morning and another long day ahead tomorrow. You know....it's days like this that I suddenly know just how poorly my body is aging.

The side effects of my profession rear their ugly head, just when I need my body to perform the most proficiently, and that's just life, I guess.

I feel blessed to have gotten some chips finally and am thanking God for them tonight. Can't wait to get that garden in, finally, and then cruise the season just maintaining it, resting up for the harvest time.

 

[Beekissed]

That "back to eden " gardenng system sounds great but... if your area has termites, the wood chips are the perfect invitation for the termites for free food and housing and an easy short walk to your own home and outbuildings. That will be COSTLY !!!

We have termites in this area now and again...I don't think there are many places in the states that don't have termites are there? That easy short walk to the buildings? That is an obstacle course through a flock of hungry chickens and other birds and my chickens LOVE termites. That's the beauty of having a free range flock and it's why I fence my garden in, instead of my animals...they do too much good out there on the range.

The chickens take care of their pests and the dog takes care of voles, moles, mice, rabbits, coon and possum, as it should be. Just animals doing the job they were designed for in this world...it's a lovely thing!

 

[baymule]

Glad you got your chips! Haha, hurting in places you didn't know you had, I am sooo with you on that one! And I bet your bruises have bruises!

 

[ninnymary]

Beekissed, I'm so glad you finally got some chips. This will at least get you started. I have an idea, what about getting a chipper and then advertising for fallen trees that need to be removed? Don't know if this will be too much work.

Mary

 

[Beekissed]

Beekissed, I'm so glad you finally got some chips. This will at least get you started. I have an idea, what about getting a chipper and then advertising for fallen trees that need to be removed? Don't know if this will be too much work.

Mary

The heavy duty chippers are pretty costly and, yes, that's just too much strain on the old bodies of my Ma and I...she's tiny and 80, and I have several herniated discs in my back, both upper and lower. We are doing good to do the work we do around here normally as it is and I was kind of hoping this method of gardening would make things even easier, after the initial setup. If I had use of the boys more often that would be a great idea but getting them out here to help is like pulling hen's teeth.

My brother has just such a chipper but he lives a good bit away and wouldn't want to haul it over here for our use, I'm thinking. It would be nice to have one of those on hand but the cheaper models don't take a big enough diameter branch to even make them worth buying.

 

[Beekissed]

Tomorrow is all about spreading the chips out evenly in the garden, all the while praying they cover it all and at the right thickness. After that is done, cutting cattle panels for trellising and driving in big T posts for attaching the panels to. I pray for strength and ability to complete this without too much pain.

Sat. is supposed to be clear, sunny and 77 and that's the day I hope to finally put things into the garden...will be working on that from sunrise to sunset to get it done if I must. All those seeds, seeds, seeds....mostly seeds to be planted, though I'll have around 75 seedlings to be planted as well. That's not including the 150 onion sets. Mom will be helping me, so not doing all that alone...she's a good worker, better than me actually.

Seeing as I am racing to beat the month and the rain we will be getting all next week, I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with cataloging where each thing is planted per row number as I had wanted to do.

I just hope and pray that my body will hold out for this marathon gardening session...man, I do hate to do things in a rush. It always takes the joy out of planting to have to slam a garden in on a deadline.

Pics of the great chip gettin' day....Aliza supervised.

This is what kind of texture they have...some very long twigs and branches mixed in with finer chips and chunks of wood.

And a gratuitous grandbaby shot just because I can.....

_________________

 

[baymule]

Take a clipboard, pen and paper to the garden. You can hastily scribble in what's planted where.

 

[journey11]

Take a clipboard, pen and paper to the garden. You can hastily scribble in what's planted where.

That's what I do, just draw a little map in my notebook and write the date I planted stuff.

That looks like a lot of wood chips/mulch to me, Bee! If it doesn't spread quite thick enough, maybe you could put straw down on top of it in the meantime. Straw makes for a really good mycorrhizal host as it breaks down and a good, clean mulch at that. I always toss mine to the chickens for a couple of weeks if it looks like it might have seeds in it and they scratch them all out. I'm so glad you finally got some wood chips. It looks like it was a good haul for the effort. It would run at least $80/truck bed load if you bought it, so I'd think for your mileage, you probably broke even, if not better.