Nyboy
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I think I want worms
Back to Eden Gardening
- Thread starter Beekissed
- Start date
henless
Garden Addicted
Taters/maters your still the queen of gardeners! lol Thanks for both of the videos. Watching those worms at work is really neat. Hard to believe they can get all the done is such a short amount of time.
I got some of my orchard in. DH & I planted 2 figs, 2 pears & 1 plum. I planted 2 blueberry bushes on the South side of the chicken run. I figured once they get big enough it will give them some much needed shade in that area. I still have a few more trees to plant, but the selection was not all that good yet.
I got some of my orchard in. DH & I planted 2 figs, 2 pears & 1 plum. I planted 2 blueberry bushes on the South side of the chicken run. I figured once they get big enough it will give them some much needed shade in that area. I still have a few more trees to plant, but the selection was not all that good yet.
- Thread starter
- #493
Beekissed
Garden Master
That sounds like a lovely orchard! Please post pics if you can when you get it all established so I can drool over it. 
I've been wanting some blueberries here, just a few bushes. What kind did you plant? I only have apples and peaches here, but would love to have some berries of some kind...prefer blackberries but the blueberries are nice as well.
Here's a guy in your state you might find interesting to follow...he's got his orchards on either side of his chicken run also and he's going the BTE in his garden, orchards and pasture. This is a vid of his blackberries but he has quite a few vids out there, so you might want to subscribe....he has some good vids on the results of his BTE projects.
I've been wanting some blueberries here, just a few bushes. What kind did you plant? I only have apples and peaches here, but would love to have some berries of some kind...prefer blackberries but the blueberries are nice as well. Here's a guy in your state you might find interesting to follow...he's got his orchards on either side of his chicken run also and he's going the BTE in his garden, orchards and pasture. This is a vid of his blackberries but he has quite a few vids out there, so you might want to subscribe....he has some good vids on the results of his BTE projects.
henless
Garden Addicted
I'll take some tomorrow. I'm planting it North of my coops/runs in an area that used to be my horse corral. I'm hoping that the soil there is still pretty good since it held horses for about 18 yrs.
That's why I never planted an orchard before. With us having horses, we used all the land for their pasture. I guess it's better late than never for planting.
Thanks for the new vid. Going to watch it now.
That's why I never planted an orchard before. With us having horses, we used all the land for their pasture. I guess it's better late than never for planting.
Thanks for the new vid. Going to watch it now.
- Thread starter
- #495
Beekissed
Garden Master
You might be able to get some off your clients, NY!
Oops...wrong kind, huh? 
I think you'd love them...they just work all day to make the soil better. They are quiet, the neighbors won't complain about them and when they soil themselves it's a good thing.
Smart Red
Garden Master
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"soil themselves" indeed!
henless
Garden Addicted
I was watching one of thatnub's BTE videos. It's the one filmed in June of 2015, about 5 hours I believe. I watch it in segments, since there is no way I could sit for that long!
At about the 3:30 mark, thatnub is asking Paul questions from one of his viewers. One question is about his mulch. The viewer does not have access to wood chips and was wondering if straw would be ok to use. This is chopped straw, about 3-4 inches long. Paul said it would be fine, except for one thing. He said it would compost much, much faster than wood chips, so they would have to be replacing it much more often.
Paul went on to say that he used straw for his first mulch in his orchard. He said it worked really well. His problem with using it was the fact that he had to replace it pretty often. It was very labor intensive and that is why he went to wood chips. The wood chips composted much slower, so lasted much longer.
As I was watching this yesterday, it made me realize that using leaves should be just fine. I may have to replace them more often, but they should do good as a mulch. I think the leaves would be a better mulch nutrient wise than straw mulch.
I do believe that if I'm ever able to get wood chips, I will be putting them in my orchard first, then start in my garden.
At about the 3:30 mark, thatnub is asking Paul questions from one of his viewers. One question is about his mulch. The viewer does not have access to wood chips and was wondering if straw would be ok to use. This is chopped straw, about 3-4 inches long. Paul said it would be fine, except for one thing. He said it would compost much, much faster than wood chips, so they would have to be replacing it much more often.
Paul went on to say that he used straw for his first mulch in his orchard. He said it worked really well. His problem with using it was the fact that he had to replace it pretty often. It was very labor intensive and that is why he went to wood chips. The wood chips composted much slower, so lasted much longer.
As I was watching this yesterday, it made me realize that using leaves should be just fine. I may have to replace them more often, but they should do good as a mulch. I think the leaves would be a better mulch nutrient wise than straw mulch.
I do believe that if I'm ever able to get wood chips, I will be putting them in my orchard first, then start in my garden.
baymule
Garden Master
Bee, the ducks were so messy, they pooped a LOT and they threw water all over the place. I couldn't let them stand in their own poop like that. So I just kept tossing in bags of leaves to give them a clean place to live. I let the chickens in their pen after I butchered them, to scratch it up and turn the leaf compost. I think I let it rest about a month or two before I planted the corn.
- Thread starter
- #499
Beekissed
Garden Master
Henless, that one vid I posted here from the guy doing the chips and the leaves side by side was pretty interesting....don't know if you got to see that one. VERY good explanations of the food web and also the measurements of pH and moisture of the two coverings side by side.
That same guy used to just use leaves and green manures all the time and this was the first he'd tried the wood chips, so I'll be following his comparisons on that field come gardening time too. In another vid of his, he used to run a tiller through his leaf covering~not the soil, just the leaves~to prevent matting, aerate the mass and break them up a little. I may be doing that with mine this spring before I plant anything out there or seed the garden with my bin worms. My leaves are so very deep in some places that I'll also be removing some of that depth and placing it on my orchard instead.
Either way, this should be an interesting year for all of us trying these deep mulched gardens and spring is just a month away, folks!
Please, please keep this thread informed with updates on your growing season this year with the mulching and I will do the same. Pics are always appreciated, as it's hard to imagine what folks are talking about sometimes, but pics are worth a thousand words.
I'm going out there today and start removing some of the deeper leaves as we are having a mini spring day...almost 50*!!!!
That same guy used to just use leaves and green manures all the time and this was the first he'd tried the wood chips, so I'll be following his comparisons on that field come gardening time too. In another vid of his, he used to run a tiller through his leaf covering~not the soil, just the leaves~to prevent matting, aerate the mass and break them up a little. I may be doing that with mine this spring before I plant anything out there or seed the garden with my bin worms. My leaves are so very deep in some places that I'll also be removing some of that depth and placing it on my orchard instead.
Either way, this should be an interesting year for all of us trying these deep mulched gardens and spring is just a month away, folks!
Please, please keep this thread informed with updates on your growing season this year with the mulching and I will do the same. Pics are always appreciated, as it's hard to imagine what folks are talking about sometimes, but pics are worth a thousand words.
I'm going out there today and start removing some of the deeper leaves as we are having a mini spring day...almost 50*!!!!
- Thread starter
- #500
Beekissed
Garden Master
I got 14 yds of atomic red and 15 yds of purple haze carrot seed tape done this weekend, but ran out of flour(up visiting Dad, so just had a little baggy of flour with me) before I could finish all the sugar snax carrots and midnight ruffles (red) lettuce combination seed tape I was working on...only got about 8-9 yds of that done.
Seeing as how the carrots are spaced at 2 in. apart, this is a considerable amount of carrots all neatly packaged and awaiting to be planted. Some in the spring, but most will be planted for winter harvesting. I'll likely be working on seed tapes for various things every time I get a chance until they are all on tapes for the year. This saves me money in less wasted seed, and time and labor that would ordinarily be done on my old knees in the garden as I thin these rows out. That time is much better spent while I listen to sermons and such, sitting comfortably at the table.
I've got many packets of lettuce that need put into tapes, so I really need to play catch up. I like the idea of doing combination tapes and may work on that a good bit~carrots with lettuce, onions with lettuce, radishes with lettuce, cilantro with carrots, parsley with onions, beets with spinach, etc.
Lots of work to be done, short time to do it, so I need to put it into high gear if I want to have these ready for sowing in March.
Seeing as how the carrots are spaced at 2 in. apart, this is a considerable amount of carrots all neatly packaged and awaiting to be planted. Some in the spring, but most will be planted for winter harvesting. I'll likely be working on seed tapes for various things every time I get a chance until they are all on tapes for the year. This saves me money in less wasted seed, and time and labor that would ordinarily be done on my old knees in the garden as I thin these rows out. That time is much better spent while I listen to sermons and such, sitting comfortably at the table.
I've got many packets of lettuce that need put into tapes, so I really need to play catch up. I like the idea of doing combination tapes and may work on that a good bit~carrots with lettuce, onions with lettuce, radishes with lettuce, cilantro with carrots, parsley with onions, beets with spinach, etc.
Lots of work to be done, short time to do it, so I need to put it into high gear if I want to have these ready for sowing in March.
