Ducks4you 2021 Ragtag Thread

[heirloomgal]

Researching smudgepots. Don't seem to be the best solution for my 2022 fruit. Should I consider simply using box fans to keep the air moving. Whatch'all think?

I found this -

Another option is to hang the trees with the old-fashioned Christmas lights, however these are getting harder to find. They need to be the big bulb type, the newer LED Christmas-tree lights won’t work since they’re cool burning and won’t give off sufficient heat. You can improve the protection by also covering with a blanket or tarp.

Another option is to turn a sprinkler on your trees just as the freeze begins, to coat them with ice. Although it seems counterintuitive, the ice will protect the tree because the temperature beneath the ice will not drop below 32 degrees. For this method to work you will need to keep the sprinkler on until the temperatures rise above freezing. If you plan to use this method of frost protection and the cold temperatures last for a while, monitor to ensure that you are not creating a flood somewhere else.

You may have noticed that some of the big orchards and vineyards use big fans to create air turbulence to protect trees from freezing. I do not like to recommend use of the fan for residential yards for a couple of reasons. First, most of you do not have a large enough fan to create enough air turbulence to be effective in protecting the tree.

How to protect blooming fruit trees as hard freeze approaches

Many trees in Redding started to blossom during the warm January, which puts them at risk for next week's hard freeze.

www.redding.com

 

[digitS']

Ha!

That's the Redding California newspaper. Redding was where my grandmother lived and where we lived for a year when I was 3-4. Where I became aware of the world ... in Grandma's garden

Blow the cold air into the neighbor's yard? Self-interest and social responsibility collide. Oops.

One caution about using a sprinkler: it's a good idea, partly because the water is above freezing. Our ground at a 4' depth is almost a consistent 55°f, 12 months of the year. However, if the water is freezing on the trees and that continues for hours, damage to the trees may be the result.

I've used sprinklers to mitigate frost many times in my garden and only had a real problem, once. Sometimes, circumstances are really out of our control.

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

I have been helping DD's with their yard. There are NOT gardeners, althought eldest DD is quite the chef, and youngest DD Will do yardwork.
We laid down oats in August to take a large bed back to grass in 2022. This is how it turned out, and everyone is pleased.
Asparagus was THE CROP to plant in the 12 inch wide, 18 ft long strip between the east side of the garage and the sidewalk. MUCH better than weeds. I fenced and tied it in bc it was drooping over the sidewalk.

 

[ducks4you]

Note: When I bought the lights I tested them and they ALL produce heat. You are right, they are getting harder to find. FORTUNATELY I have saved replacement lights over the years from strings that have died, so I should be good for a few years.

 

[ducks4you]

FINALLY got my two blueberry bushes planted yesterday...in the rain...with the wind.
DH insisted we get flu shots last Thursday.
Got a 3rd COVID shot, this year's flu shot, and the first/2 shingles. SIL (now passed on) told me about having shingles when she was 16yo and I want None of it.
ANYway, 3 shots knocked me off my feet on the best weather day ever in December....so the plants had to wait.
I dug a 12 inch deep, 24 inch wide hole for each plant, put 8 inches of fresh horse manure at the bottom, which I stomped down, then I added dry and shredded leaves, followed by composted dirt that I had grown my sweet potatoes in this year. I planted them in THAT. I was unhappy that they didn't have better roots, especially since I had them both in a tree pot with plenty of room to grow.
I covered them both with more shredded leaves and totally puddled each hole. You could see the water bubbling up around each hole, so I am satisfied that they won't dry out this winter. Plus, they are zone 3.
Came back today and pounded in a piece of old rebar that supports a 3" x 4" three ft tall wooden stake for each 7 inch tall blueberry.
It's hard to see the blueberries at this point. No sense running them over with the tractor should we need to shovel snow this winter.
Last week I prepped the 3' x 6' bed by the inner sanctum by re-securing the wooden borders. I put all of the dirt from the two blueberry holes on top of the soiled bedding (heavy with manure). I emptied the rest of the lawn/leaf paper bag with the shredded leaves on top. It needs more shredded leaves and another layer of garden dirt.
It will be 63 next Friday, and I have a digging project, and I need a place to dump the dirt. THIS bed is a little shallow, so I will have nice layers there. I intend on planting leeks in this bed.
I started laying out the 4' x 12' 2022 sweet potato bed, south part of my big garden. Friday, again, will be my best bet to finish it.
FIRST TIME I have EVER done garden prep in the Fall for the next Spring.
"Ducks pats back feathers with great pride"

 

[ducks4you]

Finally decided to use up what I have and grab MORE cardboard and dump from my stalls this winter starting under my fencelines. I pulled up dead weeds, including burdock and I am burning those every week. I use a razor and cut open boxes, and dump on top of them but under the fences. I have done this before and it has made a big difference in my weed load. We all know that weeds AND volunteer saplings LOVE to grow under the fences and next to wooden fenceposts. I don't take any time to spread out the bedding. It will take about 10 months but it will all settle by next September.'
I am not shy to ask clerks at grocery stores who are piling up boxes to take them. I single layer, buried, takes about 6 weeks to break down, but it will be choking out weeds and saplings while it breaks down, so a win-win.

 

[digitS']

Got a 3rd COVID shot, this year's flu shot, and the first/2 shingles

Wow.

That sounds like a BIG step to take. My flu shot was later than usual because I was waiting following the booster.

Good to know that you are back on your feet!

Steve

 

[Zeedman]

I dug a 12 inch deep, 24 inch wide hole for each plant, put 8 inches of fresh horse manure at the bottom, which I stomped down

That little bit of mental imagery will stink... er, stick with me for awhile.

 

[flowerbug]

FINALLY got my two blueberry bushes planted yesterday...in the rain...with the wind.
DH insisted we get flu shots last Thursday.
Got a 3rd COVID shot, this year's flu shot, and the first/2 shingles. SIL (now passed on) told me about having shingles when she was 16yo and I want None of it.

i've known enough people who've had it including my sister had shingles last year - nothing i'd ever want to experience.

ANYway, 3 shots knocked me off my feet on the best weather day ever in December....so the plants had to wait.
I dug a 12 inch deep, 24 inch wide hole for each plant, put 8 inches of fresh horse manure at the bottom, which I stomped down, then I added dry and shredded leaves, followed by composted dirt that I had grown my sweet potatoes in this year. I planted them in THAT. I was unhappy that they didn't have better roots, especially since I had them both in a tree pot with plenty of room to grow.
I covered them both with more shredded leaves and totally puddled each hole. You could see the water bubbling up around each hole, so I am satisfied that they won't dry out this winter. Plus, they are zone 3.
Came back today and pounded in a piece of old rebar that supports a 3" x 4" three ft tall wooden stake for each 7 inch tall blueberry.
It's hard to see the blueberries at this point. No sense running them over with the tractor should we need to shovel snow this winter.

yeah, people who run the mowers sometimes aren't the same people who've planted the gardens or trees. i hope they'll survive and be happy plants for you there.

Last week I prepped the 3' x 6' bed by the inner sanctum by re-securing the wooden borders. I put all of the dirt from the two blueberry holes on top of the soiled bedding (heavy with manure). I emptied the rest of the lawn/leaf paper bag with the shredded leaves on top. It needs more shredded leaves and another layer of garden dirt.
It will be 63 next Friday, and I have a digging project, and I need a place to dump the dirt. THIS bed is a little shallow, so I will have nice layers there. I intend on planting leeks in this bed.
I started laying out the 4' x 12' 2022 sweet potato bed, south part of my big garden. Friday, again, will be my best bet to finish it.
FIRST TIME I have EVER done garden prep in the Fall for the next Spring.
"Ducks pats back feathers with great pride"

yay! it's a nice feeling for sure and it does make spring easier or it means you can work on other projects that always seem to come up.

 

[ducks4you]

THAT was Sunday. YESTERDAY I drove my mower and tow wagon to move my whiskey barrel planter to the front porch and move 2/3 push mowers, the older ones, into storage. I was Gleeful that Both mowers fit nicely inside of my tow wagon, sideways. I unscrewed the bolts that hold up the handles so that I could fold them down and now the God mower, and the two wagons are parked in my carriage house, the building that can (and did before we moved here) hold one car, with just enough room left to close the (manual) garage door when it snows.
It is going to be 63 degrees here on Friday. I have one more job for my tiller, to loosen up the soil mix by the fence by the street, so that I can transplant iris bulbs and ?others, whatever they may be, to flower this spring.
I was sloppy and stacked up and left my old tomato (really NOW sweet pepper) cages in between my 2021 tomato fencing (soon to be pea and then sweet corn fencing for 2022.) I may/may not store them, depending on time. There aren't in anybody's path, and nobody can see them from the street. Out of signt/out of mind.
My newest mower is living in the garage bc there IS room for one there.
Btw, right after I bought this new mower I tt my Vet, whose mower had just broken down and she was having trouble affording a new one, so I lent it to her for about 4 months. THEN, DD's push mower had an issue, so I lent it to HER for the rest of 2019. It now has a history.
2022 I learn to be a "mower doctor."