Ducks4you for 2022

[baymule]

Has anyone tried growing tomatoes upside down, like hanging from a deck hook or something? It seems kinda cool because you wouldn't need cages...

The stems and leaves will reach for the sun and grow upwards.

 

[ducks4you]

Interesting to ME bc of all of the fine pine wood shavings that I have on the property breaking down.

 

[ducks4you]

 

[Dahlia]

The stems and leaves will reach for the sun and grow up

The stems and leaves will reach for the sun and grow upwards.

I saw a picture of upside down tomato plants on gardenandgreenhouse.net. They look pretty cool!

The stems and leaves will reach for the sun and gr

 

[Dahlia]

Yes! You are right. The tomato plant will indeed reach for the sun! I snapped a pic of these early last summer. I never tried it myself though...

 

[flowerbug]

organic methods act over years (all the gardens here i'm thinking three or more years ahead for nutrients and rotations in plantings).

the nutrients in the wood chips that might get tied up short term during when they are breaking down will eventually be returned to the soil community. to me it looks like way too much is being added, but that's just me. i don't have that kind of abundance and so i have to use my organic materials in a pretty targetted manner. i can't just layer them over an entire vegetable garden. i have to spot apply the worm compost i generate and it is enough for what we are growing. after that rotating crop plantings through those areas is the best use of any remaining nutrients and of course burying all garden debris so the worms can get at it and turn it back into plant food eventually.

 

[ducks4you]

Interesting...
I think it's all about your supply. It's not as black and white as some online advice. Ya know, Something is a bad idea, even though it's not poisonous to the soil or earthworms. I want to more completely utilize the soiled bedding from my horse's winter stalls bc it piles up on the property.
I KNOW that pine shavings are Not toxic bc they would get sick. Some horse owners learn the hard way, for instance, that cedar is toxic, even though it is fragrant.
I don't ever have enough time to turn piles during the growing season, I am having a problem with my latch for my bucket of my tractor, so it is downright irritating that I cannot use That to move them, at the moment. A lot of it has to do with the Big Implement store I bought it from. They replaced the knob wrong, but if I call them out to fix Their mistake, it will be several $100 later, and I am Not a farmer who can write that off.
My friend suggested that I call the manufacturer directly about how to fix the problem. That will be a soon phone call.
ANYWAY, I have dug into piles that sat for 5 years and found medium sized pine shavings that weren't yet broken down. Buried WITH SAME and there isn't much of a change.
When I dig it up less than 6 months later and garden with it, by the end of the season it becomes Really nice soil.
I try to keep all empty dirt covered, and I don't have the current hatred of straw. Right now I have purchased 40 bales of straw for the winter, along with 400 bales hay (plus about 40 leftover from 2021. Year old hay still has good nutrition.)
I buy pine pellets for animal bedding. Horse's urine breaks it down into a pine powder. It's pretty neat, I let it get peed on 2x before removing, so it is full of urine, and that is Old by the time I want to use it.

 

[ducks4you]

To happier thoughts...
I Never expected any of the squash I planted to help my sweet potato plants survive to produce any fruit but it looks like I will get a little return from them, after ALL.
My biggest theme for 2022 has been to learn to grow in the Fall. There have been years when I did get spring crops out in time, only to watch it heat up to early, and to watch them bolt. I didn't appreciate the radishes that went to seed, but I sure had a lot of them!
I have documented (photos) for myself, what will be good late growing and what won't. Here is documentation of the squashes and my happy cantaloupe surprise, that I HOPE will ripen soon!
These are only pumpkins, but you can see in the 3rd photo, a sweet potato vine leaf. Yes, Virginia, they are still in there! The 2nd photo is the biggest and I can harvest it for Thanksgiving display at our table.

 

[ducks4you]

Earlier this week I found another pumpkin, an orange one, and yesterday I found a 2nd one. Happy little accidents!

 

[ducks4you]

My accidentally planted cantaloupe, which is keeping the horses off of their south pasture, and is 2x larger than the others, is STILL too green to harvest. I plan to let the horses eat the other two after I pull the biggest one. Notice the mushrooms and weeds growing in piled up 2021 used stall bedding, so you Can grow in it.