vfem
Garden Addicted
So that is why I married my husband? It was so much like a garden!Beekissed said:At least, with a garden, you can give it lots of crap and it will love you more for it!
Garden Secrets: A Journal of Our Methods, Successes, Failures...PICS!
- Thread starter Beekissed
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curly_kate
Garden Addicted
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Hmmm...and what kind of 'crap' are you talking about??Beekissed said:At least, with a garden, you can give it lots of crap and it will love you more for it!
- Thread starter
- #13
Beekissed
Garden Master
As you can see from this pic, I had a lot of real lush growth with the raised beds and square foot gardening, but I didn't get the yields I expected from all that pretty green.
Also, the raised beds were just too shallow but I couldn't afford to go any deeper with the boards. As it was, these boards were scavenged from a building we tore down for a friend.
Here is my garden right now, with the clover that I planted over my crops last year. This is white dutch, red and yellow clover. I just plowed right into the ground cover and the clover will remain as my walking paths. If I grow nothing else in that garden this year, I will at least have a lot of clover!
I was amazed at how completely the clover choked out most of the usual weeds that I would have growing right now. I'm hoping that lasts all summer long. We shall see if all they say about using clover as a green mulch is accurate...I plan to sow more clover over most of my bigger veggies after they are planted to keep moisture into the soil, keep the weeds from growing and to add nitrogen.
Also, the raised beds were just too shallow but I couldn't afford to go any deeper with the boards. As it was, these boards were scavenged from a building we tore down for a friend.
Here is my garden right now, with the clover that I planted over my crops last year. This is white dutch, red and yellow clover. I just plowed right into the ground cover and the clover will remain as my walking paths. If I grow nothing else in that garden this year, I will at least have a lot of clover!
I was amazed at how completely the clover choked out most of the usual weeds that I would have growing right now. I'm hoping that lasts all summer long. We shall see if all they say about using clover as a green mulch is accurate...I plan to sow more clover over most of my bigger veggies after they are planted to keep moisture into the soil, keep the weeds from growing and to add nitrogen.
dragonlaurel
Attractive To Bees
Bee- Your place is gorgeous. I have farm envy. :tools That clover seems to be good stuff.
vfem
Garden Addicted
I think this year it will all fair rather well! I hear good things about clover as well. My neighbor did it last winter as a cover crop and he gave me some seed so I can do it this year as a cover crop too. He only has crimson clover though, but I do have white in my yard and I love it!
Did I mention it makes a lovely clover tea and clover jelly tastes an awful lot like a mild honey.
GREAT STUFF!
Did I mention it makes a lovely clover tea and clover jelly tastes an awful lot like a mild honey.
GREAT STUFF!
wifezilla
Deeply Rooted
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I think I can declare the redneck wall-o-waters a complete success.
My tomatoes that I put out in March did fine through a few snow storms, some frost, and some heavy winds. The tomato plants I did lose only had a sheet of plastic covering them. The wall-o-water plants set fruit while the plastic covered plants froze to death
To make a red neck wall-o-water, surround your freshly planted mater plant with some poultry wire. It should be fairly close to the plant, but not touching. Then surround the poultry wire with 2 liter soda bottles filled with water. You can then surround the bottom part of the bottles with straw for extra warmth and to help hold them in place if you have some available.
Commercial wall-o-water devices claim they protect plants down to 16F. We had a few nights down to 20 F so the red neck version seems to work just as well.
http://www.planetnatural.com/site/wallo-water.html
I also took some plastic cream bottles (about 1 liter each) and filled those with water and placed them next to my sweet potato plant. They are doing great too.
My tomatoes that I put out in March did fine through a few snow storms, some frost, and some heavy winds. The tomato plants I did lose only had a sheet of plastic covering them. The wall-o-water plants set fruit while the plastic covered plants froze to death
To make a red neck wall-o-water, surround your freshly planted mater plant with some poultry wire. It should be fairly close to the plant, but not touching. Then surround the poultry wire with 2 liter soda bottles filled with water. You can then surround the bottom part of the bottles with straw for extra warmth and to help hold them in place if you have some available.
Commercial wall-o-water devices claim they protect plants down to 16F. We had a few nights down to 20 F so the red neck version seems to work just as well.
http://www.planetnatural.com/site/wallo-water.html
I also took some plastic cream bottles (about 1 liter each) and filled those with water and placed them next to my sweet potato plant. They are doing great too.
- Thread starter
- #18
Beekissed
Garden Master
Thanks! Actually, that isn't a pen, it is my new garden fence to keep OUT the critters....TanksHill said:
BUT, this winter I am planting it to more clover and winter wheat and it will become a pen for my ram and hopefully a wether lamb.THIS, however, is the pen in which my sheep and bottle calf resided all winter. We are planting corn, pumpkins and sunflowers in this space. Parts of this pen is nothing but black, rich manure! Should be able to plant dimes and grow dollars!
After the corn, pumpkins and sunflowers are done, I will plant this to turnips, beets and kale for a winter feed supplement for the sheep. They can self feed off of that for up to four grazing rotations without damaging the crop and then they get to eat the crop, turnips, beets and all.
- Thread starter
- #20
Beekissed
Garden Master
So....what are you all trying new this year and can you post pics? Anything you wouldn't recommend?
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