What Did You Do In The Garden?

[ducks4you]

Good plans @Prairie Rose. I am less worried about stepping on metal and MORE worried that one of my horses will be impaled running and being stupid. Horses also don't look both ways crossing a street.
NOT fond of the old fencing set in concrete, but I cannot understand why it would be reinforced with a metal fencepost. Fortunately, ALL of those cement blocks were relocated a few years back and now look like garden decorations. I still have 7 cement blocks that used to hold a wooden fencepost but not metal, so not the urgency to move them. They are more of an inconvenience.
Re the gladiolas, I imagine that 24 inches of mulching will help them survive, especially if this winter is like the last 2.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

Yep! They eat any bug or worm they encounter in there. They CAN destroy some leaves in doing so~they can shred squash leaves when eating the squash bug eggs~ or with their wide, flat feet, but if you keep the stocking numbers down and rotate them in and out of the area, you'll avoid most damage.

Try to get Indian Runner ducks...they are lighter wt. than larger, heavier breeds so they do less damage in trampling, and they are also taller so can reach higher on the plants for pests.

Thank you! I will have to get some!

 

[flowerbug]

nothing, but at least today i got what was left of the garlic cloves and scapes cleaned and sorted and put into containers so it can go back into the garage for cold storage. if it isn't kept in the dark and cold it will start growing. i need it to stay dormant as long as possible.

and then i made hummus and hot chocolate.

 

[Zeedman]

The extended below-normal temperatures have resulted in low indoor humidity, like we would normally experience in December. The silver lining to that is the beans dried down much faster. I cleaned, sorted, and packaged all but two varieties last night. The last Aeron Purple Star & Fortex were harvested just before the freeze, so I'll give those another couple weeks of drying yet.

 

[Trish Stretton]

I potted up the seedlings of my Jalapenos, eggplants, a new type of cherry tomato, misted my mushroom bags- NZ Oysters. Just got another strain to try.
3/4's the way along the next path. I was hoping to finish that today, but our weather!!! hot,cold, rain, sun,oops rain again.
sowed some Kohl Rabi, hissed over the slugs or snails that had eaten alot my Cannelinni beans. I did sow the oldest seed and am thinking I should resow with the newer ones.

Jack was looking very intently at the ground, then started to chase a little lizard, so I have started his training- leave the lizards alone!

 

[ninnymary]

Finished spreading horse manure all over the garden and then top mulched with hay. Not much for me to do other than take a walk each day to see how things are doing. Sadly my fall garden is not doing as well as other years. Those darn critters.

Mary

 

[thistlebloom]

Finished spreading horse manure all over the garden and then top mulched with hay. Not much for me to do other than take a walk each day to see how things are doing. Sadly my fall garden is not doing as well as other years. Those darn critters.

Mary

Hey that's what I did too! Except mine was fresh and it was two huge double wheelbarrows full. And muddy. And very heavy.

 

[ducks4you]

Me, too. I have been dumping from my stalls into my main bed area for 2 weeks now. Another week and it will be full. I am planning to grow sweet corn there next year. Fresh horse manure takes 4 months to break down and be safe for vegetables, although your roses like it fresh. I will till it in April a couple of times, then plant directly since corn is a very heavy feeder. I will also stagger my plantings. We all enjoyed sweet corn so much this year, I want a repeat.

 

[flowerbug]

Finished spreading horse manure all over the garden and then top mulched with hay. Not much for me to do other than take a walk each day to see how things are doing. Sadly my fall garden is not doing as well as other years. Those darn critters.

Mary

rats! (expletive) and rats? (question)

 

[ninnymary]

rats! (expletive) and rats? (question)

Most likely, it's hard to tell. We have racoons, opossums, squirrels, rats, and of course birds but it seems to be happening at night so my guess is rats. My husband has been making these "biscuits" that are being devoured so we'll see. Hopefully if nothing else they will move on elsewhere.

The weird thing is that they have never bothered my fall garden until this year. Maybe they've discovered it or food sources elsewhere are scarce.

Mary