What Did You Do In The Garden?

[TwinCitiesPanda]

I managed 3.5 hours outside today. Not great but very greatly improved over being bed-bound a few days ago.

I got lattice put up to plant peas against, and planted one of my potted cherry trees (fresh bark in foreground). I got peas started in peat pots in a garage window. The trellis is above a retaining wall, and all those walls are home to lots of voles. To give my veggies the best chance I'll be starting lots of things inside that I would usually direct seed. I also finished cleaning up the flower beds all around the front side of the house. I don't have time to dig up tons of grass or haul in dirt for raised beds, so I'm planting veggies in all my flower beds. The soil is a pretty mixed situation, and I'm not expecting a record-breaking yield, but we'll see.

 

[flowerbug]

You don't live out in the sticks, do you? Behind us are thousands of acres of uninhabited wilderness, no neighbors for 1/4 mi. on either side or out front and our water lines and septic field are not anywhere NEAR our garden.....we aren't so cramped here we have to locate a garden near such things.

Nope....just a lot of underground springs on this ridge and like pretty much a lot of WV. Our well is from an underground spring that runs between two beds of flint rock, produces 80 gal. an hour.

well, we don't live a long ways out in the country, but we also don't live in the hills (the hills around here are more like speed bumps - this area is called the Saginaw River Valley and it is an ancient inland sea/swamp/bog, there are layers of salt, coal and oil underneath us).

our closest neighbors are about 1/4 mile away too. i spoke to the ones from out back yesterday at a good social distance of about 100ft. they were unplugging a drainage ditch that i didn't even know was there. coming through the north hedge that i have always seen as a wild game trail. when i had the guy do the brush hogging i told him it was ok to pile things along the north hedge so it may have blocked it. anyways they got it cleared out enough so their lawn could drain. that ditch is over 1/4 mile long if it runs from their house and along the property line. so that would make a total of two ditches which run continually and two that are wet quite often but that those two would dry up in the less rainy weather (the ditch along the road and the one from the back neighbors).

we've had a lot of rain here lately again.

with the clay we have drainage is a big issue. i strive to make that clear flowing and clean water. if you check out my website i have a few projects which give details on the various ways i deal with the water and flash flooding we can get. i'll have to update my diagram of ditches as i don't have this new one located, but i'll have to wait until after this social distancing is done so i can talk to the neighbors more about it and walk it so i know where it is at.

From Space or Up on the Roof | Anthive

Views from the past and...

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Water | Anthive

Before you landscape, observe...

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[flowerbug]

DH, DD and I spent the morning at the gun range.
Great!!! Now, E V E R Y B O D Y here will be afraid to cross me!!!

i have my air rifle sighted in really well (finally!), it is not as consistent as i would like it to be but if i can hit half of what i'm shooting at at 100ft then it's doing a lot better than my previous gun.

i hate having to hunt varmints, but if i don't we get overrun. i never get them all i can only reduce the numbers enough so that i have a chance of getting some crops and having some flowers.

i daydream about having good enough fences up that i no longer have to hunt. to me that would be the right thing to do (and would waste a lot less time!).

 

[seedcorn]

DH, DD and I spent the morning at the gun range.
Great!!! Now, E V E R Y B O D Y here will be afraid to cross me!!!

Actually I would be less afraid. Those that scare me are the morons who buy ammunition and weapons and never are taught how to utilize them. Kind of like selling someone a Hummer and allowing them to drive without training-they are going to hurt someone.

 

[henless]

I think everyone should have some form of gun training before carrying a pistol around with them. I've been around/shot guns most of my life & I still had a handgun class before getting my permit. It amazed me how many people in the glass (6 yrs ago) that have never even touched a gun, much less shot one.

I got my kale transplanted out into the garden today. Worked on some of my mineral tubs. Putting drainage holes in them so that I can plant cherry tomatoes and peppers up by the house. My drill ran out of juice, so have to recharge before finishing that. It's a cold windy day out here. Nothing like Sunday.

 

[Ridgerunner]

While I consider knowing how to load, cock, shoot, and clean a gun plus where the safety is and how it works critical information I'd want someone protecting me to have training in when and how. I do not consider my time in the Army in a non-combat role any kind of training for that. Once I got out of basic I never fired a gun again, even though one of my jobs involved carrying a loaded 45. The one day a year for re-qualification I was on guard duty and missed it.

I've read about the church "protective force" guy in Texas that was in one of those situations and he handled it tremendously well. He saved lives. My niece has a gun carry permit and carries, no one I've talked to trusts her to make good decisions. Still, she is licensed to carry and does.

I also grew up with guns and prefer a 12 gauge for most things.

 

[TwinCitiesPanda]

4.5 yard-hours today, but I'm wiped out. I think I did too much. I mowed down a giant patch of sticker bushes (ouch). Then I finally selected a good spot to put in a veggie patch. I'm not sure it'll be ready for this growing season, but I'm getting it started anyhow. It gets all day sun and the retaining wall provides a windbreak too. I threw down a bunch of cardboard over the grass and then got to work mowing the lawn and dumping clippings on top. I did this at our last house last year and it was ready to plant in by mid May when we're safe from frost. I'll be mulching with wood chips if/when I can get them, but in the meantime grass clippings are a renewable resource I am very rich in. I'm also going to take the wagon back to the woods and rake up a bunch of leaf litter to add.

 

[flowerbug]

4.5 yard-hours today, but I'm wiped out. I think I did too much. I mowed down a giant patch of sticker bushes (ouch). Then I finally selected a good spot to put in a veggie patch. I'm not sure it'll be ready for this growing season, but I'm getting it started anyhow. It gets all day sun and the retaining wall provides a windbreak too. I threw down a bunch of cardboard over the grass and then got to work mowing the lawn and dumping clippings on top. I did this at our last house last year and it was ready to plant in by mid May when we're safe from frost. I'll be mulching with wood chips if/when I can get them, but in the meantime grass clippings are a renewable resource I am very rich in. I'm also going to take the wagon back to the woods and rake up a bunch of leaf litter to add. View attachment 34927

good to have it close to the house to help you keep an eye on things and to use the harvest when it is ready.

take it easy on yourself, you just got over being sick and don't need a relapse...

 

[Ridgerunner]

@seedcorn had you in mind when I took these today.

I planted my third section of Bodacious corn today. I try to do a planting every two weeks so I can space fresh corn over the summer. I'm a day late but I couldn't pass up planting on April Fools Day.

Our predicted torrential downpour of 0.01" failed to materialize but we did get some wind. I'll leave it alone and expect it to straighten back up. And I watered. If you look close you'll see that something is chewing on it a bit. Not sure what but I hit it with some Spinosad. Pretty sure it is a bug of some type.

This is my bed of bush beans, Bluejay variety. Still has a way to go but is getting there.

 

[seedcorn]

Nice......

As your u already know, corn will straighten up. May gooseneck but won’t hurt production. Curious what the ears will look like as thick as you have it. Assume you feed it heavy?

If I did beans that thick, I’d have nothing but white mold.