What did You do "To Grow?"

[ducks4you]

I move a LOT of horsy pucky and soiled bedding from my three ponies and the chickens, first starting in November to my beds and other places to pile. I spend the Spring moving them again to where I need to use them to fix bad spots. I own 5 acres, and the horse's turnout is 4 acres worth. This year I am rationing their ~3 acre pasture. I thought that all of the grass was dead from 2 drought years and overgrazing. Nope. They just kept it so cropped that the clover was growing tall, and they've all had the slobbers. This year I'll have to buy hay to supplement and ration the grass. You have to keep them from overeating Spring grass. It is full of carbohydrates and can overload their systems and founder them, especially in the afternoon, when the sugars maxed out in the grass. This morning I let my ponies mow my 1/4 acre in the front of the barn, where the grass has moved in to the gravel. They'll finish mowing and then move out to their hay, but they should be fine.
It's not as exciting as all of the beautiful photos on this thread, but it's all gardening, right?

 

[digitS']

Photos on this thread?

Is this thing not working again ..<shake shake rattle shake> oh well, here are a couple of photos of the shed. It's not beautiful but useful for the purpose intended (I'm just pleased as punch the neighbor doesn't mind it being in his yard . I'm standing with the camera in his little garden.)

Steve

 

[digitS']

My first interest this Sunday morning was checking temperatures in protected-growing. The remote thermometer center is on the window sill beside the kitchen table.

Ummm, okay. Cold in the hoop house w/out heater at 39°f! Check nearest Weather Service info, 32° outdoors with a 16mph breeze.

It's okay, cabbage and kale starts must not be liking it but they haven't been coddled with nighttime heat for about 2 weeks.

That wind really drives down heat under the plastic and stored from yesterday's sun. Before the morning sun rose, that remote thermometer was showing 35°!

Steve

 

[Lavender2]

Photos on this thread?

Is this thing not working again ..<shake shake rattle shake> oh well, here are a couple of photos of the shed. It's not beautiful but useful for the purpose intended (I'm just pleased as punch the neighbor doesn't mind it being in his yard . I'm standing with the camera in his little garden.)

Steve
View attachment 6916
View attachment 6917

That is PVC?
I really need to get off my duff and build one of those. I know I would start more early cold crops. I'm moving some of the raspberries to my son's house this year. Setting a goal to get a hoop house ready in that spot! ... maybe try a late planting of something in it, but then it will be ready to plant in next Spring.

I always get so busy, with non-gardening things this time of year. That has got to stop.

 

[digitS']

3/4" pvc with 6mil construction-grade poly film, @Lavender2 .

This is 8' by 16', counting the shed. If I hadn't been building the shed in the neighbor's yard, I might have just used 1/2" pipe, which is what the other hoop house has.

That one, however, really shakes in the 40mph wind gusts like we had yesterday, despite it's protected location. (You can just see the other hoop house through the open door and into my yard, in that first picture.)

Oh, if you want to keep yours up more than just for a few weeks in the spring, be sure to use the uv-resistant plastic.

Steve

 

[digitS']

Yesterday afternoon was pleasant. DW and I were at the little veggie garden planting leeks, kale and bok choy.

This April morning will be the first here at home that it didn't freeze (or, snow). Since it's only 37°, I'm still waiting to see if the rain turns into April snow, again.

The leeks and bok choy are somewhat protected by trees. The kale is on its own ... with the onion sets, planted earlier.

Steve

 

[ccheek]

The family and I went to a garden show Saturday to "just look" but came home with a banana tree, Orange Frost Hardy Satsuma tree (never heard of it but it sounded interesting and I like trying new things), and a bunch of odds and ends in the flower and vegetable area that the kids wanted. Then we spend the afternoon into the evening planting everything. The kids and I tilled the garden and picked weeds for what seemed like forever while my husband did maintenance things on the mower and other mechanical stuff. We also let the little chicks out to free range and get some sun with the big ones. We finally filled up one seed tray (apparently I'm in good company on the running late thing), but still want to do a few more. And since I'm a picture fanatic I documented most of it.

Orange Frost Hardy Satsuma (if anyone knows anything about this advice is appreciated)

Banana Tree

Our (kinda) new chicks playing. We got different breeds this year because my daughter insisted.

My daughter, Jaci came and told me her chickens weren't letting her pick weeds out of the part of the garden that we had tilled. I thought she was just tired of picking weeds and came over to find this.

Then she found a four leaf clover in our front yard!

This is what our dining table looks like come spring time!

 

[digitS']

Set out half the dahlias. More than half are out of the basement storage room, some were in the garage, overnight. So , there is less of the stairwell work, this morning.

The beds were prepped about a week ago. Post hole digging went quickly enough. Imagine starting enough bedding plants for several hundred square feet of ground. Then, compare that to the few hours spent twice a year, dallying with dahlias.

Steve
now off across frosty lawn grass to the greenhouse with his tea mug to pot up some more plant starts for several hundred square feet of ground ...

 

[Smart Red]

Yea, I've been thinking about the dahlias. Haven't gone down to look at them yet. Our geothermal drilling mud was several inches thick over my dahlia bed. Today we got most of the gunk off and are ready to till the soil. Still, I usually wait until about May 1 to stick them in the ground. The begonias, however, are getting huge. I've never planted them this big before. Here's hoping the chipmunks don't bother the big plants as much as they did the 'bulbs' themselves.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I have been posting in the other thread. DigitS has bok-choy planted outside without cover? I have some planted and would be nice to take that plastic off and not mess with it. I am also a slave to tomatoes, peppers and basic taking them in and out. I noticed plants at Lowes the other day. I think they were $3.49, not sure, but $3 something and I have 24 basil plants, several different kinds and I was thinking how much that would cost and I never would ever buy 24 basil plants. I planted kale today.