Xerocles head in the clouds and feet firmly in the mud.

[baymule]

I think you should get that Royal Golden watermelon on page109, I am. For all my garden efforts and failures, this place grows some beautiful watermelons. And I don't even plant them! They volunteer from watermelon rinds we tossed over the fence to pigs, chickens, sheep and horses. So this year I am going to plant some ON PURPOSE. They will probably die.

 

[flowerbug]

hello and welcome to TEG.

i'd be terracing that 30ft drop, one or two divisions, before doing anything else. it is a lot easier to do your hard excavation when things aren't in the way...

 

[Xerocles]

Well, I haven't really done anything gardenwise since my last post. Rained all Friday. Yesterday I went grocery shopping (special store/really inexpensive) about an hour away, but stocked up for at least a month. Today I am expecting company, maybe play some games, take it easy. Tomorrow, will get the rest of the hay down. THEN I can actually start to work securing and planning the garden.
Advice?? As I said. I'm getting ducks which will live in the garden (enclosed). I have a bathtub I'm going to put in there (just sitting on top of the ground). But want to avoid erosion when I pull the plug to clean. I was thinking, cut a 55gal tub (plastic) in half, top to bottom, fill it with holes, bury it to ground level beneath the tube. Pull the plug, the water drains into the barrel, seeps out the holes, and gently soaks the garden with duck poop enriched water. Will it work? Is there a better plan?

 

[thistlebloom]

Your last post was Friday and this is Sunday so maybe we'll give you a pass on not having your garden finished and planted already. Mine isn't done either.

You have clay soil yes? I'm no expert but I don't see the water flowing out and away from your buried barrel in clay. I see the duck poo clogging holes when it meets clay resistance.
How about using a perforated pipe connected to the drain and letting drain right out on your hay. You could probably rig it so you can direct it in different directions by moving the pipe.

 

[Xerocles]

Your last post was Friday and this is Sunday so maybe we'll give you a pass on not having your garden finished and planted already. Mine isn't done either.

You have clay soil yes? I'm no expert but I don't see the water flowing out and away from your buried barrel in clay. I see the duck poo clogging holes when it meets clay resistance.
How about using a perforated pipe connected to the drain and letting drain right out on your hay. You could probably rig it so you can direct it in different directions by moving the pipe.

Where's the fun in that? I WANT to be out there digging a grave size hole in that wet, heavy, sticky clay. If it's not verging on giving me a heart attack or hospitalizing me from exhaustion, how can I justify it as legitimately DOING something? People like you make me sick! Wimp!
Hmmmmm. Yeah.....corrugated drain pipe. Connected directly to the tub drain. On top of, or even under the hay. One time drain north, next time drain south. No clogging. D@%n I'm smart! I am SOOOOO glad I thought of this! You should get onboard @thistlebloom !
Seriously. That's a winner. Thanks a ton!

 

[thistlebloom]

The trouble with digging a grave size hole in heavy clay is the danger of collapsing into it... people may not realize the actual purpose and consider it suicide by shovel.

 

[flowerbug]

The trouble with digging a grave size hole in heavy clay is the danger of collapsing into it... people may not realize the actual purpose and consider it suicide by shovel.

i try to save those depths for when it is a dry spell so not too much risk of that happening, but i have had some spectacular slumps happen to me during some of the time when i've been putting in drainage tubes. i love standing barefoot in sticky clay with a hand trowel scooping out clay from a narrow trench. it was faster than having to scrape each bit off the shovel (and my shoes).

it did get done.

i'm glad i don't have to do much more of that sort of thing here.

one nice thing about clay, you can take the days off after a rain for good reason. it's ok...

 

[flowerbug]

as for composting i do a lot of burying things in clay for several reasons. one nice reason is that it gives me some extra elevation to get above the flash flood stage. the other reason is that i don't care to do a lot of fancy and complicated work making composting. i just bury it instead and let the worms and rest of the soil community sort it out. after a few years it's ready to be dug up again and mixed with the surface garden soil and that works pretty well for me. keep it simple, keep it easy, gets it done.

 

[Xerocles]

All right! The hay is in place to begin it's magic. Only wish I'd had it down this time last year. Except for cool roots and water retention, its not going to help much this year. But what the hey. Gotta start somewhere. With LOTS of rabbit pellets I STILL might get a few tomatoes.

 

[baymule]

What about raising the tub off the ground enough to accommodate a shut off valve, skip pulling the plug. Make cinder block steps to the bathtub for your duckies. When that chain comes off the plug, and you know it will, I don't think you'll like being armpit deep in green, smelly, duck poo water, trying to find the plug......jus' sayin'