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  1. Intheswamp

    Improving Garden Soil?

    One other note... You might want to get a small bag of alfalfa pellets to use as fertilizer...it's mostly sold for animal food, but it's also a good organic type of fertilizer that helps build the soil and worms do well in it's presence. Be very careful if you buy rabbit feed, though, due to...
  2. Intheswamp

    Improving Garden Soil?

    Preparing a soil sample is simple,...probably no more time consuming than planting a six pack of pansies. :confused: If you are just going to throw stuff blindly at the garden then I would recommend lots, and lots of organic matter...manure, compost, leaves, food scraps, etc.,. A wildcard...
  3. Intheswamp

    Back to Eden Gardening and Hugelkulture and other non-conventional garden methods

    Have you considered one of these scoops that you hook up to your 3-point hitch? http://www.agrisupply.com/point-dirt-scoop-inches/p/67010/
  4. Intheswamp

    Vendor recommendation for purchasing electric fence controller?

    Oh yeah, I read about the aluminum foil method and may try it in the future. In reading it seems the polywire holds the peanut butter pretty good, and apparently it did. I figure if one skips over/through the fence I'll add another strand and tag it with the aluminum foil. Deer have a keen...
  5. Intheswamp

    Vendor recommendation for purchasing electric fence controller?

    I read strong recommendations *not* to put up the fence unless it would be energized as soon as it was set up. Once I had the wire up I went ahead and painted the polywire in several places with peanut butter thinned down with vegetable oil. I put this mixture on several strands and in several...
  6. Intheswamp

    Vendor recommendation for purchasing electric fence controller?

    Thanks for the replies, Howard. So far the charger has done a good job. An armadillo came through the fence once (dug a single small hole in the grass) but other than that I haven't seen any sign of four-footed critters coming in. I'm really more concerned with deer than raccoon in regards to...
  7. Intheswamp

    Vendor recommendation for purchasing electric fence controller?

    Howard E, my charger is pegging out like your charger is doing. Have you per chance "bumped" into the fence? :eek: I figure it ought to roll whatever comes in contact with it on to their...behind. :D Thanks for sharing your experience with the deer entering the un-charged fence and then...
  8. Intheswamp

    Vendor recommendation for purchasing electric fence controller?

    Well, I've come a long way since my last posts. I've got a four-strand polywire fence up and the 12v Parmak up and running. I sunk an 8' ground rod down 7' by hand (the bottle of water and shoving up-and-down method) but had to hammer the last foot down. My little fence tester maxes out at...
  9. Intheswamp

    Amending sandy soil

    <chuckle> I hope mine will last 30 years.....and I'm the one keeping the weeds clear. Of course I'll be 90 years old but that shouldn't keep me from running my tiller...should it?
  10. Intheswamp

    Vendor recommendation for purchasing electric fence controller?

    Howdy Howard E, thanks for the positive feedback on the charger. Most everywhere that I've looked the reviews are good for this model...hopefully mine will be a good, long-lived one. And, yes, I've seen several different names on the Parmak chargers...Parker McCrory Mfg. Co. is the...
  11. Intheswamp

    Vendor recommendation for purchasing electric fence controller?

    Well, I ended up getting it from Jefferspet.
  12. Intheswamp

    Amending sandy soil

    No dogs at the moment and won't be any pits. I put an order in for a fence charger this afternoon...Parmak Magnum 12v battery operated. I've got a 100w pv panel and ordered a small charge controller for it. Last thing to get is a battery to store the solar energy in and feed the...
  13. Intheswamp

    Vendor recommendation for purchasing electric fence controller?

    I'm going to be purchasing an electric fence charger and have decided on the Parmak MAG12-UO, a battery-powered charger. This will be set up in conjunction with a pv panel and charge controller. It's primary use will be to protect a vegetable garden from (lots of) deer. Has anyone got a...
  14. Intheswamp

    Amending sandy soil

    CR, it sounds like you're doing great!!! You're doing a lot better than I am. I'm still trying to figure how to fence my plot to keep deer out. I've got tomato and pepper plants needing a place to plant roots but the deer are holding square dance lessons in my new garden area. Right now I'm...
  15. Intheswamp

    Amending sandy soil

    Are you planting in regular rows or wider rows or beds? 1600sqft is a lot of ground to cover. Wider rows/beds will allow you to put your organic materials only on the growing area. 16 wide rows or beds that are 20'x3' with roughly 2' paths between would fit on the 40x40 plot. (I would cut...
  16. Intheswamp

    What are you canning now?

    Thanks erlibird.
  17. Intheswamp

    What are you canning now?

    If I use some of my canned chicken in a casserole should I still boil it for 10 minutes? Seems the casserole will cook for 45-60 minutes at 350F. Thanks, Ed
  18. Intheswamp

    Back to Eden Gardening and Hugelkulture and other non-conventional garden methods

    The orange oil "melts" the exoskeleton of ants...so bugs with "shells" are in danger. Not sure about soft-bodied bugs...worms, catepillars, etc.,. I've read where folks say over-application results in burned leaves...seems a conservative mixture of 1 to 2 ounces per gallon works the best...
  19. Intheswamp

    Back to Eden Gardening and Hugelkulture and other non-conventional garden methods

    Thanks Isay Willow, I had forgot about orange oil. Yes, orange oil seems about the only think to deal with these imported terrors. I think they started using it in Texas several years ago. Have they got to where they can state it's use for killing fire ants or is it still a "cleaning agent"...
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