Gardening for Old Folks (Adaptative)

[KettermanHillCoop]

Maybe my husband will like canning. I just need to get the garden to grow more.

Be careful what you wish for! Lol. The bf LOVES the end product of canning and now has plans to increase the garden another 20 feet...at least! Lol

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

When I started I had bad clay soil that turned into a rock by the summer. My answer was to add organic matter on top to feed my worms which in turn make more soil for me.

In spring and summer we put grass clipping on the beds as mulch. In the fall we pile our leaves on top after chopping them up a bit. Top with aged manure to hold those leaves down.

I never till my soil. It destroys it. My soil is biologically active, I have tons of works and my gardens grow without any extra fertiliser.

It takes time, but eventually you will get a rich loan. Your worms will work the stuff into the soil. It's so easy. I am big on not working too hard in the gardens. It takes the pleasure out of it.

Very nice looking garden.

My time and energy is so limited I tend to garden with the el-naturale approach. Plus, I'm blessed with great soil.

I didn't use anything in my soil other than coffee grounds, egg shells, leaves and whatever grass clippings landed there by the wind as the mower passed by. I till once before I begin to plant to loosen the soil and in between my potatoes rows to loosen soil for hilling.

Since being on BYC, I've learned that coffee grounds need to be compost first...and chicken crapola is good for the garden...so now that I have crapola...I shall start fertilizing with it. Lol

I'm spookin' on this thread for doable ideas to raise up beds for easier access and to keep the dang bunnies from eating my cabbage!

 

[staceyj]

Ok, you folks out here who know what you're doing are probably going to beat me, but here's what I used for my soil mix in the raised beds. 2 parts 2yr old saw dust, 1 part sand X2, then 1 part 2yr old manure and 1 part mushroom compost... and repeat. My 12' beds got 5 gal of perlite and 1 cube of peat, by 20' bed 2X2. I also added lime, borax and something else (sorry don't remember and book is in the living room).

When I process birds, the blood get's equally distributed between the beds and I save pink water for watering. I try to water under the greenery and will eventually get my drip irrigation system in. I still need to get my slug/snail repellent system installed as well. But it did really well this year. I'll be doing soil tests in a month or two and figuring out where I need to go next.

@rjohns39 Please tell me about the borax!
Purpose, amount....
I had ants in one corner of my vegetable garden last year and they were awful!
Couldn't get rid of them and tried every "natural" suggestion in the book!

 

[rjohns39]

For my three beds I mixed two batches of: 1) 5 pounds lime, 2) 1 oz borax, and 3) 4oz of Epsom salt and evenly distributed it and turned it in. I also added a pound of the mittleider premix fertilizer to the two 12' beds and a pound, 12 oz to the 20' bed. Then watered it and let it rest a week before planting. As to why, well pretty much because the book said so I find soil science really confusing and tend to look for books published in the 30's to try and weave between modern science (aka dump chemicals at it) and real science using nature and natural ingredients. I tend to rely on rodale and mother earth to keep me on the right path. But in the end, I have no earthly idea what I'm doing and just stumble along. Sometimes I get lucky.

 

[igorsMistress]

@rjohns39 Please tell me about the borax!
Purpose, amount....
I had ants in one corner of my vegetable garden last year and they were awful!
Couldn't get rid of them and tried every "natural" suggestion in the book!

Ants gather different types of food depending on season, I can't remember those details right now but I'm sure you can find it online. I did have success on a small scale by mixing borax with powdered sugar for ants but we have had to resort to bait traps when they get out of control.

 

[chickadoodles]

Everyone's gardens look so beautiful. I am enjoying the pics so much.

I also have trouble with my old age aches and pains.

I am using the hi bred kiddie pool garden system. My plants are planted in a mix of peat and organic matter in the walmart re-usable grocery bags. Except for the strawberries they are planted in the kiddie pool on pallets. No weeding and no watering except for my strawberries. This is based on a wicking bed system.

 

[Nardo]

I drill tiny holes around the bottom edge of my milk jugs and put them in the garden between plants. Makes for quick watering when it hurts to stand.


My Mom used to take plastic 2 liter soda bottles and KEEP the cap on, but cut the bottom out. Then she would, just as you do, put tiny holes in the sloped neck part of the bottle and bury it (cap down) until all you could see was the new opening that used to be the bottom. These she could fill with water while standing up and they allow water to seep out all day long down into the ground where the plants' roots are.

 

[igorsMistress]

@Nardo

That is a great idea! I'm going to try it out in the bed I'm working on now, thanks.

 

[Rick&chickTampa]

I am not sure if I qualify as an old folk, I turned 57 on Monday. I do know I don't like stooping or squatting to pull weeds. I have a small shady back yard so growing a garden is difficult. Since these pictures were taken the largest U shaped bed was turned into out chicken coop and run area. I will say the chickens are more productive than the garden. Being in Florida I have tomatoes and peppers growing right now. I had to wrap my beds with chicken wire to keep the ladies from digging up the beds. I'll share pictures of those soon. I'm not real sure how to post these pictures so here's hoping I'll do it right.

 

[Rick&chickTampa]

I did it !!!