Grow Getters & Mad Potters (Gardening Thread)

[Compost King]

I want to get a dehydrator.

I once built a dehydrator using a Dehumidifier in a closet, I do not recommend this for food because I do not trust my crazy contraptions but if others come out and say this works for food... maybe I stumbled on to something. I just did this with herbs that people said I just needed to hang and dry but humidity lead to moldly herbs. A dehydrators is probably cheaper but if my crazy contraption works you can dehydrate an awful lot at once.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

Thinner food and herbs can be placed between to furnace filters and those can be strapped to a box fan. Leave on low until dry. I have not tried this so can not say how well it works.
Some foods can be dried on cookie sheets in a slow (low heat) oven too. I haven't tried this either but have at least read oven drying directions in different places.

 

[Kusanar]

Me too. I want to get a dehydrator.

I would recommend an Excalibur dehydrator. I have the small 5 shelf one and I haven't found anything it can't do.

 

[Kusanar]

Also, has anyone used pine shavings for mulch? From my googling it looks like they will work well as mulch and then can be composted at the end of the year and fresh put on for mulch again. Just looking for help keeping the sun off the soil and keeping the water from splashing off of the soil and onto the leaves.

I'm thinking buying a bale or 2 of the fines and use those for mulching and helping with weed suppression around the bed so it's easier to mow around (my bed is cinderblock lined and you can only get so close to the blocks with the mower so there is a thin band of tall weeds all the way around... sigh)

 

[AgnesGray]

In a pinch, try Tractor Supply or Rural King. Not the least expensive place to find supplies, but I've always seen jars and a few supplies at all the TSCs I've been to. Usually I wait until canning season is over and stock up on the mark downs, and put them up for the following season.

I can eat night shades but my kiddo has major allergies and neither of us can have gluten, so baking or canning is often very challenging. I have tried baking with coconut flours, almond meals, an even ground flaxseed.
Canning has gotten a little easier since kiddo outgrew the tomato allergy, but drying foods in a dehydrator worked well for us since I didn't need to add anything to the foods to preserve them.

Rural King is amazing. I got my water bath canner there with the basket and everything for $35 and they had PCs for $89 when everyone else is near $200 or sold out completely. This beside piles of jars and pickling salt and... well, everything you could need for canning. They're regional though, I thought, but for those of us who have one nearby, really helpful.

It can be tricky to feed everyone in the house when there are different allergies and food intolerances going on. One of the reasons I have chickens and am growing stuff is to avoid some of the stuff we're sensitive to that is in our food. When we all come together to eat though, end up with a gluten free, dairy free, corn free, legume free meal. My father-in-law has developed a tomato allergy, too. It can be a challenge.

 

[AgnesGray]

Also, has anyone used pine shavings for mulch? From my googling it looks like they will work well as mulch and then can be composted at the end of the year and fresh put on for mulch again. Just looking for help keeping the sun off the soil and keeping the water from splashing off of the soil and onto the leaves.

I'm thinking buying a bale or 2 of the fines and use those for mulching and helping with weed suppression around the bed so it's easier to mow around (my bed is cinderblock lined and you can only get so close to the blocks with the mower so there is a thin band of tall weeds all the way around... sigh)

I add them to my beds after they've run through the coop or brooder for a bit. They tend to fly away before that. One thing about them is that they take forever to compost, so I tend to put them in places that this doesn't matter.

We signed up for chipdrop and got a load of wood chips and logs this spring (three dump trucks full... eek!) and have been using that in our beds and in the chicken run.

 

[FortCluck]

I would recommend an Excalibur dehydrator. I have the small 5 shelf one and I haven't found anything it can't do.

I want the 9 shelf one. I’m just waiting until after august to get it. Saving my pennies

 

[AgnesGray]

I'm working on fall planting now and contemplating building another of Ms Biddy's Cattle Panel Coops as a greenhouse (clear panel roof and shelves instead of nest boxes). We're not too far from corn harvesting time and are starting a fall garden here soon.

Anyone else planting for fall and what are you planting?

 

[FortCluck]

I'm working on fall planting now and contemplating building another of Ms Biddy's Cattle Panel Coops as a greenhouse (clear panel roof and shelves instead of nest boxes). We're not too far from corn harvesting time and are starting a fall garden here soon.

Anyone else planting for fall and what are you planting?

I’m buying a high tunnel I think

 

[Kusanar]

We signed up for chipdrop

Oooh, I did not know that existed... Thank you!

I add them to my beds after they've run through the coop or brooder for a bit.

I actually don't use them for bedding for anything so they would be fresh from the bag when I put them down... I used shredded paper this year and didn't have a lot of blown away mulch so not sure how much worse the pine shavings would be.

I am also composting the sawdust from my cats litter boxes. I use pine pellets for them and when they pee on the pellets they break down into urine soaked sawdust. Urine is another form of nitrogen and it actually breaks the sawdust down pretty well once you get it outside in contact with the dirt and wet it down really good.

I have a trash can I'm composting in to get HOT compost (black plastic in full sun in 90+ degree weather) and what won't fit in the can is piled up next to it, both batches are breaking down nicely but the can is breaking down and changing color faster obviously.

I also made a trommel for cleaning my litter boxes, turns out, not good for that, so I will be taking it to the farm and using it for a compost sifter. If it won't go through the 1/2 inch hardware cloth it goes back in the compost pile until it breaks down enough, so not worried about pine shavings taking a while, they can take all the time they need.