Grow Getters & Mad Potters (Gardening Thread)

Would you like to be part of a seed exchange?

  • Yes

    Votes: 20 64.5%

  • No

    Votes: 4 12.9%

  • Undecided

    Votes: 7 22.6%
  • Total voters
    31
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I am building a Greenhouse on my deck for fall. I cleared a plot of not so productive plants and planting Bok Choy for a fall garden. The seeds I have are from China and I am told I need to do some research on seeds from China but since I ordered them they should be safe. Not sure what the deal is with that but it halted my planting last night. I get the feeling I will be planting them tonight but not until I confirm its ok.
 
I've wanted a dehydrator for a long time. This may be the year?? Although, I always say that and then don't end up getting one for a lack of space to store it. I need to try the oven dehydrating at some point first maybe. Someone was telling me that they dehydrate everything on cookie sheets in the back window of their car.... Another thing I have yet to try, but have thought about it.
 
Kusanar said:
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)
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I have. And I've used mulch mulch and straw too.
I think the problem though is that using shavings or mulch (high carbons) pulls nutrients like nitrogen from the soil in the attempt to break down the mulch. I've also used shredded paper (not pretty) and also thin layers of dried grass, especially in walkways.
Shredded paper covered over in dried grass seems to work the best for me in terms of moisture control and weed suppression without robbing too much from the soil because it's a more balanced carbon/nitrogen mix.

Away from the beds themselves I'll use just about anything. Cardboard, papar, green grass clippings...whatever I can still mow around without an issue.
 
Kusanar said:
Oooh, I did not know that existed... Thank you!

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.
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Chipdrop is amazing! :)

That's pretty cool that you can compost your kitty litter. What is the brand that makes that? Or is it just wood pellets like you'd get for a pellet stove?
 
SnapdragonQ said:
I have. And I've used mulch mulch and straw too.
I think the problem though is that using shavings or mulch (high carbons) pulls nutrients like nitrogen from the soil in the attempt to break down the mulch. I've also used shredded paper (not pretty) and also thin layers of dried grass, especially in walkways.
Shredded paper covered over in dried grass seems to work the best for me in terms of moisture control and weed suppression without robbing too much from the soil because it's a more balanced carbon/nitrogen mix.

Away from the beds themselves I'll use just about anything. Cardboard, papar, green grass clippings...whatever I can still mow around without an issue.
Click to expand...
From what I have seen in my researching, if you are just using carbon heavy stuff for mulching, it may pull nitrogen from the very top of the soil but the roots go down deeper than that so shouldn't bother the root zone too much. I could always put a thin layer of the nitrogen soaked sawdust down first to be a buffer between the soil and the shavings. Can't be any worse than using straight pine bark mulch which is what we used all the time at the arboretum.
 
AgnesGray said:
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.
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This is exactly what started me on raising and growing our own food so many years ago. Everything made my child sick and subs or safe foods weren't readily available at all. A few of the allergies were grown out of, but Celiac and the major ones are going to be life long.

It wasn't at RK, but I found my gigantic pressure canner for like $40. It ended up being so handy for so many things! And every once in a while my local Sam's Club with have several pallets out of canning jars for terrific prices. Over the years I've collected plenty, but replacement lids are always helpful.
 
AgnesGray said:
Chipdrop is amazing! :)

That's pretty cool that you can compost your kitty litter. What is the brand that makes that? Or is it just wood pellets like you'd get for a pellet stove?
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It's actually pine pellets for bedding horse stalls. Like $8 for a 40 pound bag but they last forever, I have 5 cats using them and only go through a bag every 2-3 weeks.

I do separate out the poop from the litter and only compost the sawdust right now, though I do want to setup a humanure bin for the poop so I'm not wasting any of it, I figure cat and dog poop can't be much more biologically gross than human poop...
 

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