Mumsy's Romantic Garden Advice

[MumsyII]

Thanks Mumsy, I never thought of covering with plastic...... great idea though! Dh will be pleased when I tell him.

My girls managed to get under the bird netting that we currently have over all the veg to keep all birds out and in the 2 minutes that they were in there, they managed to almost strip one of the cauliflower leaves completely. Thankfully they did not get as far as attacking the cauliflower head that is growing otherwise I think we would be having chicken for dinner tonight.

Mustard does sound good though, love mustard as does DH, same goes with radishes. We are trying to get another bed ready for veg. Removing the clay and filling up with soil and chicken litter so maybe we can start another lot of cauliflower, broccoli etc there and cover away from prying eyes of insects and girls.

Row covers are a woven material. Very gauzy. Looks like this...

I've used cheese cloth and sheer fabric before as well. If you use plastic to keep heat in for the Brassica family, you run the risk of your plants bolting. (producing flowers instead of the crop you expect)

You have the idea when it comes to dealing with very hard and dense clay. Build a raised bed over the top of it.

I fill it half full with DL then top it off with either compost or other good soil. My magic formula is one large bag of peat moss mixed with three bags of steer manure. Mixed on a tarp to protect the lawn with a garden hose until the texture of brownie mix. Hard work with a shovel but this mix allows me to grow amazing vegetables and flowers in my raised beds. The fresh DL in the bottom of the raised box warms up the roots of plants in early Spring as it breaks down. The compost on top gives seeds or small transplants an easy medium to sink baby roots into.



I would not be able to grow tap root vegetables if it were not for my raised beds. My soil is not clay but it is dense and hard for me to shovel or fork. With my raised beds built the way I describe...I can plunge my bare hand into the soil up to my wrist with no effort. It is very friable. Perfect for root vegetables.

 

[MumsyII]

It took some searching but found these of the raised beds in the Potager garden. DH helps me. We garden together. One of the true joys of our forty year marriage.
Behind him is the row cover over my newly planted Cauliflower. He is mixing my magic formula. You can see a bed he has heaped. That is my carrot, beet, and leek bed producing wonderful crops now.

I hate straw. The only place I will use it is early Spring on the paths between beds. I use local grass hay now. It breaks down faster.

 

[aoxa]

@Leahs Mom: The book is not familiar to me but it appears to be a good one.

@Aoxa: Good find! Own root roses grown in the field and offered bare root or potted! A very comprehensive offering. Yes. I am familiar and have grown all of the Albas, Gallicas, and many of the species. One or two of the Piminelifolia and The 'Other' in the end have quite a few as well. The Canadian varieties are not known to me but many many of the roses at this nursery are worthy and I can give first hand accounts on what they will do under a system of neglect, no fertilizer and no spraying poisons. Some are no longer with me. Nothing lives forever. I suggest anyone that gets an old own root rose, try and get a few cuttings going so you have one or two in reserve in case of accidental deer or goat munching. I protect my newly planted roses, trees, shrubs with chicken netting. Bird netting gets tangled in the thorns and becomes impossible to remove with out cutting it out. I quit using it except when draped over other supports held above the young plant.

So you like this nursery? Susan and I are going to go in August after the fence is up and get some roses for sure. I'd like something that I can cut and use in flower arrangements, and that smells like a rose. One that grows quickly, does well in our climate and has a lot of blooms on each bush.

I may get a climbing variety as well and get rid of the clematis on the front of our house (really don't like this variety of clematis, whatever it is!).

 

[MumsyII]

So you like this nursery? Susan and I are going to go in August after the fence is up and get some roses for sure. I'd like something that I can cut and use in flower arrangements, and that smells like a rose. One that grows quickly, does well in our climate and has a lot of blooms on each bush.

I may get a climbing variety as well and get rid of the clematis on the front of our house (really don't like this variety of clematis, whatever it is!).

Yes! This is one of the best online offerings of own root roses I've seen in many years. Do go and see their fields and growing conditions.

Do your research before you go. Old rose varieties and species only bloom once generally speaking. Just like Spring blooming shrubs. They are pruned after blooming unless you want them to become large shrubs. Many of the Gallicas and Albas make wonderful cut roses for the house once you remove the thorns and most leaves. The single bloom species lose their petals soon after picking. There are many types of fragrance among roses. The David Austin English roses have been crossed with old varieties to make new varieties. They will repeat bloom and many smell wonderful. Some old roses have little to no scent and some down right stink. Rosa Foetida comes to mind. Also called 'The Stinking Rose."

The best time to visit a rose nursery is in June. Peak month for bloom. But now is good too because you can see if the plants are disease resistant. By this time of the year, many things like mildew and black spot have started to set in. If they grow their roses organically, you will see first hand if their efforts are working.

 

[Alibabe]

Thank you Mumsy, this is awesome. We tried to grow carrots but our raised bed was not raised enough but if you don't try, you don't learn by mistakes. We also have old grass clippings mixed with the chicken manure which we will also add to the mix so hoping to get about just under a foot of good growing ground over the clay.

Just curious - I heard that peat moss is bad..... have no idea why! More than happy to use it, but just wandered why peat moss? Could we use peat moss instead of buying in soil or do we stilll need soil, peat moss and manure?

Do you ever use bone meal? My Mom can grow anything and always used bone meal and compost. When back in SA, I did the same but have not seen it here in the UK. Just wondered if you use it, do you recommend it?

Thanks for all the help, greatly appreciated

 

[MumsyII]

Thank you Mumsy, this is awesome. We tried to grow carrots but our raised bed was not raised enough but if you don't try, you don't learn by mistakes. We also have old grass clippings mixed with the chicken manure which we will also add to the mix so hoping to get about just under a foot of good growing ground over the clay.

Just curious - I heard that peat moss is bad..... have no idea why! More than happy to use it, but just wandered why peat moss? Could we use peat moss instead of buying in soil or do we still need soil, peat moss and manure?

Do you ever use bone meal? My Mom can grow anything and always used bone meal and compost. When back in SA, I did the same but have not seen it here in the UK. Just wondered if you use it, do you recommend it?

Thanks for all the help, greatly appreciated

You are very welcome.

I remember using bone meal when I used to plant vast numbers of tulips and daffodils. I throw chicken bones in my compost that break down. We also harvest Dungeness crab every year and I crush and throw the shells in there too. I think it may depend on your soil make up. I haven't used the processed stuff in decades.

I use peat moss because it is readily available here. I had ten yards delivered to my property back in 1990 from a local bog that was being dug out removed for development.

Some people advise against it (peatmoss) claiming it is a non renewable resource.

When I use the 1:3 ratio with peat moss and bagged steer manure, I can then start with an awesome bed of friable dirt on top of DL. Every winter I continue to add another inch or four of new DL on top. The DL on the bottoms keeps breaking down and the top level of the bed will shrink. It is jump starting a great growing medium. This is what I do. It works exceedingly well.

 

[Alibabe]

Sooo. DL for chickens and DL for raised beds, makes sense to me

I will definitely give it a go, can only be better than what we currently have.

We recycle food waste here (that which we don't give to the girls which is not much) so normally throw all bones into recycling and most of the balance goes to the girls. I never thought of putting bones in the compost but it makes sense when you think about it.

So tomorrow will be peat moss, manure, soil and DL from girls all in a big pile and leaving it to work its magic. We want to start planting winter veg so need to have the bed ready to roll soonest. We seem to like all the cabbage family and we want to try Brussel sprouts so need to have a good bed ready for planting soonest. Love to add beetroot to that as well as broccoli and more cauliflower. Could eat those veg till the cows come home and never get tired of them.

 

[MumsyII]

Sooo. DL for chickens and DL for raised beds, makes sense to me

I will definitely give it a go, can only be better than what we currently have.

We recycle food waste here (that which we don't give to the girls which is not much) so normally throw all bones into recycling and most of the balance goes to the girls. I never thought of putting bones in the compost but it makes sense when you think about it.

So tomorrow will be peat moss, manure, soil and DL from girls all in a big pile and leaving it to work its magic. We want to start planting winter veg so need to have the bed ready to roll soonest. We seem to like all the cabbage family and we want to try Brussel sprouts so need to have a good bed ready for planting soonest. Love to add beetroot to that as well as broccoli and more cauliflower. Could eat those veg till the cows come home and never get tired of them.

Yes! You are going to see bumper seed germination and growing vegetables is going to become a joy for you. Always remember. Raised beds warm up faster and dry out faster. Watering deeply becomes critical.

During the winter I will take the kitchen waste like peelings, and citrus rinds out to the Potager garden and dig a hole in one of the beds and dump the stuff in. Then bury it. I move around the beds so all of them get their share. By Srping it is rotted in and ready to go. I don't put the bones out there because I don't want to invite vermin and raccoons into that area. I usually bury them deep into the compost pile. The worms break them down quicker that way.

 

[starlingdaly]

Wow, I finally caught up!
You guys have inspired me to make a new, small raised bed to grow my veggies in!
I am also going to try to locate Osage orange in NC for the new chicken coop and a border for the old mini pasture.
If anyone in NC knows where to get it (or of a reliable online nursery that sells it) I would very much appreciate the tips.
Thanks and happy gardening!

 

[starlingdaly]

Oh also, does anyone have any spare Jerusalem Artichoke roots they would like to share? I can wait until the plants die back, of course!