Nevadans?

[VCfeathers]

Mind if I post a few garden pics? I went a little camera crazy today. To be polite, these are just the highlights:

That settles it Missy. Next year I'll pay you to come do my garden, and you can use all the land you want for yourself. I even follow directions well. So I'm happy to water, feed, weed etc... It would take me 10 years to get as good at gardening in this weather as you are. besides I have tons of room to can and store stuff so we could share that too. lol.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

I am SO jealous! What a gorgeous garden! Did you guys build a block wall to enclose it and then add good dirt? What kind of a box is that containing your zucchini?

Garden #2 was pre-existing, but hasn't been gardened in YEARS so the dirt was horrible. It was used by my friend's landlady's mother, who is long gone. Our friend is letting us garden it, and we throw him a vegetable or two now and then. It's only about a block from our house. We've been working in horse manure, rabbit manure, compost, and scum from my pond. And right now the plants are fertilized with whey from my cheesemaking, and coffee grounds that Aubrey gets me. The dirt isn't good yet. I asked our friend to throw every scrap of plant-based waste he has into a compost pile in the corner, and we'll till in the straw and stems in the fall. Next year, it'll probably be a lot better. We figure, by the time our friend moves out, it will be a great garden for somebody.

The zucchini box is made from an old fence that came down in the wind. A friend gave us the lumber last fall, in trade for us clearing it out, and my husband built the box. Through the winter we dumped in our kitchen waste and chicken poop, then in the spring I topped it off with about 6 inches of potting soil that I got on clearance. Next year, the bottom should be composted enough to plant whatever we want in there.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

That settles it Missy. Next year I'll pay you to come do my garden, and you can use all the land you want for yourself. I even follow directions well. So I'm happy to water, feed, weed etc... It would take me 10 years to get as good at gardening in this weather as you are. besides I have tons of room to can and store stuff so we could share that too. lol.

DEAL!!! I'll even help you build a good fence in the spring, if you need.

These past 2 years, I've put in a garden for a dentist friend of mine, in trade for dental work. Last year, we did all the weeding and watering because they had to temporarily move out of their house due to mold. This year they're back in their house, and have kids ages 9 years to adult, who are supposed to be doing the weeding and watering. It was not done well at all, and the garden was suffering badly. The last time I was over there, I had to step back and tell myself that my job was to plant it, not to ensure its success. The weeding/watering was their responsibility. But it was one of my babies, so I had to distance myself a little. So yeah... I guess I can't expect someone else to see their garden as high a priority as I see mine. But then, this was for a family that didn't need to save money on the food. They were doing the garden more as a project.

 

[VCfeathers]

DEAL!!! I'll even help you build a good fence in the spring, if you need.

These past 2 years, I've put in a garden for a dentist friend of mine, in trade for dental work. Last year, we did all the weeding and watering because they had to temporarily move out of their house due to mold. This year they're back in their house, and have kids ages 9 years to adult, who are supposed to be doing the weeding and watering. It was not done well at all, and the garden was suffering badly. The last time I was over there, I had to step back and tell myself that my job was to plant it, not to ensure its success. The weeding/watering was their responsibility. But it was one of my babies, so I had to distance myself a little. So yeah... I guess I can't expect someone else to see their garden as high a priority as I see mine. But then, this was for a family that didn't need to save money on the food. They were doing the garden more as a project.

I've been babying mine too, but gardening here is still a lot different than Oregon where everything grew. I have 5 4'X8' planter boxes with compost topsoil mix, 8 straw bales that I planted squashes and pumpkins in, plus a compost pile, but even with the chicken wire my chickens and yesterday the mustangs get in. I think we may need to build a lined wooden fence ( i have all the t&g lumber that was used as a chair rail in the house here) otherwise I'll need to make my garden look like Ron's chicken run! I had thought about keeping my babies in their run during the growing season, but that won't keep the horses out anyway... Sigh. I'm sure we'll figure it out.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Last year, a friend posted the fence that she has around her garden in Idaho. 8 foot tall, solid 4x4 posts, welded wire. To keep out deer.

A horse corral, lined with chicken wire that goes down about a foot, and up about 4 feet, would work well, I'm sure.

 

[VCfeathers]

I think most of my existing corals will have horses by then, but the large pasture on the northwest side of the house gets lots of sun and has the best soil. The Tyson's had it seeded with pasture mix for their cattle. I'm sure we could make it work. I think you and I might need more garden than we could fit into a 6' high enclosure. My biggest problem seems to be that my season is so short here that I don't really get a chance to rotate crops like I'd like. I keep seeing ads for free lumber piles and windows on craigslist. So i think a recycled window green house is in my future along with some cold frames for lettuce and such.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

I think you could get away with anything with a season of 90 days or less. Especially if you extend the season with a greenhouse, and keep lots of frost blanket and plastic sheeting onhand. This year I've discovered how many short-season varieties there are out there, like the corn and squash in my garden. Beans are 60 days, some squash are 80, tomatoes are 70 after transplanting. Plus, we could always plant the shorter-season stuff in your garden, and put the longer-season stuff in mine. My area of town is about the most sheltered there is in the entire area, regarding winds and temperatures. In the end, we all end up with tons of food. If this is something you want to do, starting in the fall would be a good idea, so you can start throwing your chicken/horse manure into the ground to compost over the winter.

Plus, if there are other people that want to garden and don't have the space, and you're fine with the idea, there's always the thought of trading food for labor. For several years I've wanted to create a network of gardeners that links people with land, and not enough time/strength to use it, with people that have no land but are willing to work hard.

 

[VCfeathers]

i'm always open to sharing the land and work, plus for those of you that have to drive up here. Spliting the fuel costs would help I'm sure. I can actually start tossing the chicken and horse stuff on it now. We aren't using that pasture at all. I ordered quite a lot of short season seeds from baker Creek this year. I only planted a few from each variety to test them. So I'll have tons of seed for next season. I'd like to start seed saving, so I only bought heirloom, non GMO varieties. I also have a new 150' roll of plastic sheeting. The wind is the biggest threat here, but maybe we could design a wind break of somekind.

Here's a list of seeds I have on hand;
(there are some herbs and edible flowers here too, I was hoping to start a medicinal garden)

​

Spear's Tennessee Green
A Grappoli D’Inverno Tomato
Jersey Giant Tomato
Black Cherry Tomato
Tam Jalapeno Pepper
Parisienne Carrot
Tiger Eye Mix Sunflower
Tall Deluxe - Snapdragon
Hungarian Blue Breadseed - Poppy
Scentsation Mix - Nicotiana
Blue Picotee Morning Glory
Marbles Yellow-Red
Black Currant Whirl Hollyhock
Marsh Mallow
Lavender
German Chamomile
Fenugreek
Dill Bouquet
Cumin
Cilantro, Slo-Bolt
Chives Common
Chia - Crown Jewels
Catmint-Grandview
Borage
Basil - Dark Purple Opal
Anise Hyssop
Atomic Red Carrot
Polka Dot Mix - Bachelor's Button
Sugar Baby Watermelon
White Wonder
New England Sugar Pie
Zucchini Squash - Gray
Zucchini Squash - Golden
Pink Beauty Radish
Helios
Sweet Chocolate
Red Cheese Pepper
Albino Bullnose Pepper
Black Hungarian Pepper
Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Pea
He Shi Ko Bunching Onion
Brunswick Onion
Bianca di Maggio Onion
Minnesota Midget Melon
Rocky Top Lettuce Mix
Miner's Lettuce
Lemon Cuke Cucumber
Country Gentleman Sweet Corn
Jaune Obtuse du Doubs Carrot
Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage
Tete Noire Cabbage
Bull's Blood Beet
Albino Beet
Old Homestead (Kentucky Wonder)
Orange Giant Amaranth​

 

[Lacy Blues]

I am willing to work hard. However, I'm at least an hour away from you guys over there in the Reno area. We just moved here last year and I'm still trying to get things upgraded for my birds. I breed Andalusians and I brought them all with me so I'm having to work with what was here and trying to improve it at the same time, even while its in use! Very difficult.

We have an area partly fenced off for a garden, even bought several loads of horse manure/straw and its all piled up out there. We have an ATV and a couple attachments, one is a disc for chopping and blending and the other one is a cultivator. I wanted to plant corn this year and many other things. Got asparagus and that is about all that exists out there right now. We got a pallet load of cinder blocks that we intend to set up in 4x10 beds and then we plan to get a planting mix at the local garden supply to put in the beds. We'll be mixing in the manure/straw as we fill it up for use. Hopefully next year we'll be able to plant something.

So much to do and too bloody hot outside to do it in! I'm not going out to get a heat stroke. We have NO trees so there is no shade at all except what the buildings provide, which isn't much.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Aubrey, I am sorry to hear about loosing your hen and your air conditioning pooping out! What a terrible time to have that happen with this heat wave! 

The thing to look for in your incubating eggs is the veins near the air cell. Those are the easiest to see. If you don't see veining there then the chick has died. If the egg quit, the blood veins will empty and settle into the middle of the egg and you will see a blood ring. Don't base the lack of movement as a sign the chicks aren't alive. I have had them duck and hide at the bottom of the egg when you shine the light in    Hope you get some to hatch 

Well that's good news then, there was GOOD veining going on. Just worried about the "liquid" in the green egg. Only two more days (I think?)