Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[Blarneyeggs]

 


in the square foot gardening book they make a big deal about the soil quality and the fact that it is airy and not compressed.  
but forests have nice dark dirt under the leaves............they are not great places to grow veggies due to shade

peat moss
vermiculite
good soil like miracle grow
compost
these are the kinds of things they list in certain proportions..................I actually think it maybe compost or soil.............

people who dig their veggie gardens and turn the soil are aerating the soil.................and fluffing it up..................


the raised bed idea was to eliminate the need to dig so much and to raise up the bed

digging is hard work
bending is hard on the back...............yet some raised beds are really not that high...........just put soil on top of the existing ground with a border...........


I am looking to keep my gardening efforts easier because my body aches!   knees back energy etc and

I would like to have the garden be  something that I don't have to keep redoing so much.............that is why I just LOVE PERENNIALS!  

I also have only a few sunny locations.
one is in the front yard
one is on my deck

because of this I use containers on the deck and want to have a few raised beds up front.

I didn't get the raised beds built because I built a new coop.!

I also planted 2 gooseberry bushes in the front sun..............with the usual digging  a hole method.  

I often cut corners and still have a lot of success (and a few failures, which I try to learn from). If I did what the gardening books recommend, I'd never even get started, I just don't have that much time or energy. I made raised beds in an established garden area and just shovelled the soil from between the beds into them. If any more was required, they would still be a pile of boards with weeds growing around them!

I don't mean to criticize the way others do things, they probably get better results, but sometimes "good enough" is all you can manage, often we even have to scale down what seems good enough.

This year my garden focus is on teaching my younger nieces (10 and 12), the basics of gardening. We are doing some fun stuff (indian corn from a cob they saved from last fall's decorations) as well as practical stuff (potatoes under a lot of mulch). They actually like to weed, and they are actively learning to recognize the weeds and the vegetables. I'm so proud of them.

Dennis, this sounds about right to me. I'm working harder on this year's garden than I have in years, Potatoes are new to me, I couldn't really grasp the 'bag technique' so I just threw them in the ground in late March. Now they are absolutely teeming with potatoe beetles, BOO! I have been hand picking them and every day remove at least 100, I've tried DE and read that they've developed an immunity to Permethrin, although this morning I sprayed them anyway hoping to kill off at least one stage of their development. Anyone else dealing with these critters?

This is our first year with broccoli, I sowed the seeds in. March, have big beautiful plants....but NO broccoli, what is up with that? Any ideas?

LMP, sorry no more pictures have been busy dealing with the patient. This was some pretty painful surgery. We were not prepared. Hard to see someone you care for in so much pain. Maybe I'll get garden pics today when I have better light.

 

[fisherlady]

LMP, sorry no more pictures have been busy dealing with the patient. This was some pretty painful surgery. We were not prepared. Hard to see someone you care for in so much pain. Maybe I'll get garden pics today when I have better light.

Ouch!! So sorry he's still hurting! and honestly... I think the hot and muggy summer weather just seems to make it worse when trying to recover from something like a surgery. Even with AC it is just uncomfortable to nap much and I always feel so sluggish when the weather gets like this!

I had a root canal yesterday afternoon and am having trouble dealing with the weirdness of the pain meds today... so I can't imagine how much worse it is after a major surgery!

I hope he starts feeling better soon!

 

[LizardCat]

Oh, and we got a truck! So now I can go get the plywood to finish the coop/run! Think I'll frame the run in 1x3s.

Congrats on the truck! The wife and I were thinking of one for similar reasons, but we're leaning towards teh minivan route right now.

Do yourself a favor with the run... If you're not going to double them up, skip the 1x3 and go for 2x3. 1x3 warps at the drop of a hat, and your frame will be crooked in a matter of weeks.

 

[eryan7]

Since I'm a posting hog tonight.....

My roo was brought into the flock 1/2 the size of the girls....they kicked his tucas pretty good...and thats normal...over time he learned to 'rule the roost'....and does nicely....a Rooster needs to earn the respect of 'his' girls....

A mean girl will only do two things: A) toughen Omelet up..., B) will bully him until he can't be in that flock...(imho, "B" is highly unlikely)

Can you take Omelet for a play date with his new girlfriends and see how they get along? If they have been without a male in the coop for some time he might get a very friendly reception. OTOH, hens can be hens and he might not. In that case, could you keep him until he's bigger and more assertive and try again? Maybe his new owners could keep him segregated but visible for a while if the feathers fly on first introduction.

Thanks for all of the great advise. Going to see if they can keep him segregated for a bit so the ladies can get used to him and then hopefully he can earn their respect. He seems like he is getting bigger everyday!

 

[dheltzel]

Dennis, this sounds about right to me. I'm working harder on this year's garden than I have in years, Potatoes are new to me, I couldn't really grasp the 'bag technique' so I just threw them in the ground in late March. Now they are absolutely teeming with potatoe beetles, BOO! I have been hand picking them and every day remove at least 100, I've tried DE and read that they've developed an immunity to Permethrin, although this morning I sprayed them anyway hoping to kill off at least one stage of their development. Anyone else dealing with these critters?

This is our first year with broccoli, I sowed the seeds in. March, have big beautiful plants....but NO broccoli, what is up with that? Any ideas?

LMP, sorry no more pictures have been busy dealing with the patient. This was some pretty painful surgery. We were not prepared. Hard to see someone you care for in so much pain. Maybe I'll get garden pics today when I have better light.

There are some other things you can try for the Potato Beetles, search on "organic gardening potato bugs" and you'll find quite a lot of info. There is even a new variety from Cornell called "King Hairy" that is purported to be resistant to them (and leafhoppers). If it's a big problem, it might be worth trying that variety. The cool thing with potatoes is how easy it is to save your own seed potatoes for next year. You never really need to buy additional stock unless you don't like the variety you are growing and want to switch.

 

[LizardCat]

in the square foot gardening book they make a big deal about the soil quality and the fact that it is airy and not compressed.
but forests have nice dark dirt under the leaves............they are not great places to grow veggies due to shade

peat moss
vermiculite
good soil like miracle grow
compost
these are the kinds of things they list in certain proportions..................I actually think it maybe compost or soil.............

people who dig their veggie gardens and turn the soil are aerating the soil.................and fluffing it up..................


the raised bed idea was to eliminate the need to dig so much and to raise up the bed

digging is hard work
bending is hard on the back...............yet some raised beds are really not that high...........just put soil on top of the existing ground with a border...........


I am looking to keep my gardening efforts easier because my body aches! knees back energy etc and

I would like to have the garden be something that I don't have to keep redoing so much.............that is why I just LOVE PERENNIALS!

I also have only a few sunny locations.
one is in the front yard
one is on my deck

because of this I use containers on the deck and want to have a few raised beds up front.

I didn't get the raised beds built because I built a new coop.!

I also planted 2 gooseberry bushes in the front sun..............with the usual digging a hole method.

The "official" SquareFootGardenning Mel's Mix is 1/3 peat (For fraibility) 1/3 multi-source compost (for nutrition) and 1/3 vermiculite (for moisture retention.) I've had very good results with this mix in both beds and as a container mix. That said, it's not totally ncessary, merely an convenience. If you read the 1st edition of the squarefoot garden book, Mel is advocating mostly compost. Over time, adding decomposed organics into the soil will improve its quality to the point that the other amendments are not really necessary. The question is...

...are you in it for the long game or the short game?

I've got a pretty big raised bed near the house that we built this year out of concrete and cinderblock. Believe it or not, this is my short game.

The bottom 1/3 is backfilled subsoil from the excavation we did to build the footer for the bed.

The middle 1/3 is excavation from the chicken run. With the girls scratching and pooping everywhere, this was without a doubt the best soil I've ever seen.

The last 1/3 was Mel's mix per the recipe above. The tomatoes have never been bigger, and my radishes have never come on so fast. Being 3 cinderblocks high, weeding, watering, and all other maintenance is a joy. No bending, no kneeling, no digging.

That said, we have several other raised beds (a square foot, a few traditional, even some bare rows) in the fenced garden in the back. And back there, I'm mostly playing the long game. We've strategically cleared trees and other sunlight obstructions. I've gone with Mel's Mix in a few of the beds, but most of them have been simply topdressed repeatedly with compost. When the weeds get too high, I cut them down with the diamond hoe, then top-dress again with another layer of compost. When I reseed after a crop is done, I topdress with another layer of compost. At the end of the season? You guessed it. More compost. The soil still isn't what I want it to be, but it's getting better. Much better than when we started this garden area 3 years ago.

I do till at the start of the season for the rows, but I'm starting to think this is only going to cause me more heartache. The rows where I have not tilled are doing just as well as the tilled bed, although they're all pretty far behind the Mel's mix beds. But the results are better than they were last year, and I'm confident that they'll be better still next year.

Now regarding convenience, there's nothing better than containers, squarefoot style or otherwise. Make your mix, drop it in a pot, box, or "bed", and then take that container and put it UP where you can reach it. My mother (who is in her 70's) has an old door sitting on top of a pair of saw horses. On that, are her dozen or so garden pots filed with mostly commercial container mixes, making up her vegetable garden. No bending, no kneeling, no digging. I've seen some very inventive setups done with picnic tables and scrap wood, creating a "sit-down" garden. The ultimate in lazy maintenance.

 

[blacktop240]

Saying hi! Just moved to Westmoreland county from upstate NY. Seeing who is near me.

 

[fisherlady]

Saying hi! Just moved to Westmoreland county from upstate NY. Seeing who is near me.

Hello!

Welcome from Northern Indiana Co!

Check for folks local to you on here...
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?fo...//www.communitywalk.com/pa_bycers/map/1552784

 

[stake]

All:
Took a few shots of the young ones...
Silkie: boy or girl?

baby roo

Olive egger

Dork mix

solo baby...three weeks, I'm guessing boy,,,,your thoughts?

CCL girl..

 

[ambergordon]

Hey guys!
Thought i'd pop in and say Hi! We've been busy around here with the garden, today i'm mulching- not my favorite task. I guess i haven't been here in awhile since i would have to read about 100 pages to get caught up. The girls have got me thinking about getting a few goats, they are obsessed with them, and i have a lot of brush to take care of!

Anyways, i hope that everyone is doing well and birds are healthy! I'll try to log on more......