The Front Porch Swing

[heartsizedfarm]

Spent the day weeding dandelions by hand out of the bed under the spruce trees. Seems spruce tree needles and cedar mulch suppress almost everything except dandelions and nettles. Also constantly slapping mosquitoes. So caught between pests and weeds I do confess to having a few moments where I did not feel as blessed as Bee, but, I can amend my perspective there.

We also have bluebirds nesting in the top of the spruce trees, and barn swallows skimming mosquitoes off the pond, and a really rare tree swallow nesting for the first time that I've seen in a box on the fence line. My sheep meadow is mowed all crooked because I didn't want to get too close to the nesting box with the mower. Tough call! Straight lines or tree swallow conservation!

Anyway, those are some enchanting things that certainly make up for weeds and pests.

 

[tntchix]

Check out the nutritional info on the white clover for your chickens....averages 23% ~but can be higher~protein and is highly digestible. My birds love it and will graze on it morning and evening...I suspect the sugar levels are higher during those parts of the day.

http://www.feedipedia.org/node/245

I'd bookmark that link...it has tons of valuable info on feed for livestock, particularly forage/graze.

I grabbed some clover by the handful as I was running in from the rain and threw it in the brooder. They went nuts!

 

[browncow15]

We are about in the same zones...supposedly we are zone 6 but I'm thinking that has changed with the recent climate changes.  We have very clay soil also, so this is a great way to keep them from compacting.  You don't have to cut the clover as it only grows so high but if it does grow higher than you like you can just mow it down...the pieces that fly over to the plants can be green mulch. 

That's not plain black plastic but suppression "cloth" which is a very thin plastic with perforations all through it to allow for water and heat exchange....very thin but very tough.  They use it mostly in landscaping to suppress weeds but allow for moisture retention and weed suppression.  The commercial growers use it also.  This is the first year we've tried it...it's a little pricey for my taste but we really wanted to see how well it worked.  So far we really like it.  The worms love it as well, which is all good in my book. 

We are a little leery of using plain black plastic in gardens....my sis did that one year and saw it moving one morning.  She pulled back the plastic to find many, many snakes had taken up residence under there to solarize themselves in the morning....all kinds of snakes.  Yeah..nightmares.

ETA:  We will use the same pathways of clover for a couple of years or more, only plowing the rows.  We replant the rows to clover for the fall.  Then, eventually, we plow up the whole place and put the rows where the pathways used to be and just keep that cycle going...it's a good way to rotate the crops and amend the soils.  

Beautiful garden! I'm planting my first garden this year, and ofcourse am behind! Pregnancy and two little ones will do that to you. But anyway, I was curious how the clover works without the landscape fabric? Does it spread into your beds?

I've got to get something down as my spot was pasture last year and the weeds and grass are really going to get away from me!!

 

[Beekissed]

Beautiful garden! I'm planting my first garden this year, and ofcourse am behind! Pregnancy and two little ones will do that to you. But anyway, I was curious how the clover works without the landscape fabric? Does it spread into your beds?

I've got to get something down as my spot was pasture last year and the weeds and grass are really going to get away from me!!

It can if the seeds fall there when you plant them...I intentionally planted clover around the base of my yellow squash...you can see those in one of the pics. Usually I just mulch directly around the plants/the row, with hay and plant the pathways to clover. You could plant the clover right up to the plant if you wished but not sure how that would all turn out...this is the first year I tried that a little and only around the squash...wanted to see how that would go. I'll let you all know how that works out....

 

[Beekissed]

Spent the day weeding dandelions by hand out of the bed under the spruce trees. Seems spruce tree needles and cedar mulch suppress almost everything except dandelions and nettles. Also constantly slapping mosquitoes. So caught between pests and weeds I do confess to having a few moments where I did not feel as blessed as Bee, but, I can amend my perspective there.

We also have bluebirds nesting in the top of the spruce trees, and barn swallows skimming mosquitoes off the pond, and a really rare tree swallow nesting for the first time that I've seen in a box on the fence line. My sheep meadow is mowed all crooked because I didn't want to get too close to the nesting box with the mower. Tough call! Straight lines or tree swallow conservation!

Anyway, those are some enchanting things that certainly make up for weeds and pests.

I've heard Ontario is quite beautiful, so you probably are used to beautiful days and scenery.

 

[Tomtommom]

Lovely garden!

 

[browncow15]

It can if the seeds fall there when you plant them...I intentionally planted clover around the base of my yellow squash...you can see those in one of the pics.  Usually I just mulch directly around the plants/the row, with hay and plant the pathways to clover.  You could plant the clover right up to the plant if you wished but not sure how that would all turn out...this is the first year I tried that a little and only around the squash...wanted to see how that would go.  I'll let you all know how that works out.... 

Ah I see that looking at the pictures again. Defiantly let us know how it goes!

 

[lazy gardener]

I just love that there are so very many ways to keep a garden. Bee, your garden looks so nice and neat, and weed free... and obviously, that clover is great as a nitrogen fixer, bee forage, and later as fodder for the chickens. In my yard, if I did the black plastic, it would be an ant fest throughout the growing season, yet others in my neck of the woods use black plastic without any problems.

 

[Loc20chick]

Girls, I don't know what your weather or day is like where you live but I must tell you about this glorious day!  The honeysuckle has started to bloom...the smell is most heavenly and redolent of summer.  The sky is so blue and the clouds tower white and fluffy over the house like mansions built in the sky.  The lawn is greening and growing, with buttercups, clover and little purple flowers all over the meadow...I just saw my bluebird rising from the flowers into a tree and the flash of blue was like a blessing to my heart....God has made all these wonderful things...just breathed them into existence!  How amazing is that? 

It's hot here but there's a little breeze...it's humid but not deathly so.  I took a break from spreading lime, potting flowers and spreading mulch in the heat of the day to sit in front of a fan and drink the best well water around these parts...crystal cold and spring fed.  Going to kick back and wait for the hottest part of the day to pass us over, to fellowship with some wonderful women, and to praise God, from Whom all blessings flow. 

I dearly hope you all are having as wonderful a day as I am having...or even better!  If you haven't been outside to see the things God has made, try to take a break and breathe in that summer smell....soils, grass, humidity and sunshine....it will be like breathing in the love straight from the Lord, because He made it all for our enjoyment and pleasure. 

It was a glorious day here at Hilton Head SC, came here for a visit as hubby attends a seminar. God is great apart from enjoying the weather and the beach, I got a call yesterday as we were driving on our way here and got offered the Job I went for interview thanks all for praying, will be starting next month. We are broke but this is the best vacation ever and it's my birthday month. God keeps showing me how good he is.

You all be blessed.

 

[Beekissed]

I just love that there are so very many ways to keep a garden. Bee, your garden looks so nice and neat, and weed free... and obviously, that clover is great as a nitrogen fixer, bee forage, and later as fodder for the chickens. In my yard, if I did the black plastic, it would be an ant fest throughout the growing season, yet others in my neck of the woods use black plastic without any problems.

This stuff is a little different than black plastic...it's thinner, with air/water vent so it's a little more workable than black 4 mil plastic. Last garden we used hay mulch and the ants went crazy in there, especially in the potatoes. I'll let you know how they treat this suppression cloth...should be interesting. I'll be turning the duck into the garden now and again and keeping her there for bug control, so maybe she'll be able to forage some ants.