The Old Folks Home

[ronott1]

Quote:
Plant Guardian and Soap Shield should do it:

http://www.gardensalive.com/search.asp?ss=blight

 

[Wisher1000]

Quote:

I only have a small area for a garden. When we lived in the town over, I had a great garden area. Since we've down sized in land, I have to put what I can where I can. I've been putting tomatoes and squash, and this year some chard up front at the end of my flower bed. Worked great. If ever needed to, I know my DH could make a great garden area out where the big dog area is in the back. We have apple trees, pear tree, and a cherry tree of our own and the neighbors that is half way over our fence.

We get a lot of fruit during the late spring and fall.

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Not sure about the blight-- the image that came to mind was cooking the soil in the oven. Or adding vinegar. . . . ortherwise a blight resistant strain, perhaps. Or change what veg is planted in that woil for a few years.

Vegies in the garden can be so pretty too. Really don't need a lot of space for a few squash, or beans or tomatos. ONe year we planted in large nusery pots, and those needed regular watering. THese days insteadof making hill for the squash I dig a hole to catch and hold water. Squash needs a lot of water.

Quote:
Plant Guardian and Soap Shield should do it:

http://www.gardensalive.com/search.asp?ss=blight
I was thinking you could get some black plastic and spread the soil on top of it, then, cover the soil with some clear plastic weighted down good and tight around the edges and leave it through some nice sunny days to sterilize. I think it would work here, maybe not in your part of the country.

Are we SERIOUSLY talking gardening on December 29th?! I'm not complaining, mind you, it's fine by me! I have been so busy with the holiday cooking and cleaning that I haven't even cleaned up the gardens after the first frost. I need to get out there and get that done because my DD and SIL gave me a beautiful Fleur De Lis concrete birdbath for Christmas.

You can't see it in this pic, but there is a bigger Fleur in the basin and it is about four inches deep. It is big and heavy enough that the chickens won't be able to turn it over when they fly up to have a drink! I also have plans for a gate pergola leading into my back yard and hopefully the chickens will steer clear. After all, they have 22 1/2 other acres to scratch up, they don't have to fly over a fence to get to my flower beds in the backyard.

Who am I kidding?

 

[wolftracks]

My poultry netting blew off during our storms. Good thing I have things to plant in their, but figures most is for the birds. Guess the last crop was too. I just pulled my tomato plants today...ummm yesterday now. I had them in a flower bed in front and didn't get them planted before they rooted through the containers and into the bed, so I left them. I got 3 whole tomatoes and something had gotten to them, so the birds got those too. I have a potted rose bush sitting out there that I got to plant in a memorial garden for my husband, I wanted to get some cutting from it first, but then the tomotoes took over and I had a heck of a time not destroying the rose bush. Usually the tomatoes go into feed bags. Didn't ever get to it. I haven't gotten to a lot of things the past 2 1/2 plus years now. It's really hard to do things alone that you did with someone else for so long. Bill would get my area ready and I would plant. Took me months to even make a dent. It get's cold here, but with a plastic covering you can get veggies even in winter. Can be done where it snows too, but I doubt I would ever do that since I hate the cold. I think my strawberries are going to go good this year, since they keep putting out shoots even now. I can only hope. I just wish I could get blueberries to like me. I have 3 trees. The landlords had removed several trees and didn't want new ones planted, but they left trucks and I've had to cut those back. One is growing around, and I think it's another lemon tree. I have lemons, oranges and grapefruit. The only one producing was the grapefruit, but after being cut back last year, it looks absolutely pathetic. I'm going to cut it back more and I hope it grows after this. It was acool during Halloween since it looked so horrible. The landlords said the orange tree had never fruited, but it got loaded finally this year. I babied it and the lemons and since the grapefruit didn't have a problem before I didn't do all the same things to it. Should have. Now I have oranges and lemons and I want a grapefruit sooooo bad, but I hate to buy them when I have a tree. LOL

I spent most of the day out back. I have a half finished coop that I worked a bit on. Most of my coops are hoop coops. They are small and only house maybe 4 birds at a time, but I had put up a big one and then realized that although I was careful putting it up, I just didn't think that it looked safe right under the power lines, so I had my SIL come over and help me cut the PVC and now it's now a hoop, but it will work. I need a space big enoug for all of my Maranas, so this is going to be it. Anyway I used 5 tarps and it's about 1/2 covered. I put one of my gutter feeders in it to see if they'd go hang out during the day. I figure once I finally get the front and door done, they won't freak out as much if they've been in and out of it already. I also fermented some scratch and I tried that on them today and they loved it. Thing is I started making the big feeders, so I didn't have to go out daily to feed and water and fermenting means I would have to go back to that. I just get worn out when I have to do everything every day and I'm way behind on everything else including my house.

I laughed when I read about the Golden and the stuffed animal. When my 2 oldest were in high school, the second one had a best friend that shared her birthday. She had a Golden that carried a Teddy Bear and a monkey around. One of my Rotties tried to take her toy one day and she looked like a kid having their toy taken away and whinned. The Rottie looked at her like "I just wanted to chew it up a bit for you.." and then licked her ear and walked away. It was so cute!I think Ginger was my favorite Golden. She picked up on everything. Well behaved, trained well and even hunted with the girl's stepdad. She also came down with cancer. I cried like a baby when I found out and they were heartbroken. Then her mom showed up about a month later to show me their new pup. A dang black Lab. I couldn't even get excited. They knew I didn't care for them after they're grown, but they are cute puppies. That dog had a zero personality though. He couldn't hunt because he was dumber than dirt. I think I was also partical to the Golden. She was such a great dog. I miss those people! Have no idea what happened to any of them. Guess I'll ask my daughter.

OK I have to go on a clothes hunt. I washed MY things so I'd have the 3 new pairs of jeans I just bought and when I took things out of the dryer at the laundromat, I hadn't even gotten them into the washer. I need a new brain.

 

[KnobbyOaks]

My poultry netting blew off during our storms. Good thing I have things to plant in their, but figures most is for the birds. Guess the last crop was too. I just pulled my tomato plants today...ummm yesterday now. I had them in a flower bed in front and didn't get them planted before they rooted through the containers and into the bed, so I left them. I got 3 whole tomatoes and something had gotten to them, so the birds got those too. I have a potted rose bush sitting out there that I got to plant in a memorial garden for my husband, I wanted to get some cutting from it first, but then the tomotoes took over and I had a heck of a time not destroying the rose bush. Usually the tomatoes go into feed bags. Didn't ever get to it. I haven't gotten to a lot of things the past 2 1/2 plus years now. It's really hard to do things alone that you did with someone else for so long. Bill would get my area ready and I would plant. Took me months to even make a dent. It get's cold here, but with a plastic covering you can get veggies even in winter. Can be done where it snows too, but I doubt I would ever do that since I hate the cold. I think my strawberries are going to go good this year, since they keep putting out shoots even now. I can only hope. I just wish I could get blueberries to like me. I have 3 trees. The landlords had removed several trees and didn't want new ones planted, but they left trucks and I've had to cut those back. One is growing around, and I think it's another lemon tree. I have lemons, oranges and grapefruit. The only one producing was the grapefruit, but after being cut back last year, it looks absolutely pathetic. I'm going to cut it back more and I hope it grows after this. It was acool during Halloween since it looked so horrible. The landlords said the orange tree had never fruited, but it got loaded finally this year. I babied it and the lemons and since the grapefruit didn't have a problem before I didn't do all the same things to it. Should have. Now I have oranges and lemons and I want a grapefruit sooooo bad, but I hate to buy them when I have a tree. LOL

I spent most of the day out back. I have a half finished coop that I worked a bit on. Most of my coops are hoop coops. They are small and only house maybe 4 birds at a time, but I had put up a big one and then realized that although I was careful putting it up, I just didn't think that it looked safe right under the power lines, so I had my SIL come over and help me cut the PVC and now it's now a hoop, but it will work. I need a space big enoug for all of my Maranas, so this is going to be it. Anyway I used 5 tarps and it's about 1/2 covered. I put one of my gutter feeders in it to see if they'd go hang out during the day. I figure once I finally get the front and door done, they won't freak out as much if they've been in and out of it already. I also fermented some scratch and I tried that on them today and they loved it. Thing is I started making the big feeders, so I didn't have to go out daily to feed and water and fermenting means I would have to go back to that. I just get worn out when I have to do everything every day and I'm way behind on everything else including my house.

I laughed when I read about the Golden and the stuffed animal. When my 2 oldest were in high school, the second one had a best friend that shared her birthday. She had a Golden that carried a Teddy Bear and a monkey around. One of my Rotties tried to take her toy one day and she looked like a kid having their toy taken away and whinned. The Rottie looked at her like "I just wanted to chew it up a bit for you.." and then licked her ear and walked away. It was so cute!I think Ginger was my favorite Golden. She picked up on everything. Well behaved, trained well and even hunted with the girl's stepdad. She also came down with cancer. I cried like a baby when I found out and they were heartbroken. Then her mom showed up about a month later to show me their new pup. A dang black Lab. I couldn't even get excited. They knew I didn't care for them after they're grown, but they are cute puppies. That dog had a zero personality though. He couldn't hunt because he was dumber than dirt. I think I was also partical to the Golden. She was such a great dog. I miss those people! Have no idea what happened to any of them. Guess I'll ask my daughter.

OK I have to go on a clothes hunt. I washed MY things so I'd have the 3 new pairs of jeans I just bought and when I took things out of the dryer at the laundromat, I hadn't even gotten them into the washer. I need a new brain.

I so enjoyed reading about your current garden, chickens and dog stories. I can commiserate with you about losing your husband and doing things alone. This past November it has been 10 years since I lost mine. It not as thought I pine away and don't get on with my life but it just takes so dang long to get anything done. I constantly wonder in amazement how much I used to get done in a day. Last year I built a new house on 10 heavily wooded acres (okay, had it built) and considered that my memorial garden to my husband, he would have loved it. He was raised in the sands of West Texas and dreamed constantly of having many large trees. Now he would have had them. Unfortunately the drought that Texas suffered in 2011 is taking a heavy toll on what I have. I'm just afraid to even consider how bad it's going to get in the next year or two. When I bought the land, you couldn't see through the trees in any direction for more than 100ft. Looking now, being winter and all, I wonder just how many more trees will never leaf out again or crash to the ground next spring from the weight of the new leaves.

I had a small garden last year and it's much different than gardening in the humid area I came from but that I will adjust to this year. I'd like to try those things that are hooped and made out of fencing, then covered with some kind of fabric so I can get started a bit earlier this year since it gets sooo hot here so quickly when spring comes. My son who lives next door (600 ft away) has just finished a humongous greenhouse and I'm looking forward to starting seedings in there in January. All he's got left to do is install the ventilation system (haha, how important is that!!!) But I'm really excited about growing things in a greenhouse. They're going to try hydroponics and eventually aquaponics. I think I'll stick to dirt.

I turned my chickens loose in my garden and they have removed anything and everything from there. Think I'll dump a lot of oak leaves in there and let then scratch it all up. Otherwise, I don't think those oak leaves will ever compost. I know zip zero nada about chickens but it's an interesting thing I've gotten for myself because they are so dependent on their owner/operators for everything. They are allowed to free range though I think I waited too long for them to learn to forage. Unfortunately the big fat squirrel that lives behind the chicken pen goes in and chases the chickens out and then "he" eats the chicken feed. So I remove the feed every day. They do scratch a lot during the day to keep themselves busy but they're really just waiting for the sun to go down so I'll bring supper! Bah!

 

[Wisher1000]

I went out this morning to let the chickens out. I wanted to let out the hens and the two roos that are getting to stay, but leave the extra roos and guineas in there. The person is coming after church to pick them up. It worked pretty well, I stood in the door and waited until a hen was there and opened it a bit and she slipped out. I had to have some help with the last few, they didn't want to come down from the roosts and by then the roosters were getting frantic to join the growing flock of hens outside the gate.

Once they were all where I wanted them, I decided to rake out the coop and tidy up a bit before company. I went into the coop and started noticing all the nice qualities of the extra roos and realised that I needed to wait and clean the coop after they are gone.

I will be glad when this day is over.

 

[7 Biddies]

I was thinking you could get some black plastic and spread the soil on top of it, then, cover the soil with some clear plastic weighted down good and tight around the edges and leave it through some nice sunny days to sterilize. I think it would work here, maybe not in your part of the country.

Are we SERIOUSLY talking gardening on December 29th?! I'm not complaining, mind you, it's fine by me! I have been so busy with the holiday cooking and cleaning that I haven't even cleaned up the gardens after the first frost. I need to get out there and get that done because my DD and SIL gave me a beautiful Fleur De Leigh concrete birdbath for Christmas.

You can't see it in this pic, but there is a bigger Fleur in the basin and it is about four inches deep. It is big and heavy enough that the chickens won't be able to turn it over when they fly up to have a drink! I also have plans for a gate pergola leading into my back yard and hopefully the chickens will steer clear. After all, they have 22 1/2 other acres to scratch up, they don't have to fly over a fence to get to my flower beds in the backyard.

Who am I kidding?

Be sure to coat it well with a marine grade sealant. Concrete absorbs water, which will eventually cause it to crumble. I just lost a bowl that way and was told they have to be well sealed to protect from water.

PRETTY bird bath, by-the-way!

 

[7 Biddies]

Plant Guardian and Soap Shield should do it:

http://www.gardensalive.com/search.asp?ss=blight

Thanks for the tip. Just put in an order.

 

[Bunnylady]

All the Golden stories made me smile. I've never owned one (all of my dogs have been abandoned crossbreds) but I have known a few. One of my favorite "dog friends" was a Golden named Daisy that belonged to one of our landscaping customers. I think she thought we came just to play with her; I always tried to make a little time to play fetch after the work was done. She loved to have me throw the ball, and loved to run after it, but she never wanted to give the ball back. I'd try to get it, and she'd run away. The only way I could get the ball from her was to ignore her, then she'd bump my hand with the ball, "come on, try to take it away from me." Eventually she'd stay in contact just long enough, and I'd be able to grab the ball to throw it again.

Daisy was a very talented and persistent thief - we had to keep our tools within view whenever working there, because the moment a back was turned, she'd steal anything she could get her mouth on. One day when I showed up, there were large yellow feathers all over the back yard. For a moment, I was afraid Daisy had murdered Big Bird, but it turned out she'd just shredded a feather duster.

 

[Cynthia12]

All the Golden stories made me smile. I've never owned one (all of my dogs have been abandoned crossbreds) but I have known a few. One of my favorite "dog friends" was a Golden named Daisy that belonged to one of our landscaping customers. I think she thought we came just to play with her; I always tried to make a little time to play fetch after the work was done. She loved to have me throw the ball, and loved to run after it, but she never wanted to give the ball back. I'd try to get it, and she'd run away. The only way I could get the ball from her was to ignore her, then she'd bump my hand with the ball, "come on, try to take it away from me." Eventually she'd stay in contact just long enough, and I'd be able to grab the ball to throw it again.

Daisy was a very talented and persistent thief - we had to keep our tools within view whenever working there, because the moment a back was turned, she'd steal anything she could get her mouth on. One day when I showed up, there were large yellow feathers all over the back yard. For a moment, I was afraid Daisy had murdered Big Bird, but it turned out she'd just shredded a feather duster.

Whew, it was a feather duster!!

 

[Wisher1000]

I just watched as the roos and guinea boys left in the back of a pick up. The person who picked them up is taking them to her uncle and he will decide if they are staying at his farm or going to freezer camp. I handled it pretty well, no tears or sad face. I caught each one and told them what breed or mix it was and put it in the cage. They borrowed my brooder/hospital/broody hen/transporter cage and will drop it back by whenever they are back this way. All six of the roos in that cage (it's 2x2x4) and they brought a large dog carrier for the three guineas. I wish them well and will try not to think about them any more. I'm sure it will be easy to forget once the new spring chicks arrive.

I have some really confused chickens in my flock, now. Several of the hens ran for cover as soon as they slipped out of the coop this morning and are now peeking out to see why the roos are not chasing them. Darty, the alpha roo is carrying on with his duties but keeps looking around like, "Where are they?" There were about three loosely formed flocks that foraged together, but now they are all staying together in one huge group. The other roo that I kept (a beautiful BCM) is the most confused of all. I have never seen him wing drag or tidbit a hen. All he ever did was jump on the hens that one of the other roos pinned down. He will have alot to learn. I hope soon he will collect a few hens of his own and the two groups can live peacefully.

I'm out of the guinea business. I may still hatch keets if someone wants me to, but I will not keep any, at least for a while. Who knows, in a couple of years, I may think about getting some more......

7 Biddies -- Thank you sssoooooo much! It would have never occured to me to seal it before I put it out! It makes perfect sense and I will be sure to do that as soon as the weather dries out some. In the meantime, it will stay in the garage where I can admire it every time I come or go! How many coats would be enough? The more the better, I know, but how many at the minimum? I think I will turn it up-side-down and seal it that way so that I get the bottom where it touches the ground. Then, after all the coats it needs are on and dry, I will turn it over and do the bowl. It will need to be sitting on some dowels or broom handle pieces so that it will not stick to the plastic drop cloth. Huuummmmm, another project........