What did you do in the garden today?

[jenn-]

My fire ants are laughing at me. Hubby will have to hit them with the permathrin tonight.

 

[hennible]

Yeah, we decided against it.  First, it's not worth the risk (ie, we have too many other options available).  Second, the wife doesn't want to look at the old tires in the yard!  Regardless... thanks for the links.

Thanks to who ever was kind enough to post the fact sheets about using tires as planters.  The actual information, rather than "hear say" of what folks have done was what it took to help me to make an informed decision.  Like you, rgunn1, I decided that there are too many other options to bother to use tires in my garden.  They'll be going to the land fill.

Glad the links helped you guys,
I will likely pull my tires in a season or two in favour of safer options, but for now they stay. It is really to bad, there don't seem to be safe recycling options for all that vulcanized rubber :/

 

[politicalcenter]

Today in the garden we got our two growbeds lined, the plumbing connected and tested and power run from the house out to the AP system. Hoping to have the rock in place this week and finish up a few minor details and then plant this weekend. We also planted pumpkin, watermelon, squash, cantaloupe, okra and green beans in our regular garden. The blueberry and blackberry bushes are doing well and we even have a volunteer avocado tree that has sprouted.

So far so good!

Good work! That just shows persistence pays off.

My garden is still mud but like the rest of the Bama Nation we will have to plant soon. One of my garden plots is on a hillside and water is just running out of the hill into the garden like a small stream. The other plots are just wet.

But I did have a 1500 gallon swimming pool full of catfish and green water but I put some local water plants in it and also some tomatoes and peppers and the water cleared.

Two tomato plants are blooming and I can see white roots in the water.

 

[RichnSteph]

Good work! That just shows persistence pays off.

My garden is still mud but like the rest of the Bama Nation we will have to plant soon. One of my garden plots is on a hillside and water is just running out of the hill into the garden like a small stream. The other plots are just wet.

But I did have a 1500 gallon swimming pool full of catfish and green water but I put some local water plants in it and also some tomatoes and peppers and the water cleared.

Two tomato plants are blooming and I can see white roots in the water.

Yeah but it's taken MONTHS to get to this point. I just don't have enough time in the day to do all the things I want to get done.

1500 gallon pool full of fish and green water and all you had to do was add in some water plants?? I'd love to see pictures if you have the chance to snap some. I hadn't considered water plants in our tank mainly because our duck would eat them. Heck the water is so nasty right now that the duck won't even get into it anymore. I'm going to drain it (again) and clean it (.... again) right before we plant in the grow-beds. We're hoping do be doing "duckaponics" for a while until we can get some fish in there. Right now though the water is just rancid and it only takes about 4 days for it to get that way from a clear and clean fresh drain and fill. Ducks are icky in what they do in the water.

Did you just plant the tomatoes and peppers in something that floats and set them in the pool?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[lazy gardener]

Before you go to the bother to drain it, and re-fill it, let me suggest that you put a couple flakes of barley straw in it (enclosed in a mesh bag) and then you could also add some water plants, or garden plants... what ever... enclosed in a duck proof frame. Perhaps make it out of bird netting. You shouldn't use any galvanized wire, and regular, non-galvanized would rust too quickly. That will get a good base of nitrobacter going to help feed your further aquaponic plans. If you drain it and start all over, you'll be right back where you started from.

 

[RichnSteph]

Before you go to the bother to drain it, and re-fill it, let me suggest that you put a couple flakes of barley straw in it (enclosed in a mesh bag) and then you could also add some water plants, or garden plants... what ever... enclosed in a duck proof frame. Perhaps make it out of bird netting. You shouldn't use any galvanized wire, and regular, non-galvanized would rust too quickly. That will get a good base of nitrobacter going to help feed your further aquaponic plans. If you drain it and start all over, you'll be right back where you started from.

Thank you! I was dreading draining and cleaning that thing again. We'll look into building some kind of duck-proof border on two sides to house some floating plants. I'd love to find some water hyacinth (spelling?) to float in there but since they are invasive we've been unable to find a place that will ship them even though it's a closed system.

 

[RichnSteph]

Great news! Our bulkead connectors arrived today. I've got two yards of 3/4" lava rock on the trailer out back and the timer arrived a few minutes ago. YAY!!! Tomorrow I'm installing the BH, drains, finishing the wiring, hauling and leveling the stone and then I get to run the system to get my standpipes cut to length. We'll be planting this week if the weather will just give me a few hours tomorrow..... just a few hours Mother Nature, that's all I ask.


/this is us being stupidly happy to finally see light at the end of this tunnel.


Oh I forgot! We dropped a couple of rotted Post Oak trees on our place and the trunks (12' long and about 18" wide) are going to bet opened up and we're going to plant veggies and flowers in the rotted out centers. We have compost ready to add to the rotted wood so the plants have plenty to eat. If you're unfamiliar with a Post Oak they tend to rot in the center as they age. The outer 2 or 3 inches is still solid oak while the interior is a wet rotting mass of insect (termites usually) ridden goodness. I read that it makes a great planting medium and they look much better as planters that ashes in a burn pile.

 

[A-K-A]

A day with out rain today. I was able to run the tiller between existing rows. Then got a big chunk turned under ready to plant. Still have a bit more to till- i feel confidant i will have time. Tomorrow i will put my first corn in maybe some Okra too. We also planted some more heirloom plants. One thing i noticed. A Sage plant we planted last summer has thrived and continues to yield a very nice crop of spice for the kitchen. Maybe enough to offer at the farm market this summer. This semi retired stuff is working me to death

 

[RichnSteph]

A day with out rain today. I was able to run the tiller between existing rows. Then got a big chunk turned under ready to plant. Still have a bit more to till- i feel confidant i will have time. Tomorrow i will put my first corn in maybe some Okra too. We also planted some more heirloom plants. One thing i noticed. A Sage plant we planted last summer has thrived and continues to yield a very nice crop of spice for the kitchen. Maybe enough to offer at the farm market this summer. This semi retired stuff is working me to death

Great!!

"Semi retired" huh? My grandfather told me decades ago when I first started working that there is either "working" or "dead". "Semi-retired" is what we do between the first and second. *laugh* It keeps the old farts young and keeps the younger pups wondering where we get the energy to keep working around the house while collecting a retirement check. I said it myself several times. "When I'm retired I'm going to do nothing more than fishing and relaxing" then I bought property.... and put in a garden.... and got chickens... and I still have 16 years to go to get 22 years of civil service and 32 years of military retirement. I'm guessing that the first Monday after I "retire" I'll be outside with a tiller in my hands adding in another garden bed or building another enclosure for some more darn animals.

 

[politicalcenter]

Yeah but it's taken MONTHS to get to this point. I just don't have enough time in the day to do all the things I want to get done.

1500 gallon pool full of fish and green water and all you had to do was add in some water plants?? I'd love to see pictures if you have the chance to snap some. I hadn't considered water plants in our tank mainly because our duck would eat them. Heck the water is so nasty right now that the duck won't even get into it anymore. I'm going to drain it (again) and clean it (.... again) right before we plant in the grow-beds. We're hoping do be doing "duckaponics" for a while until we can get some fish in there. Right now though the water is just rancid and it only takes about 4 days for it to get that way from a clear and clean fresh drain and fill. Ducks are icky in what they do in the water.

Did you just plant the tomatoes and peppers in something that floats and set them in the pool?

Thanks for any advice!

What I did with the garden plants was simple. I went to Home Depot and bought some 1/2 inch square plastic hardware cloth. We used zip ties to make little baskets out of them and put pebbles in the bottom so they would not sink . Then I filled them with some old hay and put the plants in and then used zip ties and "zipped" them to the side of the pool. The water plants were gathered on the riverside. I got some cattails, some water mint from the side of a stream, some plants from a nearby lake and some wild yellow iris. I also had some water lilies from a small pond in my front yard. I put them all in bare root. I tried dirt and clay in pots but it didn't work. I weighed the water lilies down with rocks and even zip tied a rock to one to weigh it down. The cattails are in pots with rocks in the bottom.

I hope to get some pictures as soon as my pretty pond clears up. It is done in pebble mosaic. Google bog filters. It may help.

I have been working on it for over a year.

PS. My pretty pond leaked and I tried everything to fix it. I repainted it, poured a new floor and nothing helped. But after filling it the last time and it still leaked I was going to turn it into a planter and I tried one last thing.

I had some sand from work that had been run through a sandblaster and I put it in the pond where I thought it leaked and (the floor next the the wall) and then I put some kitty liter in (clay) and it stopped leaking. I just dropped the stuff in the water where it leaked.

I also found some water lettuce floating on the river and gathered it up. All the plants I put in the pond had the roots washed clean.....no dirt at all.

I have planters on the side of my ponds and I used chicken wire to keep the chickens out untill I get their new housing finished. They free range right now.