What did you do in the garden today?

[Arielle]

Chickens got into an area ( kids left door open) and the hens dug up all the bean seeds; it is replanted, and the door closed. A good lesson for the kids. lol

Planted 2 types of summer squash, and 2 types of zucchini; need to dig more holes for the winter squash . . . yaaaa, holes hold water better than the hills, so I use holes.

 

[hennible]

Planted an apple tree. One more will complete my front yard mini orchard.

 

[nickdlny]

Planted cucumbers and sugar snap peas today--and got rained on

 

[politicalcenter]

have you looked at the pig farm in VT that raises organically raised pork on pasture?? He lets the hogs do much of the harvesting. They raise the hog on the greens and then when that becomes less available the hog start rooting a bit more and dig up the sugar beets and turnips as the fall arrives; the winter feed is whey and good quality hay. They do not store any fresh produce. A field is grown ie of pumpkins and then the hogs allowed in to eat it all up in a few days.

Another suggesting via a fellow sitting next to me ( at the library) is to ensile the produce. Or make it into sour kraut. lol

Good luck.

The problem with my ground is the fact that most of it is rock. I have a large area fo the pigs and so far they haven't gotten out. Pigs on pasture are very hard to keep in. They will take any weakness and exploit it. We have taken produce and put it in the freezer but it will never hold enough. I have been thinking about putting the produce in plastic barrels and adding vinegar so it will keep. Some of my ground is so hard you can't get a fencepost in and the only ground that produces much is too close to the house and I like to keep the pigs at a distance.

.The real problem is "eating it up in a few days" and the hay they just throw around and turn it into dirt.

 

[politicalcenter]

Chickens got into an area ( kids left door open) and the hens dug up all the bean seeds; it is replanted, and the door closed. A good lesson for the kids. lol

Planted 2 types of summer squash, and 2 types of zucchini; need to dig more holes for the winter squash . . . yaaaa, holes hold water better than the hills, so I use holes.

We had three free range chickens and as I was working in the garden over the weekend they marched right over to the strawberries and had a feast. They are not nearly as free range now.

 

[A-K-A]

Might get some much needed rain by the weeks end. With chance of some tonight. We have about 80% płanted now.

 

[nickdlny]

That's my kind of gardening!

Fairly productive day.  Dug and potted a bunch of garlic for a missions trip fund raiser, planted a row of sugar snaps, pole beans (about 18' of row). Set cuke, zuch, and squash seeds to soak.  Will plant them under plastic milk jugs and the like.  All that while running back and forth between the incubator, broody hen, and recovering from food poisoning.

I'm planting in several inches of last falls leaf mulch. I really like the idea of not disturbing the natural harmony already in the soil. We moved into our house last fall just in time to get the leaves in place for the garden this year.

I'll be adding several healthy doses of vermicompost tea this year to enrich the soil biology. The end game is that it should leave plenty humus in the ground so that it doesn't need tilling going forward.

I'll be adding actual compost as time goes on rather than continuing with a layered approach, but for those with hard soils the layered approach is an excellent technique to loosen soil up--it just takes patience is all and patience isn't something that gardener a are famous for.

 

[hennible]

The problem with my ground is the fact that most of it is rock. I have a large area fo the pigs and so far they haven't gotten out. Pigs on pasture are very hard to keep in. They will take any weakness and exploit it. We have taken produce and put it in the freezer  but it will never hold enough. I have been thinking about putting the produce in plastic barrels and adding vinegar so it will keep. Some of my ground is so hard you can't get a fencepost in and the only ground that produces much is too close to the house and I like to keep the pigs at a distance.

.The real problem is "eating it up in a few days"  and the hay they just throw around and turn it into dirt.

If you happen to grow winter squash I kept a variety in my spare room, the last one is still in good shape (spaghetti squash) and nearly 2 years old. I tried something my sister had done, mix a bleach solution ( 10% bleach 90% water ) and wiped the squash all down... I don't to if that's useful or not.

 

[A-K-A]

If you happen to grow winter squash I kept a variety in my spare room, the last one is still in good shape (spaghetti squash) and nearly 2 years old. I tried something my sister had done, mix a bleach solution ( 10% bleach 90% water ) and wiped the squash all down... I don't to if that's useful or not.

I believe Laura Ingals wrote in Little House, they storded pumpkins in the loft where they slept.

 

[RichnSteph]

Great news on the AP front! Our pond has started to clear up after months of icky yucky green stench we are starting to see clear water. I can only see about a foot down into the water right now but every day it's getting a little clearer. If it gets to where I can see the bottom clearly this week then I can give it a good scrubbing, add in the red lava rock we want as a base for microbial activity and then this weekend we get to buy fish. YAY!!!!! After the fish are big enough to eat I'll be teaching my 2 year old daughter how to fish with a cane pole for our dinner.

RichnSteph