What did you do in the garden today?

[igorsMistress]

I had to order a new pump for my pond. The last one shorted out and kept popping the GFI. One the new pump gets here I need to drain the pond and refill it with fresh water. Normally this would be just a Fall activity, but since the old pump stopped working properly the pond has gotten nasty.

All that said, I'm thinking about pumping the dirty water over the garden. It's adjacent to the pond. I used to do this when there were just fish in the pond. With my ducks having access to the pond it gets muckier and I'm dealing with a different firm of waste. The garden is pretty dormant right now also... but I'm don't want to over fertilize potentially and ruin the soil for Spring - especially with all the planning I'm doing. Any reason I shouldn't put the pond water on the garden?

I’m curious how this works out for you.
I’m planning to use my ducks pool water for an existing garden but the plants are mature. I too would be more concerned with microbes but can you turn the soil a few times and maybe water it down a time or two to help that?

 

[igorsMistress]

I have a long growing season too and I still plant a lot of short season varieties. It’s very hot and humid where we are so we get a lot of disease problems and short season varieties help guarantee we get some kind of crop. We managed to get blight in soil that hadn’t been worked in over 20 years!

I know what you mean. We don’t have humidity, but short season varieties do well because we get a chance to harvest something before the heat sets in.

 

[Sueby]

Morning!

I would also suggest Early Girls - I did well with them last time I planted them.

OMG @igorsMistress they are still so cute! & BIG! I use @WthrLady 's tip & have a wristband on the faucet, it goes on my wrist as soon as the water goes on so I don't forget. Haven't left it on since.

I collect rain water, I'm not sure it's completely worth the trouble here though. The barrel has to be drained, flipped & stored for the winter & then I never got any rain last summer! I had planned to use it to water the compost pile & the plants down by the shop where the hose doesn't reach. I didn't get a single use out of it this past summer, not a drop.

Can't remember what else I was going to say. Anyway, have a great weekend.

 

[igorsMistress]

Morning!

I would also suggest Early Girls - I did well with them last time I planted them.

OMG @igorsMistress they are still so cute! & BIG! I use @WthrLady 's tip & have a wristband on the faucet, it goes on my wrist as soon as the water goes on so I don't forget. Haven't left it on since.

I collect rain water, I'm not sure it's completely worth the trouble here though. The barrel has to be drained, flipped & stored for the winter & then I never got any rain last summer! I had planned to use it to water the compost pile & the plants down by the shop where the hose doesn't reach. I didn't get a single use out of it this past summer, not a drop.
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Can't remember what else I was going to say. Anyway, have a great weekend.

Thanks Sueby, the duckies do grow much faster than chicks. I was remembering that little bracelet trick (after the fact) and I need to get a couple of those squiggly ones today when I run errands.

 

[oldhen2345]

I usually throw them in the freezer

Good to know- I have been throwing mine in an old fishing tackle box- don't know if they are still good or not. Now I know to put them in the freezer.

 

[Sally PB]

Heat and humidity are the bane of seeds during storage. And mice. Ask me how I know that.

 

[pennyJo1960]

My swiss chard is still looking pretty solid, took the last of brussle sprouts .. Just hate pulling them feeding to birds why can't I winter them ? Not fair!

 

[igorsMistress]

Good to know- I have been throwing mine in an old fishing tackle box- don't know if they are still good or not. Now I know to put them in the freezer.

It’s where I don’t loose them more than anything

 

[igorsMistress]

Good evening gardeners. Hubs helped me convert the mini coop to a duck house today, I just got the ducks herded in for the night. Took the pups to the park first thing this morning and we had it all to ourselves. It was really nice! I got a poblano pepper plant, a sharpening file and a Fiskars multi purpose hand tool that’s supposed to dig, cut open bags, etc. I can’t find my hand trowel so this will have to do for now. Couldn’t find any cement blocks at Home Depot so will have to look at Lowe’s, I need three more to finish widening the garden. Accidentally bought a red bell pepper plant instead of a second poblano but I’m going to put it in anyway, we’ll use them. I need to thin the lettuce and water all the seeds tomorrow, the bunnies will love me after having fresh stuff from the garden. I found out how far the water got after leaving it on for more than twelve hours. The mulch I put down has helped tremendously because there would have been serious runoff in the past but all the water stayed in our yard. That makes me extremely happy! Speaking of mulch, I have some to move for the garden expansion and I think I’m going to put it in with the oleanders. That soil retains no water, it’s just terrible! I can’t wait to start watering them with duck pool water, that should really give them a boost this Spring. The little birds are beginning to have tifs already. They were in the neighbors oleanders duking it out last week and that’s a sure sign that they’re starting their Spring thing. Have a good night everyone!

 

[chickengr]

Heat and humidity are the bane of seeds during storage. And mice. Ask me how I know that.

I know about the mice as well.