What did you do in the garden today?

[Sueby]

My compost doesn't cook during the winter, I just let it go & only get finished compost in the fall so I'm no help. I add to my pile all winter & layer it with mulched leaves, but I don't turn it much because the yard is either muddy & I don't want to drive the tractor over it, or it's covered in a foot of snow or it's too cold to go out there & turn it OR, possibly, I'm just too lazy!

 

[BReeder!]

ha ha....I did the same thing. Only they are sending me 2 Crepe Myrtle instead of Lilacs. I would have preferred Lilacs so I'm jealous..... All the rest of my "freebies" are the same except that....

You will get yours sooner I'm sure. I'm zone 5. They're shipping dates for me are April-June.

 

[WthrLady]

I got an Arbor Day Foundation survey in the mail. For answering 17 questions and a $10 donation, they are sending me all of this:
- 2 crabapples
- 3 redbuds
- 2 washington hawthorns
- 3 white dogwoods
- 2 purple lilacs
- a copy of The Tree Book
- and possibly, but not likely, a free Kindle (only if I'm one of the first 50 responses)

I'm guessing all the plants will be small bare roots, but that's an incredible bargain still.

Now the problem is I don't know where I'm going to plant all of these. That's a lot of trees for my lot. I'll likely list them on FB and in the IL forum here as free giveaways after planting what I want and seeing if some nearby relatives want anything. I think I'll add the crabapples to my mini orchard. The lilacs will be welcomed additions to our flower beds. Beyond that, I'll likely only be able to plant one or two of the other trees.

I'm in land of arbor day, they are literally down the road from me. I don't know WHO gets those "be the first" things. Let me tell you. I got my survey in December. So.....
As for the free plants. Never seen mine in the 8 years I've been doing them, or the free coffee, or the free seeds, or....well you get the idea.
And when I have PURCHASED things from them, they are nothing but 6-12 inch tall STICKS, and not worth the $$$ I spent on them. So good luck.

 

[TJAnonymous]

You will get yours sooner I'm sure. I'm zone 5. They're shipping dates for me are April-June.

Yep....mine will probably come in March, I'm guessing. I did order a Lilac from Springhill nursery so I'm getting one, one way or another!

 

[TJAnonymous]

I'm in land of arbor day, they are literally down the road from me. I don't know WHO gets those "be the first" things. Let me tell you. I got my survey in December. So.....
As for the free plants. Never seen mine in the 8 years I've been doing them, or the free coffee, or the free seeds, or....well you get the idea.
And when I have PURCHASED things from them, they are nothing but 6-12 inch tall STICKS, and not worth the $$$ I spent on them. So good luck.

Good to know.... I gave them a $20 donation. I also placed 2 separate orders for trees through my mother's membership account so hopefully that will generate some goodwill that they will actually send me the "freebies." Of the 12 trees I ordered, all of them were bareroot. All of them EXCEPT the Southern Live Oaks were easily 3 - 4 ft tall. The Live Oaks were more like 12-16" tall. I did spend months looking over the reviews and see a lot of people complain that their trees never came out of dormancy and died so I do have a little bit of anxiety about mine.

 

[igorsMistress]

Anybody have success keeping compost warm in the winter? I'm in IL, so Winter here is 20-35 degrees F lately. I don't expect the piles to be piping hot (although I would love that), but I'd like to know that they're active. I would really like more compost ready for Spring. I spread all my compost in the Fall. I have two large piles I built with shredded leaves, garden waste, kitchen scraps and chicken manure. I've turned the piles twice recently and I still add manure and kitchen scraps. There's plenty of shredded leaves in there to handle the added nitrogen rich material. My piles are in a 3 bin setup. They are moist but not wet. Each bin is roughly 4ft L x 3ft W x 3ft H. The two bins I'm focused on are next to each other so the piles insulate each other on one side. There's a privacy fence on the north side (back of the bins) and a semi-private fence (spaced pickets) on and east side. They face south to maximize the bit of warmth from the sun. I have them covered on the top but the front is exposed.

Any tips? If you are having success in heating piles in the winter, what are you doing that seems to be working?

Cover with dark plastic or tarp to hold in heat for a bit to build up heat.

 

[ackie]

I put some chicken pen dirt/poop/bedding in the garden and i expected it to compost down some more but I can actually smell the poop - which I cant smell IN the coop

 

[TJAnonymous]

I put some chicken pen dirt/poop/bedding in the garden and i expected it to compost down some more but I can actually smell the poop - which I cant smell IN the coop

If you can smell it, that usually means you need more brown material. Can you add dead leaves or straw?

 

[ackie]

If you can smell it, that usually means you need more brown material. Can you add dead leaves or straw?

I can! it's in a spot that I was intending to plant soon... so I'm guessing that means I need to change my plans?

 

[igorsMistress]

Good afternoon gardeners. I watered today and the strawberries are looking good, the oregano is going crazy and the dill is very compact and bushy. I’m going to tear out the lemon balm, I’m pretty sure the cold temps have caused some damage and it’s getting quite a bit of shade from the dill. Another couple of weeks and I’ll be trimming a few bushes and side dressing with bunny poop. The fairy dusters are struggling a bit after transplant so I’ve given them some seaweed fertilizer today. That’s about it for the garden. I think one of the ducks might be a drake. Not sure what we’re going to do about that yet. G’nite all