What did you do in the garden today?

[chickengr]

Hold my beer...
My bird feed a month is around $450 but... all the other feed a month is an additional $6000+.
Dairy cows are always hungry and we are hurting to feed them. We can't ever seem to get them enough feed...

can you switch to goats?

 

[chickengr]

That is healthy farm there more power to you ..
what I would give to live close to one your size .. Miss the most fresh milk.

my grandparents had cows. I miss fresh milk too. but I moved south and there is no grass for cows here. only commercial feed and milk is not as tasty as when grass fed. I plan to keep 2-3 goats, have not decided between skopelos goat, damascus goat or nigerian dwarf. all 3 breeds consume little feed and give enough milk for a household.

 

[chickengr]

Does everyone have Rhubarb plants but me? I really want to grow some.

I don't have it. unfortunately I don't like it.

 

[Ascholten]

This is sort of off topicy but here goes.
Rhubarb leaves have Oxalic Acid in them.
OA is used to treat bees for mites.

Has anyone used Rhubarb leaves in some manner to organically treat their bees, or something similar?

Aaron

 

[jerryse]

Snowing here . Had a 8 week followup with my surgeon . He was pleased with my progress and said come back in a year . So still going to PT as I have not achieved all their goals . So worst of this is over . Going to send a order for some plants and seeds .

 

[Ascholten]

Snowing here . Had a 8 week followup with my surgeon . He was pleased with my progress and said come back in a year . So still going to PT as I have not achieved all their goals . So worst of this is over . Going to send a order for some plants and seeds .

Be careful, been thru the surgery thing many times myself. Ok you 'feel' ok at 8 weeks, but maybe just be ok BARELY. Don't push yourself too hard and undo what all you had done. It takes time. My back, probably close to a year for it to be really usable again, my shoulder probably 8 months where it was usable without having to worry or 'think' about every move I make with it concerning lifting etc.... time is your FRIEND, be safe.

I bring this up because every time ive dinked myself up, it was..... wait for it..... by gardening, and pushing myself too hard, running wheelbarrows full of dirt around etc etc.
aaron

 

[littledog]

Stop at feed store for PDZ and Shredded beets...both are up a solid 25-30%.

I'm curious what they charge for shredded beets in your area? Do you have beet growers nearby to buy from in bulk?
Both my senior horses get soaked beet pulp added to their feed, and it's crazy to me that 15 years ago (last time I was feeding an elderly horse) a 50# bag of beet pulp cost about $4 and now I pay $14.99, close to the same as rice bran and alfalfa pellets. Beet pulp used to be cheap, it was what was leftover from the sugar industry.

 

[Ascholten]

just wait, it's going to get a lot worse as the year moves on.
Id recommend IF you have a way to store stuff for time.... you stock up now, as I can see prices going out of control very soon or stuff just not being available.

Don't do what I did and get a 50 lb bag of scratch grain because it was 'cheaper' that way only to have 3 months later it's a mass cake of bug poo and webbing as all the critters and weevils that normally are in stuff like that... did their thing...

Aaron

 

[TJAnonymous]

Animal feed has skyrocketed. Our horse food is now $30/bag. It was about $21-$22 just a year ago. Alfalfa pellets are $18. Layer pellets are $15/bag. Duck pellets are up to $25/bag!

Insane. Last year I started efforts to raise our pasture quality by reseeding and killing off the weeds. Im going to fertilize the heck out of it this spring and hope it starts producing better. I only have 4 acres for 2 horses and 2 goats. Every inch is critical....

 

[littledog]

I still need to do a survey of my seeds and figure out what I need to order, but one thing I do know for sure, is I need to order luffa seeds and give them another try after failing for the past two years.

So, everyone who's grown luffas, please give me all your advice!

I have a trellis I built for them, with a 2'x3' raised bed on each side, how should I prepare the beds? Do they like acid, alkaline or neutral soil? Our typical last frost date is mid-April, should I start seeds outside then, or start them inside earlier and plant them outside then? Or start them inside, transfer them to the unheated, slightly insulated greenhouse when they are a certain size, and wait to transplant them outside?

We typically get a ton of rain in the spring, how big do they need to be to tolerate soaking? Then we get a dry heat wave in the summer (at least for the past couple years we have) should I wait to plant them out until the dry season?

I am determined to finally grow some luffas this year - trying to plan ahead and get their conditions right with help from you all - I am tired of paying through the nose for stupid, wasteful plastic sponges that just get thrown away when there's a better alternative I can potentially grow myself.