What did you do in the garden today?

[TJAnonymous]

Got 5 small acorn sized strawberries this morning. Tasted delicious... And zero evidence of blight on anything! The barrels seem to be working!

I also noticed that both peach trees have a handful of peaches that survived the last freeze! Hoping they don't go toes up for whatever reason. My neighbor said her peach tree was loaded with fruit in the spring and then dropped all of it over the summer. Not a single one made it to the end. I know peaches require a stupid high amount of water and I don't think she irrigates. I certainly won't be irritating to the same level that I did last year (every day for an hour at a time) but will opt for 2x/week. Hoping that's enough to keep fruit from dropping. Summer is always a crap shoot on how much rain we get but July & August are ALWAYS hot and dry.

 

[gtaus]

There should be different tabs along the bottom to direct you to different pages

My old eyes failed me on that one. But I found those tabs now, thank you. Problem was that Excel had those tabs in a very light blue color and I did not recognize them as tabs. In any case, I have been looking through your spreadsheet and it looks great.

FYI, I use the free LibreOffice suite. LibreOffice Calc was able to open up that spreadsheet with no problems. So, now I have it saved on my computer as a LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet for my use. I mention this because when you try to load that Excel spreadsheet, they try to get you to buy into the MS Office suite. Well, you can download and install the LibreOffice suite for free and load up that Excl spreadsheet in LibreOffice Calc instead.

I have no complaints about MS Office. However, since I left the university, I switched over to LibreOffice for free and never looked back. It does everything I have ever needed, and more, plus you never have to pay for the program or updates.

 

[jerryse]

Bloodroot in bloom and Virgina bluebells. first

pic is a white one.

 

[gtaus]

@TJAnonymous, would you say a word or two, or pictures, on how you make your self-watering raised beds? I'd be interested in how you do it.

FWIW, I mainly build 4X4 foot 16-inch-high raised pallet wood beds. Then I fill them with the hügelkultur method which is a great water sponge. Almost as good as a water reservoir, IMHO. But I do have a few smaller elevated self watering planters which are very nice. I just want to see/hear how you make them in a raised bed.

For anyone interested, I have been building these 4X4 foot, 16-inch-high, hügelkultur pallet wood raised beds for about $2.00 each....

 

[WthrLady]

Moving the irrigation head in the pasture every 45 minutes and am getting ready to go pot up tomato seedlings into their own cups.

 

[TJAnonymous]

@TJAnonymous, would you say a word or two, or pictures, on how you make your self-watering raised beds? I'd be interested in how you do it.

FWIW, I mainly build 4X4 foot 16-inch-high raised pallet wood beds. Then I fill them with the hügelkultur method which is a great water sponge. Almost as good as a water reservoir, IMHO. But I do have a few smaller elevated self watering planters which are very nice. I just want to see/hear how you make them in a raised bed.

For anyone interested, I have been building these 4X4 foot, 16-inch-high, hügelkultur pallet wood raised beds for about $2.00 each....

View attachment 3796369

I made mine following a video that someone posted here from a nursery that is actually local to me.

Essentially I make 3 rectangular frames from whatever materials I have. In this case, it was 2x8s. I stack them, then use 2x4s to secure them in the corners and middle. These are laid on top of thick weed barrier. I also laid down thick cardboard inside...

Because next you line the inside of the bed with visqueen or pool liner, whatever you have. I used 6 mil plastic sheeting from Lowe's.

Line the bottom with 8 - 12" of river rock. I used large, smooth 4" rock. Picked up a cubic yard from the local landscaping company for $50 which allowed me to fill nearly (3) 10 ft x 2 ft beds. Add 4"drain tile so you can add water as needed directly below the soil. Added in an overflow pipe in case we get too much water or rain.

Here's a picture at this point -



Then I put down a thin weed barrier, mostly to keep the soil from getting into the pipes below and clogging them. Then, simply add the soil to the top. In my beds, I have 8" of rock to act as the reservoir to 16" of soil above. I left the 2x4s extended above the bed as supports so I can cover with shade cloth or insect netting, as needed.

Here's the final product -



I have thought about adding a layer of wood logs or mulch between the rocks and soil but I haven't gotten around to trying it yet.


FWIW, I have hugelkultur beds too. I really like them too... I use them for my flowers and shallow root veggies. I chose to create the self-watering beds above for my potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes, mostly...

 

[Antiocheggers]

Weeded, mowed, fertilized and planted Japanese plum seeds. And moved some rose brushes to a sunnier area. DONE!

 

[gtaus]

Because next you line the inside of the bed with visqueen or pool liner, whatever you have. I used 6 mil plastic sheeting from Lowe's.

I live in northern Minnesota. I did not think 6 mil plastic sheeting would survive our winters without cracking. I checked out the cost of heavy duty pond liner, and it was rather expensive. That's how I ended up going the hügelkultur raised bed method.

FWIW, I have hugelkultur beds too. I really like them too... I use them for my flowers and shallow root veggies.

Yep, I mainly use them for shallow root veggies as well. Works great for me.

Recently I saw someone post a great idea on building a small frame above the soil in a raised bed for planting long root vegetables in the hügelkultur raised bed. Makes a lot of sense to me to increase the height of just a section of the raised bed instead of making an entire deep raised bed.

Well, I have to buy my topsoil, so it makes economic sense to add an extender frame on a raised bed just for any plants that might need more soil depth than my standard topsoil 8 inches in the hügelkultur raised beds.

I chose to create the self-watering beds above for my potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes, mostly...

I think a water reservoir underneath the heavy drinkers like tomatoes would be a great setup.

Thanks for posting your pictures and walking through your build. Much appreciated.

 

[cj2024]

I mentioned a while ago that I was going to grow everglade tomatoes and I managed to do so, but I don't like the taste, so I stopped growing them. A year later, I have them growing wild all over the place and these vines are monsters. I think this variety is invasive.

 

[Sally PB]

Nettles are wonderful! Probably the most beneficial plant on earth.

Yes on the nettles, I make nettle tea for relief from allergies.

I usually puree fresh young leaves with garlic , olive oil and a pinch of salt/lemon, put it on my bread

I have a patch of nettles. I'll try some tea or something with them when they grow. If anyone has any other nettle recipes or uses, I'd love to hear them!

I saved the links too. Thanks.