What did you do in the garden today?

[Beekissed]

Well think I solved the mystery of why the fruit fly are so bad in my Veges this year. Was sitting surveying my hard work when I noticed a swarm of something on the nearby compost heap. Went and had a look and it seems I had created fruit fly heaven 10 feet from my tomatoes duh. No wonder they have been so bad, I've been calling every fruit fly in the area with the delicious smell of rotting fruit and Veges. I covered the whole thing with a bag of leaves I had lying around and they moved on but that's not really going to work long term as they weren't even my leaves so can't keep adding more.

I'm thinking I've got two choices, stop throwing food scraps in it and stick to garden waste, or build another one up in the chook run. Anyone compost in the chook run?

I compost right in my coop and it's lovely!

What you could do in your compost pile to avoid the fly issue is to bury your scraps each time you put them out there. The fruit flies really can't reach the food as long as it's buried.

 

[appps]

I compost right in my coop and it's lovely! 

What you could do in your compost pile to avoid the fly issue is to bury your scraps each time you put them out there.  The fruit flies really can't reach the food as long as it's buried. 

My problem is it's the kids take it out and their idea of buried leaves a lot to be desired lol. Noticed yesterday that even under a huge garbage bag of leaves the fruit flys are still hanging around it arghh

im thinking the chook pen sounds the go but then will they just swarm up there instead still attracting them to my yard? Like yeasterday I threw out to the chooks about 15 sweet peppers

Full of maggots and the chooks pretty much ignored it after scoffing the seeds. Will that then still bring fruit fly to the stuff they don't eat?

 

[A-K-A]

Tuned my apple trees this morning have a pear to do next.

 

[lazy gardener]

Tuned my apple trees this morning have a pear to do next.

Do the apples sing on key now? (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

 

[A-K-A]

Auto correct- should say pruned

 

[Beekissed]

My problem is it's the kids take it out and their idea of buried leaves a lot to be desired lol. Noticed yesterday that even under a huge garbage bag of leaves the fruit flys are still hanging around it arghh

im thinking the chook pen sounds the go but then will they just swarm up there instead still attracting them to my yard? Like yeasterday I threw out to the chooks about 15 sweet peppers

Full of maggots and the chooks pretty much ignored it after scoffing the seeds. Will that then still bring fruit fly to the stuff they don't eat?

I have a different kind of setup than most folks wherein I don't have a run~they free range all the time~ and my chickens are always hungry~they get fed once per day, so anything that gets tossed in the coop is gobbled. If it's something they wouldn't normally eat, that just gets buried by their scratching for the other stuff. When I'm up there flipping bedding over the night's deposits, I'll normally cover anything that didn't get covered well...underneath the compost the insects and worms take care of it.

I rarely ever see a fruit fly around these parts except in the fall and even then they are few.

 

[henless]

What did I do in the garden?

Yesterday, I raked up 8 big piles of leaves to put in the coop and on my garden. Last night the dogs slept in them. LOL

Today, I started my BTE garden. I haven't gotten any tree trimmings, so I'm just using leaves as my cover. I'll post pics later once they are uploaded.

 

[politicalcenter]

Started planning some more raised beds that I am going to fill with pig dirt (since it did so well last time). And I am going to put two Brugmansia in them. One will be yellow and one pink. We also plan to put Passion flowers along the fence line.

I am also planning to gather some rocks from the roadside and build another rock garden. As soon as we use up the rocks around the house.

 

[MIRanger]

A few days ago I put a clear sterilite container over a few of our grow bags in an attempt to make a mini-greenhouse. I will be checking on it today, since the temps are actually above 50 degrees, and see if the daikon (yes, I know I shouldnt plant it in the winter but I am experimenting) is trying to sprout. I am also going to go trim off horrible looking flowers off of my blueberries since the weather here has confused it so. The whole bush was covered in blooms and then we have had really cold nights killing the blossoms. Hope everyone is doing well with this weird winter.

 

[lazy gardener]

Time, materials, and energy are coinciding this weekend. Super rare event for all 3 entities to appear in the same place at the same time. I've taken measurements, and plan to start making the end panels for the green house. They're not exactly appropriate to the purpose, but... they're what's available. It's a silicone coated, weather proof rip stop type of material, so will be light blocking. But each end has an almost full length glass door that takes up 1/3 of each end, and the top and sides are covered with green house tarp, so it will make a huge difference. No soil to speak of in there. And all soil in the yard is frozen tight. I may be able to get some soil from a local landscape center. Don't want to buy bagged mix, b/c of all the pearlite in those mixes (as well as some of them containing vermiculite, fertilizer, and water retention additives. The chickens will be using the green house, and eating whatever soil I put in there.