What did you do in the garden today?

[chickadoodles]

Had some help one day and much leaves were removed, but it was discouraging to see how little of the garden was cleared despite the large amount of leaves removed. Thursday I'm supposed to have more help and Mom helped me a little today....we've placed the leaves around apple trees and are now just dumping them in a large pile. We hope to burn it a little at a time.

We've got the area where the tomatoes are planted almost clear, got as much as I can remove off the tater rows, and a small area near the small gate but that's just a fraction of what remains. I was an idiot to put all these leaves on the garden and so thickly....now I'm paying for that in sweat, back pain and time. Goes to show one is never too old to still make stupid mistakes.

We use leaves in our chicken coops for deep litter. Its free and if you get it pilled in real thick over a foot then the chickens dig and dig till the leaves are about 4-6" and they keep turning them. You can leave that for over a year with no smell of chickens at all. I learned this from Chris Mccary who is the President of the Buckeye Club. I got some Buckeye's from him a few years ago and all his barns had real nice deep litter in them and his barns did not stink.

 

[politicalcenter]

My Castor bean plant

. Ice plant and French marigolds.

Just marigolds. My tire planters seem to be working. Got a load of horse manure today and piled it up.

 

[chickadoodles]

My Castor bean plant. Ice plant and French marigolds. Just marigolds. My tire planters seem to be working. Got a load of horse manure today and piled it up.

Your plants and planters are very pretty. And your Castor Bean plant is beautiful.

 

[politicalcenter]

Thank you! I had to do something. You can probably see that the ground is so hard it will grow nothing. I can't even drive a fencepost in the ground there.

 

[chickadoodles]

Thank you! I had to do something. You can probably see that the ground is so hard it will grow nothing. I can't even drive a fencepost in the ground there.

Yes I can see that.

Here we have prairie soil and clay. We bought a gas powered auger but it beats us to death trying to hang on to it. Dh had neck surgery and I need hip surgery. lol so we quit digging holes.

 

[ericadenise]

Today I discovered that one of my hens likes to sit on a succulent garden I planted inside a cute little metal rooster planter. Then she pecks the plants out. I'd get mad but it's too cute to watch!

 

[chickadoodles]

Today I discovered that one of my hens likes to sit on a succulent garden I planted inside a cute little metal rooster planter. Then she pecks the plants out. I'd get mad but it's too cute to watch!

Chickens are fun to watch.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

So I have an area against my front porch. I have been trying for three years to grow flowers in it and cannot seen to get anything established. I tested the area yesterday and learned that the soil is very poor. I can improve the soil some, but would much rather find a plant that would do well in the soil I have. Ideally something that flowers and low growing and somewhat chicken proof . Any great ideas?

 

[lazy gardener]

If I were you, I'd get some sort of border around it (if the chickens visit the area, don't bother with that if they don't) Then, I'd cover it with about 4" of good compost and mulch. If you're in the mood, you could dig the compost in a bit, but if you're not up to digging, just spread the compost, do your planting and cover that with mulch. How much sun does it get? Day lilies come to mind. They do pretty good with poor soil. Love the sun. Should stand up to chicken abuse once established. There are some awesome cultivars: reblooming, ruffled, with eyes, without eyes, awesome colors, some with pearl sheen, some fragrant. Some dwarf, all the way to 4' tall. Evergreen, vs. winter dormant. Do your homework. Don't settle for a boring day lily when there are so many awesome fantastic ones to choose from.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

They do get into the mulch, so I laid down some chicken wire and then covered the wire with the bark. I figured it would be easy enough to cut holes where I want to plant my plants. I could plant day lilies, I already have some going on the north side of my house, but you are right, there are many different options.
It is west facing, but shaded. We were trying to keep the water out of the basement so we added about 2feet of dirt around the house and sloped it down. I have been fighting weeds in it ever since. I find the best way to get rid of weeds is to plant something you want.Day lilies might be the perfect option, the kind of take over. Thanks!