What did you do in the garden today?

[igorsMistress]

Good afternoon gardeners. I’m getting ready to go water the seeds, today is my Friday and the work day is over I need to get the ducks out to their pool so I can stir the litter in the coop. They like to sleep right in front of the door and it’s a bit messy after just a few days. Two of them are really showing the color changes and one is either going to be very light in comparison or she’s just really slow to grow her feathers. I swear, if the slow feathering boy thing applies to ducks like it does chickens I’m gonna be irritated. I can already hear a slight change to quacks from peeps! They run from me like I’m an axe murderer now even if I move slowly, but I’ve been able to herd them back into the coop without issue so far. Tomorrow I’ll go get some soil and dig out the small pots so I can get some more seeds going. Will get caught up in a bit

 

[Hermits Garden]

Welcome to the Gardeners thread our small town double dips in my view also pay for what we use then they charge for what goes down the drain at a higher rate

Wow! We're on a septic, so they don't get to charge us for what goes down the drain. But we're also on propane instead of natural gas, so between the well and the crazy cost of heating w/ propane, being careful about our usage will be necessary.

I have a lot of the Gardener thread to catch up on. Any iris growers out there? I know they're not much to do with chickens, but they're my favorite flower, so if I'm going to carve out time & budget for any gardening, it'll be irises!

 

[Hermits Garden]

Good afternoon gardeners. I’m getting ready to go water the seeds, today is my Friday and the work day is over I need to get the ducks out to their pool so I can stir the litter in the coop. They like to sleep right in front of the door and it’s a bit messy after just a few days. Two of them are really showing the color changes and one is either going to be very light in comparison or she’s just really slow to grow her feathers. I swear, if the slow feathering boy thing applies to ducks like it does chickens I’m gonna be irritated. I can already hear a slight change to quacks from peeps! They run from me like I’m an axe murderer now even if I move slowly, but I’ve been able to herd them back into the coop without issue so far. Tomorrow I’ll go get some soil and dig out the small pots so I can get some more seeds going. Will get caught up in a bit

What are you planting?

 

[igorsMistress]

What are you planting?

I just planted some bush cucumbers and carrots, going to start tomatoes, Armenian cukes, peppers and squash next. It might be too chilly yet but we’ll see. I’m trying out row cover fabric on the wagon to see if it’ll work.

 

[WthrLady]

Wow! We're on a septic, so they don't get to charge us for what goes down the drain. But we're also on propane instead of natural gas, so between the well and the crazy cost of heating w/ propane, being careful about our usage will be necessary.

I have a lot of the Gardener thread to catch up on. Any iris growers out there? I know they're not much to do with chickens, but they're my favorite flower, so if I'm going to carve out time & budget for any gardening, it'll be irises!

Yup I grow and cross breed iris'.

 

[igorsMistress]

It is somewhat brisk here today, but I wanted a bit of outdoor exposure in the open air, so I mulched some shrub areas of the landscape. Guess I would prefer to spend my gardening budget on seeds and plants - so my mulch comes as woodland duff from the 25 acres of mixed evergreen/deciduous forests here on the property. It is a perfect appearance for me and most likely transfers some of the forest floor biome to the soil around the shrubbery. It is good exercise while I'm collecting it and it involves no delivery truck nor plastic bags that would have been involved had I purchased any type of mulch from outside sources. A properly thick layer now will thwart future weeds, help retain soil moisture, adds organic matter and as I said, gives a nice looking texture that could even prevent some erosion on sloping areas. I always enjoy a day when it can be productive both indoors and out.

I got a chip drop not long ago that covered my entire backyard except for the food garden and coop yard. Good stuff

 

[BReeder!]

Hey all. Totally checked out of everything for the last few days - work, online, etc. Was a great few days!

All this talk of seeds & stuff, I really need to decide what I'm going to plant. I think I have seeds for everything I'd plant except for onions anyway, so I don't think I need to order anything.

& those ducks got sooo big!!

I also compost all year round too, but it freezes & I don't bother turning it most of the winter because if it thaws the ground is mush too & I make a mess with the tractor. When it thaws in spring I start turning & it's ready by fall.

Turning with a tractor... I'm jealous. I have 2x 1 cubic yard piles and I have to turn with a pitch fork. Come Spring I'll have a third pile of compost (finishing pile). It's exhausting work. I don't have the land to need a tractor though.

 

[BReeder!]

I was working on a greenhouse before and then took it down mid-wayb through the build after discovering some errors I made (live and learn...). I discovered really neat ways to retain heat though during my research. Large containers of water painted black or made of black plastic will absorb heat and redistribute it throughout the night. Also, some people resort to heat sources such as propane heaters or various types of wood burning stoves (rocket stoves, earth ovens, cast iron stoves, etc.). Another option would be add power with a solar panel kit and use seedling mats under domed starter trays. Once the seedlings outgrow the starter trays though the plants are exposed to the air temp.

 

[igorsMistress]

Here is a link to lots of tomato varieties for sale . Might interest some of you .

https://www.renaissancefarms.org/product-category/tomato-categories/

Thanks!

 

[igorsMistress]

Wow! We're on a septic, so they don't get to charge us for what goes down the drain. But we're also on propane instead of natural gas, so between the well and the crazy cost of heating w/ propane, being careful about our usage will be necessary.

I have a lot of the Gardener thread to catch up on. Any iris growers out there? I know they're not much to do with chickens, but they're my favorite flower, so if I'm going to carve out time & budget for any gardening, it'll be irises!

I wish I could grow them but it g ya too darn hot. No luck so far.