What did you do in the garden today?

[Birdsonghill]

That's too bad if someone did that intentionally. I don't know how the farmer sets his machine for baling straw, but I too noticed a big weight difference in bales when I used to buy them years ago. Maybe OP should buy straw by the pound instead of by the bale to ensure consistent and adequate coverage. A half weight bale would only cover half the area of a full weight bale.

Just out of curiosity, after you had your learning experience, how did you buy straw bales after that to make sure you got a full bale and not a lightly packed fake bale?

I have not had any straw or hay bales delivered since then! I got rid of most of my animals several years ago.Since that time, the straw I have purchased/picked up in small amounts and just rejected any light bales or ones with bad loose or missing bale twine. The guy who cheated me, knew well, what he was delivering as being light loose bales. It can happen by accident, that a lot of bales are poorly compressed and tied, but when you load it you know immediately! I would certainly mention to anyone I was buying from, these days, to make sure that the bales are heavy and tight, with no missing or loose twines or I will be coming back for a refund or refuse delivery! When I pick up a proper bale these days, I better have to strain and be worried about putting it down quick! Straw is easier than hay to assess quickly, I formerly , always would break open a bale I selected at random, to inspect for interior quality when purchasing a truck load of hay to be delivered. I never had hay delivered I did not know the quality of the field or the baled hay contents. I always inspected first, hence, my terminology of bait and switch! It can be difficult to not make mistakes setting up an old baler at first, some people just sale their mistakes, instead of redoing them or using them for their own use.

 

[gtaus]

I try to grow as “organically” as possible.

So do I. I was hoping to see some positive results after top dressing my raised beds with chicken run compost last fall, but this year we are having a terrible drought so nothing is growing "naturally" and needs frequent watering. I guess even chicken run compost is not going to produce miracles if there is no water to work with.

I built some new raised beds and put them in the backyard by the chicken coop and run. I used the hügelkultur method in those raised beds and topped them off with about `6-8 inches of top soil and chicken run compost mixed 1:1. They get daily water via sprinkler and the plants are thriving.

I also believe that your soil is where your homegrown vegetables get their flavor from.

I don't know if that is an old wives' tale, but that is what I have grown up believing too. I wonder if my homegrown vegetables taste better because I put all the work into them and picked them fresh from the garden, or if they taste better because I use better soil/compost. Sometimes store bought food is void of all taste, IMHO, but I thought that was because they designed the food to ship long hauls and store on the shelf longer without getting overripe. I really don't know. But I enjoy the food I grow more than the food I can buy at the store.

 

[WthrLady]

WE HAVE WATER!!!!!
View attachment 2804038I am going to tell you all exactly how easy it was to get this all set up (minus wandering stores for 2 hours trying to figure out the last few parts I needed) because it seriously took maybe 20 minutes to set up (and most of that was unrolling the tubing).

Supplies Needed:

• 500' of Drip Irrigation Tubing (Ace Hardware has the cheapest price, but Menard's was the only place nearby that had it in stock)
• 1- Backflow Preventer
• 2- 3/4" to 1/2" Adapters
• 1- Threaded Hose Adapter (to make the female on the 3/4" to 1/2" adapter into a male end)
• 25 pack of Straw Staples
• A sharp knife to cut the tubing

Step 1: Attach the Backflow Preventer to the spigot.

Step 2: Insert one end of the tubing into the unthreaded end of one of the 3/4" to 1/2" Adapters. Use one of the Straw Staples to hold this end of the tubing in place (near the spigot).

Step 3: Unroll the tubing to where you need it to end. Straighten it out as needed. (I originally had to walk backwards to my garden while unrolling the tubing, so I had to go back and pick it up near the beginning and pull it tighter. Wear gloves if it is hot and sunny because this tubing gets hot quickly).

Step 4: Attach the adapted end of the tubing to the spigot.

Step 5: Use the Straw Staples to secure the tubing to the ground.

Step 6: Insert the unadapted end of the tubing into the remaining 3/4" to 1/2" Adapter.

Step 7: Attach the Threaded Hose Adapter to this end.

Step 8: Attach a hose or sprinkler to the Threaded Hose Adapter.

Step 9: Test that water does indeed travel all the way to the end with no leaks.

Step 10: Water the dry cardboard with grass piled on top of it out of SHEER JOY that the whole process was so simple and quick!

Step 11 (OPTIONAL): Bury the tubing so you don't trip on it or run it over with the lawn mower (I haven't done this, yet, but I am going to because that tubing gets scaldingly hot surprisingly quickly).

You will be SHOCKED at how fast the sod grows over the tubing. SHOCKED. You'll want to pick up more staples. As the hose gets warm in the sun it rises up. As the water cools the hose, it contracts and flattens out again. Staples are for the trouble spots. LOL.

Glad you love it. Later you can add to it and put in 1/4inch pop plugs and just turn a knob and water each plant. The hose does get hot, but it's not a problem unless you leave water in it, we let ours drain each time we use it. Water does not go to waste regardless.

 

[Elyrian1]

There's a

So do I. I was hoping to see some positive results after top dressing my raised beds with chicken run compost last fall, but this year we are having a terrible drought so nothing is growing "naturally" and needs frequent watering. I guess even chicken run compost is not going to produce miracles if there is no water to work with.

I built some new raised beds and put them in the backyard by the chicken coop and run. I used the hügelkultur method in those raised beds and topped them off with about `6-8 inches of top soil and chicken run compost mixed 1:1. They get daily water via sprinkler and the plants are thriving.



I don't know if that is an old wives' tale, but that is what I have grown up believing too. I wonder if my homegrown vegetables taste better because I put all the work into them and picked them fresh from the garden, or if they taste better because I use better soil/compost. Sometimes store bought food is void of all taste, IMHO, but I thought that was because they designed the food to ship long hauls and store on the shelf longer without getting overripe. I really don't know. But I enjoy the food I grow more than the food I can buy at the store.

There's a homesteader on YT that says store bought tomatoes taste like disappointment after growing her own. When she said that, my mind traveled back in time to fresh carrots from my Papa's garden, fresh tomatoes, okra, corn like you can't get in the stores... the flavor I think, is largely in the soil and mineral content. It tastes good partly because our bodies recognize that it's good for us. Win win.

Our brief little rain storm turned into a gully washer that rattled the rv, knocked out the internet, and dropped hail as an added bonus. When it passes, I'll need to make a damage inspection on the property, see how well the future garden area held up against flooding this time. Also, dh gets to play around with the router and see if it will function. Have it in a surge protector... but.... if the internet company doesn't have any protection on their lines it can only do so much. Oh well, if their router is dead, they get to replace it for free.

 

[Birdsonghill]

That's just terrible! Hope they recovered without complications. I get my free wood chips at our county landfill, but I always wear gloves when loading/unloading the wood chips. Never thought about burning the wood chips, but I suppose some poison ivy mixed in with the wood chips might not be so good to breath in the lungs. I have never really worried about handling wood chips, but I guess if you don't know what went in with the wood chips, you should take precautions.

I always wear work gloves, well, because that's just me. My father hardly ever wore work gloves. One summer he got his entire body infected by poison ivy. It was so bad that he had to get medical treatment. IIRC, the next year he got some kind of shot from the doctor that was supposed to prevent rashes from poison ivy. The shot worked for him, but I think wearing gloves would have been the better option.

The kids recovered fine it seems, as they have all grown up! I had a tree crew under my supervision at a couple of my jobs, supervising landscape maintenance and learned some do's and don'ts from them, as well. The inhalation of smoke from poison oak leaves and vines caused them, quickly to go into distress, their eyes swelled shut and their sinus and airways to their lungs was inflamed and swollen nearly killing both of them before getting in the hospital and receiving intensive care. It was surmised they also rubbed it into their faces and mouths and touched their genital areas and had a terrible allergic reaction from all of it! I have been careful to not let children gather and tend fires, except with a primer lesson first! I since then, have heard of others having terrible similar experiences from poison oak smoke inhalation and from touching their eyes or genitals with fresh oils on their hands. I have never had a bad case myself and am fairly tolerant and once considered myself immune to it, till I got a small(but miserable) case of it, starting in a scratch on my arm, after middle age and having worked around it for decades. So, one can develop sensitivity over time!

 

[Birdsonghill]

There's a

There's a homesteader on YT that says store bought tomatoes taste like disappointment after growing her own. When she said that, my mind traveled back in time to fresh carrots from my Papa's garden, fresh tomatoes, okra, corn like you can't get in the stores... the flavor I think, is largely in the soil and mineral content. It tastes good partly because our bodies recognize that it's good for us. Win win.

Our brief little rain storm turned into a gully washer that rattled the rv, knocked out the internet, and dropped hail as an added bonus. When it passes, I'll need to make a damage inspection on the property, see how well the future garden area held up against flooding this time. Also, dh gets to play around with the router and see if it will function. Have it in a surge protector... but.... if the internet company doesn't have any protection on their lines it can only do so much. Oh well, if their router is dead, they get to replace it for free.

I hope the router is ok! Not to mention everything else! We had one a few days ago like that, with 2 1/2 inches of rain in just over an hour and lots of high wind and lightening! At least, we do not have drought conditions!

 

[WthrLady]

Dirt does make the difference. Period.

 

[BullChick]

A friend's sister had the job of pointing out the poison ivy, and the guys pulled it up. She never touched it, because she knew she was terribly allergic to it. They decided to burn the pile. She had such a bad reaction they took her to the ER. Her heart stopped twice.

Please, never burn poison ivy or oak.

Or use it as toilet paper.

 

[vall]

I don't know if that is an old wives' tale, but that is what I have grown up believing too. I wonder if my homegrown vegetables taste better because I put all the work into them and picked them fresh from the garden, or if they taste better because I use better soil/compost.

Commercial growers do soil/tissue tests and add in just enough nutrients to minimize costs. You may have extra potassium or other minerals in your soil, I know I do.

A couple years ago someone brought extra homegrown tomatoes into work. I made salsa with just his tomatoes, and just my tomatoes. All other ingredients were the same but mine tasted better. I think it was the soil, not the variety.

 

[Elyrian1]

Router is actually fine. The internet company is experiencing a power outage apparently.

The garden area did flood, but not more than two inches in any one place as far as I can tell without wading into it. I'll take it. Just have to build the area up a bit over time. Also, note to self, build the chicken coop off the ground.