What did you do in the garden today?

[karenerwin]

It is currently sleeting here.

 

[vall]

I think me Banana did not make it…

They can die back to the ground and sprout again in spring.

 

[BallsEleven]

I keep forgetting this thread exists. I need to make a mental note to check it more often.

I'll have to use that garden planner that was posted earlier. I've got my tomatoes and peppers sprouted and taking off inside. I need to find a good layout since I didn't plan well last year. Between tomatoes, peppers, okra, and watermelon things got unnecessarily crowded a little bit.

Last weekend I finished up my compost bins just in time to clean out the chicken coop and throw the poop in there. I have no trees but a lot of shredded paper from work to use for my carbon source. I've never composted before but after listening to a gardening podcast the last few weeks I finally decided to make the change.

 

[igorsMistress]

I'm very anti weed barrier anymore. If anything, use cardboard. The fabric stuff is just a nightmare in the long run. I weeded the isles in my garden well and then dropped 3-4" of woodchips down. It's mostly weed free except for a bit of thistle that pops up here and three that I pull. And that tistle used to come up right through heavy duty weed barrier topped with woodchips by the old swingset so it's a problem either way. What I hate about weed barrier is that many things will grow on top of it and even root through it, it doesn't breathe very well which leads to an anaerobic environment in your top soil that is not ideal for plants or the symbiotic microbes plants rely on, and it clogs up and turns until a solid surface that water runs off of rather than through.

I completely agree with you about the weed barrier. Too much effort, doesn’t work and it’s a mess in the long run. I don’t like cardboard either, but the wood chips work great.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I'm with you on weed barrier fabric! Whoever invented this never had to actually use the stuff. It doesn't stop the weeds I want it to stop, and forget ever "lifting it to save for the next season." HA! Mine ripped up in shreds.

I have used cardboard to good effect. I used to get large sheets from where I worked. I'd lay them out, then cover them heavily with leaves, otherwise the wind would lift a corner and blow them around. Which looked like trash everywhere.

One thing about it... I'd put it around plants (mostly used it in my squash bed) and leave a good open area. Then I could water around the plant, thoroughly. It took heavy rain to soak through the cardboard to get to the ground below, until the cardboard started to break down a bit.

As I said, I did this in my squash bed, where I had 4-5 hills of squash, and until the vines started to run, I had a lot of open space to weed. The cardboard/leaves really helped keep it pretty clean.

I might till that area up this spring. I haven't tilled it in several years. It's still very sandy, but in with all the leaf litter I have found some worms! Never used to see them there.

I used recycled feed bags last year and covered them with mulch. Worked beautifully at keeping weeds at bay. However when I went to pull them up, they disintegrated and left tiny pixels of plastic everywhere.... So this year I'm using cardboard. I've been saving shipping boxes in the garage and I think my DH is about to have a stroke over all the boxes. Spring can't come soon enough.... As for keeping them down, I was going to use landscaping pins that I have but also put some strategically placed container pots on top here and there to help.

 

[chickengr]

marmande and unknown variety of tomatoes sprouted! I hope yellow pear tomatos will sprout too. temperature dropped but it is sunny. forecast says some snow?! on tuesday morning. I have to chop more scrap wood for stove.

 

[Sueby]

I'm very anti weed barrier anymore

Same here, have never used it or liked it.

Tree guys are here! Just in time, we're expecting 4-8 inches of snow tomorrow I guess. @Wee Farmer Sarah how much are you supposed to get?

We don't have Menards here.

 

[Acre4Me]

Just because they are cute!!

We got 6 EE, 6 BA, and 6 Golden Buff (a high production brow egg layer)

 

[littledog]

I bought one of those in late 2017. First time I used it I hugged and asked where it had been all my life. It’s so easy and you get a little cardio workout on top of that. Lol!

I've had my T-post pounder since something like 1990 ? did several acres of horse paddocks, then lent it to my sister for a few years so she could fence her yard and garden, got it back several years ago, did various garden and chicken fencing, and stakes for new trees. It's one of only a few tools in the world that never wear out!

I've found that parsley does well in the ground and it reseeds itself. I have had a steady crop of parsley in the warmer months since I started the separate herb beds a few years ago.

I planted Italian parsley in a tire bed a few years ago and it comes back year after year.

Darn it is cold here .. To cold for plants .. Maybe around April

LOL, Penny, you're not far from me and I'm thinking the same. We got snow tonight, did you?

I'm very anti weed barrier anymore. If anything, use cardboard. The fabric stuff is just a nightmare in the long run. I weeded the isles in my garden well and then dropped 3-4" of woodchips down. It's mostly weed free except for a bit of thistle that pops up here and three that I pull. And that tistle used to come up right through heavy duty weed barrier topped with woodchips by the old swingset so it's a problem either way. What I hate about weed barrier is that many things will grow on top of it and even root through it, it doesn't breathe very well which leads to an anaerobic environment in your top soil that is not ideal for plants or the symbiotic microbes plants rely on, and it clogs up and turns until a solid surface that water runs off of rather than through.

Agree completely! A few years ago I bought a roll of weed barrier and laid it out in my walkways, thinking it would prevent having to weed in between the planted areas...WRONG! Not only did most weeds find their way through it, it was a nightmare to remove it at the end of the season and pluck out all the mess that grew through it.
Last year was my first season with some new raised beds, and in between them I put down cardboard with a 4"-6" layer of free wood chips from chipdrop on top. Best garden I ever had, partly because of the weather, but definitely also because it saved me so much time weeding I actually had time to pay attention to my plants. I have a new pile of chips ready to go for this Spring, which I'll cover the walkways with again, hopefully before new weeds can sprout.
These days, I only use the weed barrier fabric for winterizing the beds - after pulling old plants, adding compost and mulching, I stake down the fabric to prevent the leaf mulch from blowing away.

 

[littledog]

I used recycled feed bags last year and covered them with mulch. Worked beautifully at keeping weeds at bay. However when I went to pull them up, they disintegrated and left tiny pixels of plastic everywhere.

I so wish feed bags were still made of heavy paper like they used to be, these days they're useless plastic.