What did you do in the garden today?

[gtaus]

View attachment 3433854 potted up some tomatoes, broccoli, and tomatillos I planted way too early. I mixed them and have no idea which variants they are now. We'll find out when they put out fruit!

I am going to pot up some pepper and tomato seeds probably next week. I see you are using peat pots. How big are your pots and how long can you grow the pepper and tomato plants in them?

Also, I have heard that you should always bottom water the pots in those 10X20 trays. Is that what you do? I watched a YouTube video and they suggested filling up the bottom of the tray with about 1/4-inch of water, let the pots soak up the water, and then water again in a couple of days if the pots get a little dry on top. Does that sound about right?

I ordered some 3" net pots from Amazon based on some YouTube videos I have been watching. Because the net pots have slots cut out of the pots, the roots will air prune themselves. Supposedly, the air pruning of the roots allows the plant to grow stronger inside the pot and greatly reduces transplant shock later. Also, since the roots are air pruned due to the slots, you never have a plant get root bound. I have had some problems with root bound plants I have purchased at the stores. So, I went for the net pots this year.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I think it’s just seasonal allergies picking up.

Maybe? But he's never had anything like that before... I have seasonal allergies like clockwork every year since we moved to the South 20 years ago. He's never had allergies except for on rare occasions which usually last no more than a day or two at a time. Nothing like this....

 

[member 655102]

Maybe? But he's never had anything like that before... I have seasonal allergies like clockwork every year since we moved to the South 20 years ago. He's never had allergies except for on rare occasions which usually last no more than a day or two at a time. Nothing like this....

That is odd…

 

[gtaus]

I put a thick layer of wood chips in the bottom of the raised bed, then add the soil/compost mix on top. Then wood chips act like a sponge to hold water for the soil. I don't mix them in the soil layer.

OK. That makes sense. All my new 16-inch-high raised beds use the hügelkultur method to fill the bottom 8-10 inches. So, I use logs, branches, wood chips, then top it off with some greens. Then I use a 1:1 topsoil/chicken run compost mix for the top 6-8 inches for the soil growing layer. Not only does the wood act as a sponge, holding water in the bed, but as it ages and decomposes, it actually becomes a better sponge. Plus, it starts to release nutrients into the soil as it breaks down which feeds the plants above. Each year the hügelkultur raised beds seem to get better.

I understood the concept of the wood acting as a sponge, but I never really thought that it mattered very much. However, 2 summers ago, we had a terrible drought with no rain all summer. My main garden, without running water, dried up and everything died. Everything, except my plants in the raised beds with the hügelkultur logs in the bottom. They managed to grow and give produce that year when everything was long dead. It was not a bumper crop, but maybe 60%-70% of normal I would expect. Compared to 0% of the rest of the garden, I was thankful for what I got from those hügelkultur raised beds. Since then, I only use the hügelkultur method in my new raised beds.

Most of my raised beds need about 2 inches of fresh chicken run compost every year because the wood stuff underneath in the raised bed is decaying and the level of the soil drops. But that's a good thing, because the decaying wood underneath is feeding the plants and the fresh compost on top is doing the same. My chickens make lots of compost, so I make good use of it.

 

[BReeder!]

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This year I think I will be using un-sifted compost as top mulch in my food gardens for the summer. Then, I will just mix it into the soil next spring if the compost mulch looks finished. I am thinking that the compost as top mulch for the food gardens will still feed the soil when it rains. And it should provide a nice blanket for the topsoil much like wood chips.

In use unsifted compost as mulch when I have it on hand and have had success with it serving as both a mulch and fertilizer. It mixed right into the soil then the next season.

 

[gtaus]

In use unsifted compost as mulch when I have it on hand and have had success with it serving as both a mulch and fertilizer. It mixed right into the soil then the next season.

I sift my chicken run compost that I mix with the topsoil when I first set up my raised beds. I have also been sifting the compost when I amend the soil every spring. In the past, I was using wood chips as top mulch for the raised bed gardens. This year I think I will just use raw un-sifted compost as top mulch around the plants. Then, like you said, next season just mix it into the soil.

 

[BReeder!]

I sift my chicken run compost that I mix with the topsoil when I first set up my raised beds. I have also been sifting the compost when I amend the soil every spring. In the past, I was using wood chips as top mulch for the raised bed gardens. This year I think I will just use raw un-sifted compost as top mulch around the plants. Then, like you said, next season just mix it into the soil.

I think you are the one with the cement mixer compost sifter. Really neat and probably makes things a heck of a lot easier.
I sifted compost with a hardware cloth screen attached to a 2x4 frame one year. It was days of work. The resulting product was great for planting, but not really worth the added effort in my opinion. I have all but completely given up on sifting it - the "but" being that I still have the sifting screen I made so I COULD do it again one day if needed but sought that I will. I have a pile of dirt loaded with river rock that I need to sift though... I might pull it put to work on that mess.

 

[gtaus]

I think you are the one with the cement mixer compost sifter. Really neat and probably makes things a heck of a lot easier.
I sifted compost with a hardware cloth screen attached to a 2x4 frame one year. It was days of work.

Yes, that is me, I watched a YouTube video on converting a cement mixer into a compost sifter. When I converted my chicken run into a chicken run composting system, I had way more compost than I could ever sift manually. So, I built my own cement mixer compost sifter, but changed up the design a little bit to avoid drilling holes in the cement barrel as in the original YouTube video.

IMHO, my design is an improvement on a great idea because you don't have to drill any holes, yet it performs the same way in the sifting of the compost.

For many years, I sifted my compost manually using the old 2X4 frame with hardware cloth. It works great for sifting small amounts of compost. However, it would take me maybe 3-4 hours to sift as much compost manually as I can sift with my cement mixer compost sifter in just 15 minutes.

Another great advantage to my cement mixer compost sifter is that I have different screen inserts to swap out. I use a 1/4-inch hardware cloth for sifting really fine compost for seed starting and potting mix, a 1/2-inch hardware cloth for sifting out compost that I mix with topsoil for the raised beds, and a 1-inch by 1/2-inch wire screen on the barrel for everything else, like top mulch that I still want to screen.

I probably don't have to screen out compost for use as top mulch. But since I set up the cement mixer compost sifter in the spring and leave it set up all summer, I just have been sifting everything and tossing the larger rejects back into the chicken run for more composting action.

For anyone intestested in my setup, I'll provide a link to the thread Harvesting my Chicken Run Compost - Black Gold!

Years ago I would buy big bags of compost at the stores in town. When I started my thread on my cement mixer compost sifter, I estimated that I was sifting out about $60 of compost per hour. I can't remember how much this cement mixer compost sift project cost me, but it was around $240. (About $200 for the cement mixer alone). All in all, I think this machine had a payback period of about 4 hours of initial run time. Now, everything I sift is just a bonus.

If you can find a good used cement mixer, that would be the way to go. I had to buy a brand new mixer because I could not find any used mixers in my area. Still, for me, it was worth the investment.

 

[Acre4Me]

Did a farm store run yesterday. Feed, hay, etc. but they had their onion plants in, so I purchased 3 types : quick for green onions, long storage white, and sweet red. These will be planted by next week.

They also had potatoes in, so I bought russet, and a red variety. They were completely sold out of yellow types, but that was ok with me.

This morning received an order update that the potatoes I ordered from Territorial seed co have shipped. I purchased a purple skinned white, and yellow potatoes from them. They arrive Monday, which is perfect bc I planned to plant early next week, so now all potatoes will be planted at same time.

 

[Offshoreorca]

I'm three weeks in to the first set of veggie/herb and flower starts - though the last frost date is still about 2 months or so away. Will be starting to wake up the dahlias shortly as well.