What did you do in the garden today?

[gtaus]

Some small birds can fit through chicken wire, get some with small holes, or cover it also with bird netting; or use hardware cloth instead. I doubt bird netting alone would keep out squirrels and chipmunks.

Yep, I was wondering if it was really small birds eating all those strawberries. I think I might have some hardware cloth in the shed. I can't get inside there for a number of weeks yet as it is under about 2 feet of snow at the door. Not worth my time and effort to shovel all that snow just to take a peek. I do have some bird netting that I took off the chicken run that might work. But, like you said, a hungry squirrel or chipmunk could easily chew through bird netting. Good idea to use both the chicken wire and the bird netting. Thanks.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Something like your cattle panel archway is also on my short list for this year. What are you going to plant to climb up the archway? I am thinking some climbing beans, or cucumbers for me.

I say something like your cattle panel archway because I might make my archway out of pallet and reclaimed wood that I need to use up. That would be the framework for the arch, but I suppose it would have more of a flat top. Then I would attach some wire to the wood for the plants to climb on. I have some shorter sections of 2X4 fencing that I think might work well.

I wonder if some old chicken wire would work? Might be a little harder to pick the fruit when ready to harvest. Maybe use some chicken wire on the sides going up, but then use the 2X4 wire across the flat top? I'm just trying to use up what I have laying around behind the garage before I go out and buy a cattle panel.

Another thought is to just rip some boards into narrow slats (instead of wire) and build the trellis all out of wood. My raised beds are 4X4 feet, so it would not take many slats to fill in a trellis. I do like the looks of a wooden trellis. Might have to look into that idea a bit more.

Anybody out there built a wooden trellis for climbing beans or cucumbers? Would like to get an idea of how far apart the spacing should be if using wood slats. Any thoughts appreciated.

I'm all about using what we have on hand! We've been reusing the same pvc lattice and moving it around the yard for at least 10 years. It still looks surprisingly good too, lol.
Since the tendrils don't hold on to the PVC lattice well, we push the plants back and forth through the holes as they grow and this has worked really well for us. With that said, I think most climbing plants would readily grab on to the chicken wire if you staple it to the 2x4s.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Alright, so i started repotting my tomatoes finally, but im running into trouble. I used seed starter trays and am putting them into pots. When i go to take them out of their cell, the dirt isnt coming up, just the time seedling.
Is that a problem?
Am i hurting the roots?
why is no dirt coming out of the cell?

on another note:
im planting herb seeds thatll stay in the kitchen so i put 2/3 potting mix into the pot and 1/3 seed starter at the top. Good idea or no?

TYIA!

Sometimes you just need to squeeze the tray a bit for the soil to come out. It's possible that you needed to press the soil a bit more when filling them as well. Does the soil seem really loose?

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I feel like I wasted a very nice day. Tired and not feeling like doing anything. I will be near the big box stores Monday. Some garden stuff will likely come home.

We spent the day in a doctor's office waiting for an appointment, I totally get it. It was beautiful outside!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Our new coop is done birds in it now.

 

[karenerwin]

Something like your cattle panel archway is also on my short list for this year. What are you going to plant to climb up the archway? I am thinking some climbing beans, or cucumbers for me.

I say something like your cattle panel archway because I might make my archway out of pallet and reclaimed wood that I need to use up. That would be the framework for the arch, but I suppose it would have more of a flat top. Then I would attach some wire to the wood for the plants to climb on. I have some shorter sections of 2X4 fencing that I think might work well.

I wonder if some old chicken wire would work? Might be a little harder to pick the fruit when ready to harvest. Maybe use some chicken wire on the sides going up, but then use the 2X4 wire across the flat top? I'm just trying to use up what I have laying around behind the garage before I go out and buy a cattle panel.

Another thought is to just rip some boards into narrow slats (instead of wire) and build the trellis all out of wood. My raised beds are 4X4 feet, so it would not take many slats to fill in a trellis. I do like the looks of a wooden trellis. Might have to look into that idea a bit more.

Anybody out there built a wooden trellis for climbing beans or cucumbers? Would like to get an idea of how far apart the spacing should be if using wood slats. Any thoughts appreciated.

I’m planning on planting cucumbers , pole beans maybe luffa but luffa grows so much I don’t think that arch would be enough room for it!.
I had thought about cantaloupe or small pumpkins or small watermelons but I think that would really be crowding that space

 

[TJAnonymous]

How do you use the drain tiles for a strawberry bed?

Also, since you have strawberries, I am wondering if a chicken wire topper on my raised bed would keep out whatever ate all my strawberries last year? I have something like 24 strawberry plants in that raised bed, but managed to only get about 4 or 5 strawberries picked before they were all eaten - I assume by birds, squirrels, or chipmunks. This year I am determined to grow them under some kind of protection.

I have/had 6 strawberry beds. Mine were taken over by blight because it was impossible to water them without the leaves getting wet. So I have devised an experiment for a vertical strawberry bed that combines self-watering and hügelkultur. The drain tiles will be used to create a donut water well at the bottom of a 55-gallon food grade barrel. In the center inside, I'll create an inner ring column of chicken wire filled with wood chips and small log pieces that goes all the way down through the center of the water well area. Then soil around the outside of the ring of wood chips/logs. The wood chips/logs should act as a constant moisture wick for the soil. Since my 55-gallon barrels have reusable lids, I will snake in some polyline with a 2.0GPH emitter that will sit in the center of the wood chips as a regular water source. I'm using a hole saw to add about 25 holes per barrel. I'll take pictures this weekend of the entire process and post them on here. I'm hoping this resolves my blight issues because the soil & water will never be in contact with the leaves (or have minimal contact) and the plants should have better airflow. Forgot to add....and since it's a barrel, I'm hoping I can throw some netting over it easily to keep the squirrels, birds, etc. out of my strawberries!

And along those lines, my drip depot order shipped today!!!! You have no idea how excited I am to get an irrigation system! No more getting up at 6 AM nearly every day all. summer. long. The last time I was this excited about something was when we bought our house!

We are expecting rain showers tonight...and while I said I was going to wait until 4/15 (last frost date), I went ahead and seeded out some clover, daikon radish, and fava beans in the pasture. I was looking over my planting list for the weekend. So. much. to. do......

 

[riss]

You know what I did in my garden today? Watched my dogs knock over my starter pots

 

[Swiss]

I know I'm a little late in my response @Swiss, but I looked at last year's garden plan and I started the potatoes at the end of April. I had ordered them online and it took a while to receive them, but I know I could have planted them a little earlier. If your ground is really wet you may want to let it dry out a little before planting.

You aren't very late at all! Thank you for the info!

I’ve planted the same day, I’ve planted 1 day later, I’ve planted 3 and 4 days later. Every one has produced well. Personally, I understand the reasoning of letting them cure/dry before getting them in the ground, so I aim for 1-2 days of curing. It’s mostly bc I’m not going to plan ahead a week or two for it to then rain, rain some more, and possibly snow or something else keeping me from planting them.

Thank you!

I dug a bucket of weeds for the chickens today. I could have done 4-5 more, but had to...

Order some honey bees!!! We just bought a hive (and the other stuff) today. Found out about it Tuesday, and when I looked into buying the items separately, we really got a deal at $400. (Hive, suit, smoker, extractor, and a whole bunch of other things.) I'll go get the bees on May 6, and a friend will help me install them.

Now I need to go through all my seeds and look at any bee friendly stuff I have, and order/buy some more. We have lots of fruit trees in the area (ours and other wild apple).

That is so cool!!! I'm really excited for you!

You know what I did in my garden today? Watched my dogs knock over my starter pots

NOOOOOO!!!!!
_____________________________________

I spent quite a few hours digging 6 holes, then planting my 6 fruit trees today. I had to go slow and gentle because we have no idea where the underground sprinkler lines are. I didn't find any, so I didn't have to restart any holes! All they need now is some stakes, and maybe some way to protect the tops of them from deer. I got trunk protectors on them, but I'm concerned about the parts above those. My dog also has no concept of boundaries with these, so I might make some cheap-o cages to keep her from "doing a dumb".

 

[gtaus]

Our new coop is done birds in it now....View attachment 3449584

That sure looks like a cement mixer outside the coop. Have you converted it into a cement mixer compost sifter? If you are interested in composting and sifting chicken run compost with the cement mixer, I had a whole thread on how I converted a cement mixer into a compost sifter.

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

The big advantage to my conversion over what you will find on YouTube is that my method does not require any drilling into the cement drum. So, if ever want to use the cement mixer for actually mixing cement, you can easily take off the sifting barrel and mix your cement with no holes in the cement mixer drum.

I tell everyone that I have composting chickens and get fresh eggs as a bonus. Dollar for dollar, I harvest more compost than I ever get in eggs.

I harvest hundred's of dollars worth of compost every year from my chicken run composting system. I used to buy bags of compost at the big box stores, but no more. I (my chickens) now produce more compost than I can use.

Since I produce so much compost all the time, I have doubled my garden beds in the past 2 years and all my raised beds are much more productive now that they are filled with chicken run compost.

Since I now grow more food at home than I ever did, I had to buy Dear Wife a new, bigger, freezer for all the produce we get from the gardens. But it was truly a win-win because the new freezer is more energy efficient and we have lots of fresh (frozen) food carrying well into the winter months. A good freezer can save you lots of money in the long run, so I came out ahead on that deal.