What did you do in the garden today?

[CNJ]

I proceeded to put pallet pieces together to make a chicken blocking fence around my garden. I know it's not tall enough to keep them from jumping over, but I have a plan for that.

I took the easy way out, I used four bamboo stakes and wrapped a cheap plastic bird netting around my 4x4 raised beds and held it in place with wooden close pins. It keeps my chicken out.

I was thinking about using the orange plastic construction fence with metal stakes to section off my 12 x 25 garden area, but never got around to it.

 

[CNJ]

The hook and eye are both very hard, won't bend. The eye needs to be removed and repositioned.

She ended up bending it, in her last post about this.......

Here is a idea for biting flies.

Does this work with regular house flies? I think my chickens would be happy to eat the flies if it does.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Morning Gardeners garden is happy.
Son waters nightly just warm enough to encourage them. '
Will make a jug of fish fertilizer stinks but plants love it.

 

[karenerwin]

So the snake was your best fun today Karen. How is your son coming along ?

He had another surgery this morning. He is still heavily medicated. They tried using a different sedation medication but it made him really agitated last night. They are working on getting his body temperature back up. ( it usually drops really low after surgery ) and they are watching his BP because it’s higher than they want it. Otherwise , not much has changed. He has had his eyes open more but I’m not sure that he is aware of who I am or what’s going on. The nurses say they think it’s because of how medicated he is.

 

[gtaus]

I took the easy way out, I used four bamboo stakes and wrapped a cheap plastic bird netting around my 4x4 raised beds and held it in place with wooden close pins. It keeps my chicken out.

Sounds like a very practical solution.

A Few years ago, Dear Wife had some eggplants growing in containers out on our deck. The squirrels ate all the eggplants long before they had a chance to grow to full size and ripen. After that, I got some 4-foot-tall chicken wire, made a wrap around each container, and used some thin wire to close the tops. No more thieving squirrels stealing the eggplants! Last year we had a bumper crop of container eggplants out on the deck.

Notice that I made the wire cage quite a bit larger than the container. That allows the eggplant to grow and fill out during the summer. So far, that setup has been enough to keep the squirrels out and the eggplants safe inside the cage. In the winter, I can fold the wire cages flat for storage.

I already had the chicken wire, but I think each cage used about 6 feet of 4-foot-tall chicken wire in case you want to get an estimate of how much it might cost to make your own. I just used some old thin wire I had laying around the garage to close the top of the cage, but a person could easily use cable ties as well. Only took me a few minutes to make each cage.

Dear Wife loves those chicken wire cages!

She is not so fond of the squirrels trying to steal her eggplants.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Great use of chicken wire too..

 

[MotherofOrpies]

I had to put the potatoes under a plastic tunnel, the chickens were scratching like mad and trying to est them, they really started to get damaged those wire “cages” look good, maybe I can build something like that for my eggplant and cabbage

 

[Smokerbill]

I might have figured out why a lot of my garden isn't thriving as I wish it was. I used my new soil testing meter this morning and learned that the soil 2" and deeper is ok. The instructions say to remove the top 2 inches of soil and test the dirt below that.

The pH level is at 6.7, which should be pretty much ideal for most veggies, and the nutrients/soil fertility is ok at that depth, maybe a little on the light side. So I was a little puzzled.

I decided to test the soil that's in the top 2", and it seems that's where the problem is. The top layer of soil is very acidic, reading a pH of 5.5 on the meter! And the soil fertility level is low too, probably because of the acidity.

And that seems to explain what I've been seeing. Seedlings sprout, they turn yellow and pretty much quit growing. But a few of those seedlings start greening up and growing, I assume because the roots have penetrated the lower layer of "good" soil.

Plants with deeper roots, like my tomatoes, seem to do much better.

So, I'm not sure what to do. Since the pH of the lower level is good, treating with lime to correct the surface acidity might throw the deeper soil out of balance,

I guess I could just remove the top layer of soil from the beds, pile it up somewhere and then treat it separately with limestone or lime, and add it back to the garden this fall if its pH level is corrected.

Here are two zinnias I set out in the garden last month. One is now starting to take off and has greened up. The other is still small and yellow.




Tomatoes vary, some are nice and green, others still yellowish. They were fertilized with Dr. Earth organic last month.



Turnips, chard, beets and radishes. A few of each are growing, the others are stuck in just-sprouted stage. These were all planted over a month ago and have been sprouted for at least a month.



Onions haven't grown at all since I set them out 2 months ago.




And my squash vary. A couple do well, others are puny and yellow.



All I can figure is that the plants that are doing better don't have roots surrounded by the acidic top layer of soil, and are growing into the better soil below.

Thoughts? Should I just remove the acidic top layer of soil from the beds?

 

[Sally PB]

I don't think you need to buy slips, unless you want a certain variety that's not available at your grocery store.

Yeah, I ordered some that would grow and produce in our "a bit short for sweet potato" climate. I need a 90, max, variety. I have 100-120 days, but on both ends, the temps are chilly, so not idea for sweet potatoes.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Try adding a little wood ash to the soil with the plants not liking the acidic soil @Smokerbill.