What did you do in the garden today?

[Tstraub]

Yesterday I picked up a new to me Troy built horse tiller in “as is” condition. It was part of an estate and hadn’t been ran in a long time. Once I got it home I saw it would need at minimum a coil, a fuel tank, a carburetor and a muffler around $80-$100 in parts.

Harbor freight had a coupon for a new 6.5hp Honda clone engine for $129. So to save future headaches I went with the engine. It about as easy of a swap as could be just needed a longer throttle cable and the pull start needed re clocked so I could pull from the same side at the throttle. The worst part was getting the rusted parts moving again.

 

[gtaus]

I'm not sure. I *think* so? A friend of mine who has great strawberries has never said that she bought new plants.

Well, I already admitted that my strawberry patch was a failure. So, I don't claim to know very much on this subject. I just don't understand why people are buying new strawberry plants after 2 years if you can replant the runners and restart the clock? Are there some kinds of strawberries that have runners that can continually renew the plant and other kinds of strawberries that do not have runners, so you have to replace the entire plant with a new one?

I like the idea of trying to grow my own strawberries, but so far, I have had no success. In any case, I learned not to plant them in my hügelkultur raised beds that need to be topped off with 1-2 inches of fresh compost every year due to the soil level dropping because the hügelkultur wood is breaking down.

BTW, I also learned this year (from a YouTube video) not to plant rhubarb in a hügelkultur raised bed for the same reason. You don't want the soil level dropping in the bed you plant your rhubarb. So, you either plant the rhubarb in the ground, or in a raised bed filled only with soil where you do not have to be concerned with the soil level dropping every year. Sometimes I get lucky and learn from someone else's mistakes and don't have to make my own to drive a lesson home.

 

[gtaus]

Harbor freight had a coupon for a new 6.5hp Honda clone engine for $129. So to save future headaches I went with the engine. It about as easy of a swap as could be just needed a longer throttle cable and the pull start needed re clocked so I could pull from the same side at the throttle. The worst part was getting the rusted parts moving again.

Looks like you were able to rebuild that tiller for only a small investment. I bought my expensive walk behind gas tiller about 25 years ago and it still works. However, the last time I used it was 3 years ago to break up some ground to replant new grass seed.

When I first started my in-ground garden 25 years ago, I would till it up every year before planting. But then I moved to a no till system about 15 years ago, and then just went to raised beds 10 years ago.

Now I have a battery powered mini tiller and a small battery powered cultivator which I use in the raised beds if I need to break up the soil for some reason. They are great for the raised beds, but I still keep that big gas tiller in case I need to break a large patch of sod somewhere.

As to the rust issue, I bet that was a problem. I keep my gas tiller in a shed and out of the weather. So, no rust on the machine even after 25 years. I leave some outdoor equipment stored outside, but I put a tarp on them just the same. I have learned it really makes a difference and extends the life of your outdoor equipment if you can put it in a shed or tarp it for protection from rain and snow.

 

[Jenbirdee]

I dug up the rest of the red and purple potatoes!!

 

[Tstraub]

Looks like you were able to rebuild that tiller for only a small investment. I bought my expensive walk behind gas tiller about 25 years ago and it still works. However, the last time I used it was 3 years ago to break up some ground to replant new grass seed.

When I first started my in-ground garden 25 years ago, I would till it up every year before planting. But then I moved to a no till system about 15 years ago, and then just went to raised beds 10 years ago.

Now I have a battery powered mini tiller and a small battery powered cultivator which I use in the raised beds if I need to break up the soil for some reason. They are great for the raised beds, but I still keep that big gas tiller in case I need to break a large patch of sod somewhere.

As to the rust issue, I bet that was a problem. I keep my gas tiller in a shed and out of the weather. So, no rust on the machine even after 25 years. I leave some outdoor equipment stored outside, but I put a tarp on them just the same. I have learned it really makes a difference and extends the life of your outdoor equipment if you can put it in a shed or tarp it for protection from rain and snow.

My wife has been talking about moving to raised beds but every year when we start pricing it out we decide that the dirt that came with the house is probably good enough. When I spend a day in the in ground garden my back always wishes we spent the money on a raised bed lol.

This is my third tiller. I also have a little 2 stroke that works well in tight places like the flower beds and a front tine unit that was main one it still runs great just too small for our growing garden. It’s going to be a tight squeeze getting them all under roof. I might have to sell the front tine one to make room.

This one appears to have been stored inside most of its life but the owner neglected to grease any of the pivot points then the lack of use everything just stuck in place it’s all operational now the tines do look worn but they seem to cut well enough so I’ll probably try to get a season or two out of them before I replace them.

 

[WthrLady]

My Federle tomatoes go seedless sometimes.
=====
Deep set a cedar post and steel post for the new steel mailbox set up.
Then dyed concrete and poured a new pad around it. I'm tired of the weeds and gravel etc.

I'm sure the neighbors think I'm nuts. It's the 4th mailbox in 10 years. LOL Took me a while to find one.

 

[saysfaa]

I finally got a chance to go to my remote tomato patch. I was quite surprised to find as many as I did of tomatoes in good enough shape to try using them. I kept about two bushel, some even have no bite marks, cracks, or even spots. I really needed to go last week but we were out of state at a graduation-related ceremony for our youngest.

The current tomatoes did much, much, much better. Almost all of them are in beautiful shape unless they got so overripe ghat they fell apart when I touched them. I picked four quarts, plus two more quarts of bunches like you pick grapes. I don't like to do that because they ripen from the stem out like cherry tomatoes. There are several times that many ripe, and many more green ones coming, and more blossoms. I ran out of daylight. I picked by cell phone light for a while but that is, uhm, less than ideal. I'm getting a lot better at managing the plants so I can pick them faster.

In some ways, tomatoes were wasted. On the other hand, it was seed from 2011... I far over planted when I stated seeds last March thinking not many would germinate and then they all did. Then had no good options for where to plant so many until my brother said he wasn't going to try a garden this year. I could have the spot or he would take the deer fence down and prep it for a lawn.

I fussed with the brussels sprouts, watered everything, harvested a few zuccini, eggplants, peppers, and broccoli. The staggered planting up to and a bit beyond enough days to harvest before the expected frost date is workjng well.

 

[Smokerbill]

Picked tomatoes, beans, butternut squash, a zucchini and some embarrasing cucumbers this morning. And a carrot.

Then I decided it would be a good idea to pick some fresh herbs and get them in the freezer. I'm not sure which of my herbs stay green year round here so I just picked a little of almost everything. Didn't cut any chives since they're all wilted. I'll probably put a couple of clumps in a big pot or planter box and keep it near the back door.

I remember reading that herbs, specifically Mediterranean herbs, are best when they have to struggle in dry, hot conditions. Well, mine have been struggling with little to no water all summer, so I figured it would be a good time to harvest some. It's going to start raining here in a couple days.

I have ziplock bags of tarragon, basil, curly parsley, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, thyme, green dill seed pods and a tupperware container with dry dill seeds.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I picked the rest of the beans today and likely the rest of the tomatoes. There’s just a very few left. There’s a couple of small jalapeños and a few cucumbers I left to enjoy the last 70+ degree we’ll likely see for awhile. I caved and ordered the remaining supplies I need to finish the new chicken coop. I got same day delivery, which is not cheap, however the nice man who delivered it put the wood into my garage and all the cinder blocks in the chicken yard. That was totally worth it. It would have taken me all afternoon and half of tomorrow to have done that. It’s supposed to rain this weekend and possibly into Monday. I couldn’t leave the wood out to get rained on. I got most of the backyard mowed this afternoon. I will finish up what I can tomorrow afternoon. I picked the little yellow squash this morning. It had some scratch marks on it so I picked it before a hungry chipmunk took a bite out of it. Pasta primavera for dinner tonight using my own homegrown veggies. Tomorrow is a girls day out with DD. Pedicures, lunch and shopping. Her treat, in exchange I get to babysit Saturday while she goes hiking with some friends.
The last haul of the season.

 

[gtaus]

My wife has been talking about moving to raised beds but every year when we start pricing it out we decide that the dirt that came with the house is probably good enough.

I live on a lake and my soil was mostly sand. Nothing grew very well in-ground. I dumped in all kinds of grass clippings and leaves for years, tilling them into the ground, and that seemed to help. But eventually I turned to raised bed gardening with the square foot method. I have had much more success with the raised beds due to the fact that I bought good quality topsoil to mix in the raised bed. So much better than my sandy soil.

However, you don't have to use the expensive Mel's mix to fill a raised bed. I build my raised beds 16 inches high, using free pallet wood, then fill it with hügelkultur wood in the bottom 8-10 inches, an organic layer of grass clippings and leaves, then the top 6-8 inches is a mix of high-quality topsoil with chicken run compost mixed 1:1.

I have to pay about $60 for a trailer load of topsoil. That's my only real expense. The pallet wood is free, the hügelkultur wood is free, and the chicken run compost is free. The only money out of pocket is maybe $2.00 in nails and screws to make the raised bed and then $10-15 per 4X4 foot raised bed for the topsoil which I mix with the chicken run compost. If you have good ground soil, you could use that mixed with compost to top fill your raised beds and save all that money.

For me, it was obviously cheaper to fill some raised beds than to try to improve my sandy soil out in the in-ground garden. Also, I wanted to grow food now, not 5 years from now when the sandy soil finally improves.

When I spend a day in the in ground garden my back always wishes we spent the money on a raised bed lol.

My first raised beds 15 years ago were only about 4 inches tall. Now, all my raised beds are 16 inches tall and I don't have to bend over hardly at all. Makes a big difference when you get to be a certain age.

This is my third tiller. I also have a little 2 stroke that works well in tight places like the flower beds and a front tine unit that was main one it still runs great just too small for our growing garden. It’s going to be a tight squeeze getting them all under roof. I might have to sell the front tine one to make room.

Yeah, those little tillers can really come in handy. I use my battery powered mini-tiller and my battery powered cultivator much more than my big walk behind gas tiller. Maybe you could tarp the small tiller outside and keep it? No doubt, if I sold one of my tillers, the next week I would need it and forever regret selling it. But that's my luck.

If you do sell your front end tiller, you might want to look into getting one of those mini-tiller attachments that fit on a gas or battery powerhead like those on grass trimmers.

They work great on previously tilled soil, and small enough to work in a raised bed if you ever go that way. For breaking sod, however, you want that big gas tiller.