What did you do in the garden today?

[akroberts1085]

No that's water. It came up to the back of the house. My husband went out and got on his quad to evaluate the water height. It covered the tires.

Ooh, that's pretty bad. Is all of that mud?

.

 

[akroberts1085]

Went out and picked 3 tomatoes green beans and a zucchini. Took a bit of peppers green beans and a zucchini and 2 crookneck squash to my friends at the corner store. I told her son how to cook it all. He immediately called her to let her know. Got my carrots planted and planted some potatoes. I'm going to try the gallon water jug method for producing more garlic plants and see how it goes. Have so much to plant for fall.

 

[Smokerbill]

I'm going to try the gallon water jug method for producing more garlic plants and see how it goes.

I'm not familiar with that method. Care to explain?

 

[akroberts1085]

I'm not familiar with that method. Care to explain?

You cut holes to put the garlic in, not allowing it to fall through. Fill the jug most of the way up, place the garlic bulbs in the holes. Check to see that the water touches the bottom of the bulb, if not then finish filling with water. Keep it full of water and wait about 2 or 3 weeks. Then you can take the bulbs apart and you end up with about 20 bulbs from the one.

 

[gtaus]

I've kind of gotten out of doing the double dig thing to mix in compost. I just till compost into the top few inches of the bed. Don't want to disturb the worms and stuff working down deep in the soil.

That is why I mainly use the smaller cultivator for mixing the annual compost into the top few inches of the raised bed. If you really jam the cultivator down into the soil, you can mix up about 4 inches deep. But it's a rather gentle back and forth mixing motion, not a tilling action, so I don't think a cultivator would disturb worms and other stuff working down deep in the soil.

The cultivator is really only good for previously worked up soil. But it sure saves time and labor compared to shoveling. For an old guy, it helps me get the work done faster and easier. At my age, I'm all about easier when possible.

 

[Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies]

No that's water. It came up to the back of the house. My husband went out and got on his quad to evaluate the water height. It covered the tires.

.

Oh, at least it wasn't mud, but that's still a LOT of water!

 

[karenerwin]

We got some more rain today, which is great because we need it!

 

[akroberts1085]

This is what the gallon water jug method looks like.

 

[CNJ]

The wicking beds sound like a lot of fun and I mean it's kinda similar to the 200L tomato kratky when I fill it with coco/perlite. I basically let the bottom just barely touch the nutrient layer and then water once from the top and leave it. Trying some water hungry veggies would be fun. Actually got some more kankong and that would be a really fun one to try in there. I know the chooks love it.

I have a 3ft x 4 ft rubber cement tub above a 600-gallon fish tank with some of the return water from my ultima filter rigged to fill it 1/4 to 1/2 inch full and drain back into the fish tank with constant water flow. I use 12 one gallon grow bags with potting mix and organic fertilizer mixed on the top half, so it doesn't leach out. The fabric bags wick water up and keeps the top half moist. I also fill clay pebbles around the bottom of the grow bags to prevent algae growth.
I have a constant supply of leafy greens growing in the tub year-round.

It's easier to maintain than the Kratky method, since the bags have enough organic fertilizer to see the plants through to harvest. In addition, cherry tomatoes can also be grown in the one-gallon bags, but the fruits aren't as large as the ones grown in larger containers.

I have a bigger 3 ft x 8 ft x 8-inch-deep plastic grow bed above a 1,000-gallon fish tank that is set up almost the same way, but I keep the water level higher, and I use a bell siphon with a small hole on top to prevent the siphon from triggering, so the water drains from the bottom and not the top. I need the water to drain from the bottom to prevent my duck weed from draining out.

I use the duck weed as a food supplement for my White Nile Tilapia's. White Nile Tilapia's can grow up to 10lbs and they look and taste like saltwater fish to me.

 

[Sally PB]

Last spring, I planted some bee balm seed and was rewarded with a 3 foot patch of bee balm plants that grew at the side of my garden. Woo-hoo, I thought, food for the honey bees.

Nope. Bumble bees, other bees, even yellow jackets. The flowers' throats are too long for honey bees to access the nectar.

While I'm happy to help feed bees in general, I don't want to aid the yellow jackets! Those plants are going away as soon as the flowers are done, and I won't grow them again next year. If I see volunteers next spring, I will transplant them to a place away from my garden.