What did you do in the garden today?

[Sally PB]

I have had great results in my hügelkultur beds that were filled with pine and spruce logs. I have used both old rotted pine wood and freshly cut pine wood in my beds. My plants have been growing well. Not sure how much better the plants could grow if I had used some other type of wood.

Yeah, I was surprised about the pine. Black walnut, yeah, I can understand that. I read another site that said basically, any wood EXCEPT for aleopathic types, like walnut, and those that don't break down well is acceptable. Oh, yeah, I can see that willow would be a problem. Those things can come back from the dead, it seems.

 

[Dadanga]

I know I was kinda foolish in using ficus in one of the beds as it's like a white wood. I can't remember why it's bad. Other stuff is mostly gumtree logs and bits of jarrah 2x4s. Would you use building lumber?

 

[jerryse]

Garden is mostly done, We should see some sun today. I have been thinking about garden success and failures of this year. No squash bugs and SVB was controlled. Some success controlling cucumber Beatles. Cucumbers were a failure due to mildew I think. Try controlling that next year.

 

[lightm]

Dear Wife is a Filipina. She grew up eating bitter melons and loves them. They are too bitter for me, in general, but I have found that I like them in small portions in stir fry. They give the stir fry a little extra Bam! I grew the bitter melons for her, of course.

She can eat a dish full of bitter melons served with bitter melons.

We had a pretty good harvest of those bitter melons this year and Dear Wife was able to share some bitter melons with her other Filipina friends in our area. She likes to share what we can, so it's all good to me. Most of us American men don't care much for the bitter melons, so sharing a little means a lot to the girls who really enjoy it.

Dear Wife saved some seeds to start some bitter melon plants in the house next spring when the snow is still out in the yard. That should give us a good 2 months jumpstart on the growing season. Since we are trying to grow tropical plants in our northern Minnesota zone 3b, we need all the early start we can push.

As far as being healthy for you, I'll just link you to 6 Benefits of Bitter Melon (Bitter Gourd) and Its Extract. According to that article, "In addition to its sharp flavor and distinct appearance, bitter melon has been associated with several impressive health benefits." But you can read the full article if you want more information.

Thanks for the reply. It is so nice that you try to grow food that she loves.

Another thing I don't understand is people live in the north... I suppose it is nice for growing a variety of fruit trees...

 

[Sueby]

Wow, color me surprised, the photos match!

From a web search:
View attachment 3659802

I've been chucking the fruits over the fence back into the woods for years, thought it was some sort of mock orange.

We have one in the backyard too - I only found out a couple years ago what it was!

My sisters boss was in the hospital for quite some time with 'parrot pneumonia' (Psittacosis). He was very, very sick & they didn't know why till finally one doc asked if he had birds. Turns out he was cleaning his coop without a mask & got it. Since then I've always worn one while cleaning, but I have sort of panic attacks when I wear them so I have to hurry, lol. I get all sweaty & can't breath.

My back has been kinda sucky since camping so I'm tying to take it easy but I'd like to pick some sungolds. & water/feed the girls.

 

[gtaus]

Yeah, I was surprised about the pine. Black walnut, yeah, I can understand that. I read another site that said basically, any wood EXCEPT for aleopathic types, like walnut, and those that don't break down well is acceptable. Oh, yeah, I can see that willow would be a problem. Those things can come back from the dead, it seems.

Pine and spruce are our main trees where I live. Maybe I was lucky in that I was successfully using pine and spruce wood for a few years in hügelkultur raised beds before I read that article not to use it!

Based on my personal experience, I have not seen any negative effects of using pine or spruce wood in my hügelkultur raised beds. Maybe it's the plants I grow in the raised beds don't care? Maybe the plants roots are in the top 6-8 inches of soil and don't go much deeper down to the base where the hügelkultur wood is located?

 

[Sequel]

View attachment 3658326
My luffa! Wheeeee! It's about the size of a banana.

 

[gtaus]

It is so nice that you try to grow food [bitter melons] that she loves.

It's even better that we were successful in growing that tropical food in Zone 3b!

Another thing I don't understand is people live in the north... I suppose it is nice for growing a variety of fruit trees...

Well, I was born and raised in Minnesota. I have lived in southern states and even in the tropics during my time in the military. The tropics were far too hot for me, and even the southern states were uncomfortable for me in the summertime. So, when I left the military, I chose to go back to Minnesota. Maybe we all have a preference for where we were raised?

As to fruit trees, I planted a number of fruit trees about 20 years ago, but the deer ate them in the wintertime and killed them. I never replanted them because I did not want to build a high fence in my yard to keep the deer out to protect the trees. That would have cost me a lot more money than the fruit we would ever use. Plus, it would have been a real pain for me to mow around.

Anyways, I am OK sharing the land with the wild deer and it gives me something small to complain about from time to time. They just ate the tops off my pepper plants this year. They took a few bites into the eggplants but did not like them. They love kale if it is still growing this time of year. I don't mind the occasional deer walking through the back yard. Kind of why I chose to live here.

 

[WthrLady]

I thought of the time in service as 'sampling retirement locales'.
I liked the south, but I like seasons.
I liked the far north and the northern lights and milder summers, but the winters were too dark and too long (didn't mind the cold THAT much).
East - too hectic and crowded - trees made me feel trapped.
West - not a mountain girl.
Far West - Ya, no.
Desert - NOPE.
So smack in the middle it is. LOL!
Nothing on the books today. Was going to move hay from the shed and wash coop windows.
Keeps spitting rain, but not enough to count as rain, so another day it is.

 

[igorsMistress]

I liked the black walnuts but didn't like my hands turning black when shelling them.

My mom always knew when I’d been in the walnut tree as a kid, my hands were black as coal.