What did you do in the garden today?

[chickengr]

Geese were not on the pond last night or early this morning when I was out feeding but they've since returned so they are clearly sleeping somewhere more protected...

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Hmmm, I was going to let my ducks out this morning because it will be a beautiful day today before storms and cold/crappy weather returns tomorrow. They will be so disappointed....

if geese don't stay 24 h/day on the pond I guess there is no problem to let your ducks out.

 

[chickengr]

I have a big garden (60?x30) and a huge garden (145x25). Before I had the big garden, I would work half of the huge garden and planted the other half in some kind of cover crop. The asparagus bed was in the middle, so it was the dividing line.

Tip: Alfalfa is very difficult to get rid of, if you don't till it to death. If you don't plan to till your garden a couple times (at least!) or use some kind of herbicide, alfalfa will come back from the roots. Again. And again. There are STILL alfalfa plants coming up along the edge of one part of the huge garden. Plant buckwheat instead. Or cover rye.

I realized that if I planted something like butternut squash which takes over a LARGE area, I was out of space, so I decided to use the entire huge garden. Then I saw how much more light the area where I put the big garden got, and decided the stuff like tomatoes and peppers would go there.

I love the idea of part of the garden "resting" and being a place for compost. Good luck to those of you who do that. I bet it works well!

my geese, ducks and chicken would love to take care of alfalfa, lol. they decimated 1/2 acre in about 2 months. even milk thistle don't show up any more.

 

[jerryse]

Sun was shining and birds were singing. Then I woke up and it is snowing.

 

[Sally PB]

About 8 visits over a year plus. In 1964 they burnt them off in the office first visit. One visit and done.

Yeah! I had several trips to a dermatologist when I was in my teens (mid-1970s) for warts, but it was for different warts each time. Fingers, on my knee cap, one on my foot. I had them cut out, blistered off, frozen off, and burned off. One treatment, and that wart was done. But then another one popped up.

He was a great doc. My mom went with me, and on one visit, she showed him her shin and asked if he could do anything about how terribly it itched. (Her GP didn't know what it was.) He took one look, said, "Oh, that's such and such. Make an appointment, and I can take care of it." A few shots, and it was gone, bringing her much relief.

Sounds like a scam to keep the money flowing into the doctor's office. Maybe there was a good reason to keep coming back, but I too remember in the 1960's and 1970's where one would go to the doctor's office for a plantar wart and get it removed at that visit.

I know some people who had platar warts and they said it was painful. They got a lot of relief once the wart was removed. Hope you recover well.

I'm treating the one on my left foot with cider vinegar. It has black spots in it now, so I think I'm killing it. It may take a few weeks, but I bet it would take longer to get an appointment to see a doc.

 

[gtaus]

I'm treating the one on my left foot with cider vinegar. It has black spots in it now, so I think I'm killing it. It may take a few weeks, but I bet it would take longer to get an appointment to see a doc.

I'm all for effective home remedies. It's just a shame that it takes so long to get a doctor's appointment for concerns.

When I lived in France, you just went to the Pharmacist, and they would prescribe medication for you to keep you healthy. I think that worked better for most people. Better to stay healthy than trying to get back to health after a condition has progressed. Unfortunately, here in the US, we end up waiting for months to see a doctor and by that time the condition may have progressed to the point where treating it is not as easy. I know some people call our system "Sick Care" and not a "Health Care."

Although I garden because I like to grow food that I know tastes better than the big box store, I also know many people garden because they believe their homegrown food is healthier for them. Lots of gardeners are primarily concerned about the health of their families and I think that is a good thing.

 

[Jenbirdee]

and the health of our poultry - i grow lots of extra lettuce and kale to share with my ducks geese and chickens!! i know it’s organic and pesticide free

 

[gtaus]

In case anyone is interested, I made a pallet wood stackable compost bin in my garage this past week. The idea is that each tier of the stackable compost bin can be taken off, or put on, as you build your compost pile. If you are turning the compost, then it just makes it a lot easier to reposition the pile right next it, building up the new compost tower as your take apart and turn the other.

Google picture of that concept using standard wood...

Anyways, I wanted to make this type of stackable compost bins but using free pallet wood. Because the pallet wood planks are not uniform in size and thickness, there are some modifications required to make the stackable concept work. If you are interested in making a free pallet wood stackable compost bin and want to know what I learned from my build, please visit the more in-depth discussion at Show Me Your Pallet Projects thread.

Here is a quick picture of my free pallet wood stackable compost bin I just built. In this build, I purposely used a variety of pallet plank boards in both thickness and width. There are a few tricks to make it work when you use different sized pallet boards, but it is easily modified. But I had to prove it to myself.

It took me a number of tries to get it right using pallet wood - due to the differences in the thickness of the boards - which will effect the ability to stack the tiers unless you make a few modifications to the original design. But I think I got using free pallet wood down to a science now for this project and I posted my lessons learned in the other thread Show Me Your Pallet Projects.

Would love to hear any feedback on your thoughts.

 

[Sally PB]

Although I garden because I like to grow food that I know tastes better than the big box store, I also know many people garden because they believe their homegrown food is healthier for them. Lots of gardeners are primarily concerned about the health of their families and I think that is a good thing.

Yes, yes, and yes. Oh, and gardening is good exercise.

Then there's the "is it cheaper?" question.

Start up on a garden can be expensive. If I include the cost of our property, I'll never "break even" on the food I've grown.

Now that I have pretty much everything I need, my only recurring cost is some seeds and other starts each year. I'm lessening that with saving my own. I did buy some garlic cloves of a different variety than what I grow. I figure I've been getting garlic for free for 5-6 years now, maybe longer.

I'm pretty sure I could buy bottled salsa cheaper than I can grow the ingredients and can hubby's salsa. But it wouldn't taste the same, and he's particular.

 

[gtaus]

Yes, yes, and yes. Oh, and gardening is good exercise. Then there's the "is it cheaper?" question. Start up on a garden can be expensive. If I include the cost of our property, I'll never "break even" on the food I've grown.

Yep, there are a lot of good reasons to garden at home, but saving money is not on the top of my list. It is certainly cheaper to buy at the store than buy land to grow food. And where I live in Minnesota, we would have a very limited diet if we only ate what we could grow.

I'm pretty sure I could buy bottled salsa cheaper than I can grow the ingredients and can hubby's salsa. But it wouldn't taste the same, and he's particular.

Dear Wife makes fresh garden salsa every fall for a number of weeks, maybe a couple of months in a good year. Unfortunately, we don't can anymore, so I only get the fresh salsa during harvest time. I guess that also makes it extra special when we do have it.

 

[chickengr]

It's a primrose. Very nice too

it is kalanchoe, a succulent plant.