What did you do in the garden today?

[Acre4Me]

you have odors or flies you need some lessons or to work it properly.

Our compost has flies on the new additions section- but that makes sense…it’s not degraded yet. Generally no flies on the other bins. The smell is there sometimes. Can’t turn in winter, then it’s a soppy mess when thawed with the addition of spring rain. So, it smells not so great at times, but only the “new” or middle bin, never the third bin.

at 85% there was no shadow and we barely got darker.
The sun was fun to watch though as I was working on a shelving unit.
The science equipment picked it all up though. It's darker now with a few clouds than the actual eclipse.

What I thought was amazing was that even just a sliver of light (1% sun showing), it wasn’t really dark- everything was pretty well illuminated. But during totality it was quite dark and definitely cooler. Then, 1% sun again and everything was well illuminated! My camera did not take any very good pics, unfortunately.

BTW, there is an option to pay for life-time access for $500.00.

lol. There is nothing that says they can’t remove the app though. We had this type of thing happen. A wildlife app with some great features, has a cost to it-on the higher side, but was not a subscription. We decided to buy it on one phone, and it was great for a year…then app disappears, no longer available, $$ spent with nothing left. At least we got some use out of it. So, I’m very hesitant to go all in on an app, as data entered could disappear overnight.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I did not see any Log tab. I was looking for other tabs but did not see any. I'll check it out again. That Log tab sounds more like what I was looking for. But I did like the garden layout that I saw.

There should be different tabs along the bottom to direct you to different pages

 

[TJAnonymous]

Today will be a true Spring weather day! I am loving it! The sun is shining, it'll go up to the 60s, & thankfully the wind is down to a breeze. We do have more rain coming, possibly sprinkles tonight, but I won't think about that today.

Went to Home Depot 7am to get materials for jobsite, will be there tomorrow through Saturday, but today, it's Garden Time!

My flock will be helping till, so I will be sure to get a few photos, too. I absolutely gardening with
There's something so very joyful about a chicken digging & scratching with enthusiasm, as a Rooster chortles about a sweet treat he found for his girls. I love them so much. A hen jumping up to reach something to peck at, makes me laugh out loud, too.

I planted a dozen Blueberry plants, a variety of types, a couple of years ago. Some have done tremendously well, a few not well at all, a couple have died. After reading up on what they grow well next to, I've decided to relocate them to an area not far from a large Pine tree & Azalea. I know...not the best time to dig them up, but I will dig a huge ball of soil, hopefully they will relocate ok, by taking extra care. They'll get full sun where I place them, but also get the benefit of more acidic soil & I can spread some Pine needles over where they'll be.

I'm really trying to brush up on knowledge of companion & synergy planting in general. Also, I'm going to fence in & cover a huge area so chickens can free range safely. (Getting Pheasant type netting). So the blueberries must be moved anyway.

I think I've killed a half dozen blueberry shrubs in the process of learning... I've currently got 2 that are doing well. One is in a large mineral tub. The other is planted in the ground. I've been wanting to get another but not sure where I can squeeze it in....

 

[gtaus]

lol. There is nothing that says they can’t remove the app though. We had this type of thing happen. A wildlife app with some great features, has a cost to it-on the higher side, but was not a subscription. We decided to buy it on one phone, and it was great for a year…then app disappears, no longer available, $$ spent with nothing left. At least we got some use out of it. So, I’m very hesitant to go all in on an app, as data entered could disappear overnight.

Well, I have purchased lifetime software in the past only to be disappointed that a year or two later they went out of business or decided to change the name of their software so as to not honor their previous commitments.

At least I still had the old program which still worked and my data was on my computer. I just can't see me buying into a subscription program with my data stored on their servers held captive by their changing terms of use.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Got 5 small acorn sized strawberries this morning. Tasted delicious... And zero evidence of blight on anything! The barrels seem to be working!

I also noticed that both peach trees have a handful of peaches that survived the last freeze! Hoping they don't go toes up for whatever reason. My neighbor said her peach tree was loaded with fruit in the spring and then dropped all of it over the summer. Not a single one made it to the end. I know peaches require a stupid high amount of water and I don't think she irrigates. I certainly won't be irritating to the same level that I did last year (every day for an hour at a time) but will opt for 2x/week. Hoping that's enough to keep fruit from dropping. Summer is always a crap shoot on how much rain we get but July & August are ALWAYS hot and dry.

 

[gtaus]

There should be different tabs along the bottom to direct you to different pages

My old eyes failed me on that one. But I found those tabs now, thank you. Problem was that Excel had those tabs in a very light blue color and I did not recognize them as tabs. In any case, I have been looking through your spreadsheet and it looks great.

FYI, I use the free LibreOffice suite. LibreOffice Calc was able to open up that spreadsheet with no problems. So, now I have it saved on my computer as a LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet for my use. I mention this because when you try to load that Excel spreadsheet, they try to get you to buy into the MS Office suite. Well, you can download and install the LibreOffice suite for free and load up that Excl spreadsheet in LibreOffice Calc instead.

I have no complaints about MS Office. However, since I left the university, I switched over to LibreOffice for free and never looked back. It does everything I have ever needed, and more, plus you never have to pay for the program or updates.

 

[jerryse]

Bloodroot in bloom and Virgina bluebells. first

pic is a white one.

 

[gtaus]

@TJAnonymous, would you say a word or two, or pictures, on how you make your self-watering raised beds? I'd be interested in how you do it.

FWIW, I mainly build 4X4 foot 16-inch-high raised pallet wood beds. Then I fill them with the hügelkultur method which is a great water sponge. Almost as good as a water reservoir, IMHO. But I do have a few smaller elevated self watering planters which are very nice. I just want to see/hear how you make them in a raised bed.

For anyone interested, I have been building these 4X4 foot, 16-inch-high, hügelkultur pallet wood raised beds for about $2.00 each....

 

[WthrLady]

Moving the irrigation head in the pasture every 45 minutes and am getting ready to go pot up tomato seedlings into their own cups.

 

[TJAnonymous]

@TJAnonymous, would you say a word or two, or pictures, on how you make your self-watering raised beds? I'd be interested in how you do it.

FWIW, I mainly build 4X4 foot 16-inch-high raised pallet wood beds. Then I fill them with the hügelkultur method which is a great water sponge. Almost as good as a water reservoir, IMHO. But I do have a few smaller elevated self watering planters which are very nice. I just want to see/hear how you make them in a raised bed.

For anyone interested, I have been building these 4X4 foot, 16-inch-high, hügelkultur pallet wood raised beds for about $2.00 each....

View attachment 3796369

I made mine following a video that someone posted here from a nursery that is actually local to me.

Essentially I make 3 rectangular frames from whatever materials I have. In this case, it was 2x8s. I stack them, then use 2x4s to secure them in the corners and middle. These are laid on top of thick weed barrier. I also laid down thick cardboard inside...

Because next you line the inside of the bed with visqueen or pool liner, whatever you have. I used 6 mil plastic sheeting from Lowe's.

Line the bottom with 8 - 12" of river rock. I used large, smooth 4" rock. Picked up a cubic yard from the local landscaping company for $50 which allowed me to fill nearly (3) 10 ft x 2 ft beds. Add 4"drain tile so you can add water as needed directly below the soil. Added in an overflow pipe in case we get too much water or rain.

Here's a picture at this point -



Then I put down a thin weed barrier, mostly to keep the soil from getting into the pipes below and clogging them. Then, simply add the soil to the top. In my beds, I have 8" of rock to act as the reservoir to 16" of soil above. I left the 2x4s extended above the bed as supports so I can cover with shade cloth or insect netting, as needed.

Here's the final product -



I have thought about adding a layer of wood logs or mulch between the rocks and soil but I haven't gotten around to trying it yet.


FWIW, I have hugelkultur beds too. I really like them too... I use them for my flowers and shallow root veggies. I chose to create the self-watering beds above for my potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes, mostly...