What did you do in the garden today?

[gtaus]

get the wood chipper going and get as much chipped as I can. I want to finish the run by loading it with wood chips, and edge the garden with chips AND put cardboard down around my lavender beds and put wood chips on top.

I'm a big fan of wood chips. I have a larger, gas woodchipper that will chip branches up to 3 inches round, and a smaller, electric chipper that will process branches up to about 1-1//2 inches. I used to chip up wood all the time in the past. It was a great way to clean up the yard and have something (wood chips) that was useful in so many ways.

I would use cardboard on the ground, as well, and cover it with wood chips. Very nice.

The only thing that I did not like so much was that it took quite a long time to chip wood at home with my chippers. Not a really big deal because I would just put on my headphones and listen to the radio or maybe listen to an audiobook.

But I'm getting older now and looking for more and more ways to reduce my manual labor. I discovered that I could get free wood chips at our county landfill. It takes me about 20 minutes to fork in a full load of wood chips into my 4X8 foot utility trailer. If I had to chip that much wood at home, it would probably take me about 16 hours over 2 or 3 days.

Since I found out that I can get as many free wood chips as I want at the landfill, my chippers rarely get used these days. Instead of chipping my yard waste wood, I just build a new hügelkultur raised bed and dump the wood in there. So, I am still using all that yard waste wood, just in a different way.

My little electric chipper does a great job in chipping up small branches, almost like pine shavings quality, and I will still occasionally make wood chips with that for my nest beds. For small branches, my little electric SunJoe chipper works well...

You just have to be aware of its limitations and not expect to chip up a trailer full of wood in minutes. That will not happen. But for small branches and yard cleanup, the electric chipper is my go-to machine.

 

[gtaus]

We toss egg shells in the compost - not very well crushed up. We definitely see egg shells as we scoop finished compost into the wheelbarrow. I just figure that it can’t hurt and it’s better than throwing them out.

Exactly. The only wrong way to use eggshells is throwing them out into the garbage. Every other way of using eggshells will work. Some just take longer than others to breakdown and work. Eventually, everything is returned to nature.

 

[jerryse]

Pulled weeds dug weeds. Never ending job. I have a rootstock blooming. It was a grafted sour cherry and it died back. No idea what the rootstock is. More of a shrub and earliest blooming. Need to graft a cherry onto it. Still having trouble importing pics from SD card.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I got one new asparagus bed done and planted!

I'll do the 2nd one on Monday. Need more soil. We picked up a load today with the Kei truck. The weight of a full load had me really concerned about a blowout. The tires are really old and there's some dry rot evidence on them. Thankfully we made it home with no surprises... When I go on Monday, I'll simply make 2 trips and get a half load each time.

Potato are sprouting... Blackberries are flowering. I'm so tempted to put my seedlings out but they are all still really tiny....

Side note, I divided and repotted one of my aloe Vera plants. I love aloe plants but omg they put off a TON of pups! My one plant is now like 10 plants... And I still have 2 other big plants that also need divided and replanted.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Oh yeah, chicks hatching on Monday too!

 

[Nym]

Pulled weeds dug weeds. Never ending job. I have a rootstock blooming. It was a grafted sour cherry and it died back. No idea what the rootstock is. More of a shrub and earliest blooming. Need to graft a cherry onto it. Still having trouble importing pics from SD card.

A few of my grafted roses went to Huey (the rootstock). I have tried to kill the rootstock over the years but it continues to emerge from what must be left of underground root. Whatever rootstock your cherry was growing on will be vigorous as all hay and be able to withstand various conditions. Be careful you don't end up with a mighty tree that could take time / money to remove at some date. I check all my newer roses and fruit trees for any bright green shoots near the graft, and cut them off. Rule of thumb: if I planted a white rose I don't want a red rose taking over.

Dr. Huey rose rootstock thriving. (photo from pintrest). Mine never gets a chance to flower; it is hacked off at ground level. I may employ the roundup injection.

 

[Nym]

25.4mm of rain o'nite .. looks like another sewing day for me.

 

[Smokerbill]

The Huey looks a lot like the one rose vine I have. It's vigorous and I'd describe the blossoms as red and loose. Deer like to eat the vine every once in a while. I chopped it back to five 8 inch long stubs last spring and it grew into a 3 foot tall 5 foot diameter bush in one season.

 

[Sally PB]

We have a week of 40s and 50s coming up, but nights still around freezing. I need a nice sunny day to plant the pots in the green house. I might get one on Tuesday or Thursday. I was so hoping to have them all planted by the first.

 

[Nym]

The Huey looks a lot like the one rose vine I have. It's vigorous and I'd describe the blossoms as red and loose. Deer like to eat the vine every once in a while. I chopped it back to five 8 inch long stubs last spring and it grew into a 3 foot tall 5 foot diameter bush in one season.

Incredible!