Gardening / Homesteading

[CarpetCrawler]

On 3/22/2021 at 6:19 AM, The Guy In Pants said:

 

Deer cause the most damage for me. They're not gentle when they partake. LOL!

 

Also, more and more of societies retarded individuals drive out to our area and dispose of their unwanted pets; I've gained quite the battalion of pissed off cats. Each day, I find moles; squirrels and birds strewn from the back 40 to my driveway ranging from grotesque honor killing where just the head is gnawed off like the Catfather became enraged to the heralded buffet leaving only the indigestible innards for the peasants to finish off.

 

Willy and Caroline are the two who have been around the longest. 

 

Caroline is a bitch and loves to take her rage out on birds. Particularly my cardinals. Which makes me mad because I feed them and like having them around.

 

Willy is the baby of the two. He came around when he was tiny. Caroline took him in. She's still a bitch. Willy is the more loveable of the two. He likes to sit with me outside and &#%$ing carries on with insane meows if I don't acknowledge him.....Every.&#%$ing.Second.

 

BC (black cat) is next eldest. He's kind of a goon. Got hit by a car and his jaw is a little weird; he's got an overbite from hell. But, vet said all good. He spends most days outside but gets to go in my in laws home at night because he is a wuss. 

 

Dipshit is a black and white one who cant seem to grasp the concept of living outside.....or running. 

 

Rocky is a large black cat. He is a dick and beats the shit out of everyone else except when I am around. He keeps his distance. So; when I am dropping off dry food for them in the mornings; I like to hang around a little bit so the bitches get a taste. He is in process of being trapped; neutered and then sent to a local barn. He's much too mean to the others and a massive cat. Biggest one I have ever seen. 

 

We have two kittens living in the garage of one of the neighbors (wife's uncle - everyone who lives around us is family.) He is going to keep them both. They'll be inside cats eventually. 

 

Last night; another cat showed up. He triggered the cameras and I went outside to see. He is also black and white. (yay)

He's small so probably not very old.

 

I am still trying to catch one of these taint whistles throwing them out. Thought I had one a few months back; but the guy was stopping to take a piss. I am glad I didn't start out toward him as I had planned in my mind...... "Hey, mother &#%$er!"

 

Anyway; Willy brought me a massive mole the other day and was so proud. I don't have near the rabbit population or moles or even squirrels really. Which is fine. I certainly know when the cats get ahold of a rabbit. The rabbit screaming is crazy. 

 

 

My neighbor's cats get about a bird a week in the summer, usually mourning doves who stay on the ground getting the droppings. Once the two of them took out a woodchuck, it was an epic battle I wish I could have filmed it, but it was before the ubiquitousness of cell phones. They ended up somehow gutting the varmint and his intestines were everywhere. They had no interest in eating any of it, just left it in my yard to bury.

 

 

[The Guy In Pants]

20 hours ago, CarpetCrawler said:

 

My neighbor's cats get about a bird a week in the summer, usually mourning doves who stay on the ground getting the droppings. Once the two of them took out a woodchuck, it was an epic battle I wish I could have filmed it, but it was before the ubiquitousness of cell phones. They ended up somehow gutting the varmint and his intestines were everywhere. They had no interest in eating any of it, just left it in my yard to bury.

 

 

 

 

Cat's are satans pets. Just assholes. 

[The Guy In Pants]

So; I took a day off of work to receive 7 tons of organic compost/topsoil blend for the raised beds. You would be surprised how much 8'x4'x16" garden bed actually takes. Good lord. Once they dropped the pile on the tarps I set; I used a shovel and a trailer on the tractor to move. The trailer was literally a half inch too low in order to dump it. Had to offload by shovel too. Which is ultimately fine because its exercise. 

 

Smells amazing - almost like copenhagen....man I miss that stuff but glad I quit it. 

 

My shoulders and back definitely realize now; as if they didn't while I was doing it; that I shoveled that much yesterday. 

[RochesterRob]

On 3/22/2021 at 5:50 AM, The Guy In Pants said:

I finished most of the pallet fence this weekend. I still need to finish sealing the wood and adding the gate latches. It's nice to turn things that would have ultimately been thrown out and ran through a grinder before becoming mulch; into something useful for us.

 

Also built two 16x36 raised beds out of another pallet for my raspberry and blackberry bushes. I am going to be moving them into the fenced in area to keep the deer from going crazy again this year. They're not gentle when they tear into that shit.

 

I would move my blueberries but they are already at early pink bud so no longer dormant. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Watermelon should be doable temperature permitting.

[The Guy In Pants]

1 hour ago, RochesterRob said:

  Watermelon should be doable temperature permitting.

Was thinking about that myself. I did get some cantaloupe.

[The Guy In Pants]

Ok; who’s got experience with springtails? Apparently they came with the load of compost soil. Hardly see them until they jump. They’re are all through the yard and after looking around; that’s what they seem to be. 
 

I want them gone. Harmless supposedly but annoying.

 

Thinking about getting some SNS 203 or Diatomaceous Earth. 2 natural ways to control them without compromising safe food growing.

[Koko]

9 minutes ago, The Guy In Pants said:

Ok; who’s got experience with springtails? Apparently they came with the load of compost soil. Hardly see them until they jump. They’re are all through the yard and after looking around; that’s what they seem to be. 
 

I want them gone. Harmless supposedly but annoying.

 

Thinking about getting some SNS 203 or Diatomaceous Earth. 2 natural ways to control them without compromising safe food growing.

 

[Ann]

5 minutes ago, The Guy In Pants said:

Ok; who’s got experience with springtails? Apparently they came with the load of compost soil. Hardly see them until they jump. They’re are all through the yard and after looking around; that’s what they seem to be. 
 

I want them gone. Harmless supposedly but annoying.

 

Thinking about getting some SNS 203 or Diatomaceous Earth. 2 natural ways to control them without compromising safe food growing.

I put it in my container pots (you never know what plans on laying eggs in the dirt).  You can still end up with bugs on the plants, but if you want it to control bugs that are within the soil, it may help.

 

[The Guy In Pants]

7 hours ago, Koko said:

 

Yes

[The Guy In Pants]

7 hours ago, Ann said:

I put it in my container pots (you never know what plans on laying eggs in the dirt).  You can still end up with bugs on the plants, but if you want it to control bugs that are within the soil, it may help.

 

Glad you’re familiar with it, Ann.

 

I take it that it’s 100% safe to use around food growth and pets as it suggests on the label? Sometimes marketing is more important than truth.

[Ann]

5 hours ago, The Guy In Pants said:

Glad you’re familiar with it, Ann.

 

I take it that it’s 100% safe to use around food growth and pets as it suggests on the label? Sometimes marketing is more important than truth.

We are still alive.

 

[Ann]

I did some big gardening work... called the landscaper this morning.

Over the years I have made the front and back gardens pretty "easy" to take care of... still doesn't mean I want to do it. Last year it took 60 man-hours to get them in shape (these are 20 -30 year old men), and that was after the spring clean-up. It would probably take me 120-150 hours to accomplish what they do in one very long day with a six man crew. 

This year, our arborvitae need to be trimmed and that requires scaffolding that they move about the backyard (these are over 20 feet high). That isn't something I'd ever consider attempting.

Once my husband seals the patio (he has until mid-April), the peas will get planted in the pots (10 big pots)  and gardening season will officially be underway.


 

[Ann]

Looks like it is a flowers-only year for me, unless I do a fall garden.

We are hosting a wedding here and then taking several trips this summer.  We do have a service that will water for us while we are away, but I still think we are going to pass. 

The upside is all the flower posts I can fill! It will smell like a perfumery in the backyard this year.

[Uncle Joe]

3 hours ago, Ann said:

The upside is all the flower posts I can fill!

Will these be replacing the pom pom posts?

[Ann]

3 hours ago, Uncle Joe said:

Will these be replacing the pom pom posts?

  hush

[IDBillzFan]

On 3/24/2021 at 8:22 AM, The Guy In Pants said:

So; I took a day off of work to receive 7 tons of organic compost/topsoil blend for the raised beds. You would be surprised how much 8'x4'x16" garden bed actually takes. Good lord. Once they dropped the pile on the tarps I set; I used a shovel and a trailer on the tractor to move. The trailer was literally a half inch too low in order to dump it. Had to offload by shovel too. Which is ultimately fine because its exercise. 

 

Smells amazing - almost like copenhagen....man I miss that stuff but glad I quit it. 

 

My shoulders and back definitely realize now; as if they didn't while I was doing it; that I shoveled that much yesterday. 

 

Our garden area is 32x32, and when I'm done building the last four beds this weekend we'll have a total of about 18 beds. Part of the full area is fenced off for the chicken coop.

 

We just brought in our first truckbed of compost. My wife is the chef here, and she does equal parts compost, peat moss and vermiculite, the latter of which is expensive as shit, but she swears by it.

 

Hard to list everything she's doing, but it ranges from six different tomatoes, squash, zucchini, kale, a bunch of different lettuces, radish, broccoli, artichoke, blueberries, strawberries, huckleberries, garlic, and a bunch of different herbs.

 

We had to put the garden kind of far from our house for the sake of optimal sun, so once everything is built and filled, we begin the process of bringing water and power out to the garden.

 

It was cheaper for me to gamble on football.

[Just Joshin]

17 hours ago, IDBillzFan said:

 

Our garden area is 32x32, and when I'm done building the last four beds this weekend we'll have a total of about 18 beds. Part of the full area is fenced off for the chicken coop.

 

We just brought in our first truckbed of compost. My wife is the chef here, and she does equal parts compost, peat moss and vermiculite, the latter of which is expensive as shit, but she swears by it.

 

Hard to list everything she's doing, but it ranges from six different tomatoes, squash, zucchini, kale, a bunch of different lettuces, radish, broccoli, artichoke, blueberries, strawberries, huckleberries, garlic, and a bunch of different herbs.

 

We had to put the garden kind of far from our house for the sake of optimal sun, so once everything is built and filled, we begin the process of bringing water and power out to the garden.

 

It was cheaper for me to gamble on football.

I will have to try the vermiculite.  I have 10 8x4 raised beds that I start with a 1/2 bag of peat moss and a bag of manure.  After a few years I have the soil where I want it but it needs refreshed yearly IMO.

[Foxx]

For those bringing in soil, might I suggest 'mushroom compost'. It is nutrient rich, lasts for a good number of years without amendments and actually inhibits weed growth. The moisture retention is also quite high.

 

I redid my garden last year, a complete overhaul and rebuilt the 'A-frame' greenhouse to a true hoop house (amongst other things). As part of that effort, brought new mushroom compost in and the garden went wild. As one example of the tremendous benefit of using this soil;  I use rebar screen for my tomato cages and my Juliette tomatoes went up over the 4 feet high cages and back down to the ground again. The other vegetables also produced record volume and the flavor was through the roof!

 

If I get the time in the days ahead, I will post some images of the hoop house I built.

[IDBillzFan]

23 hours ago, Just Joshin said:

I will have to try the vermiculite.  I have 10 8x4 raised beds that I start with a 1/2 bag of peat moss and a bag of manure.  After a few years I have the soil where I want it but it needs refreshed yearly IMO.

 

Our beds are 3x6 and each bed ultimately accounts for a single 2-cubic-foot bag, so at about $20 a bag, you can hear me crying to my wife when I buy it. You can't have them drop a pile in your pickup bed like compost. On the upside, it's REALLY light...unlike the bags of peat moss.

 

To me, though, it's like using Belvedere vodka in a Long Island Iced Tea. But wifey swears by it and I've been married too long to make this the hill I die on.

 

22 hours ago, Foxx said:

For those bringing in soil, might I suggest 'mushroom compost'. It is nutrient rich, lasts for a good number of years without amendments and actually inhibits weed growth. The moisture retention is also quite high.

 

Will check with wife on this. Will be curious if our nurseries carry it.

 

We are completely new to homesteading. Just a year in. My wife is all in though, having started a local homesteading group that shares knowledge, and even created a seed library. She turned her office into her place to start seeds and it's been reported by JPL that the Rover can see the light coming out of her windows. From Mars.

[Foxx]

56 minutes ago, IDBillzFan said:

... Will check with wife on this. Will be curious if our nurseries carry it.

 

We are completely new to homesteading. Just a year in. My wife is all in though, having started a local homesteading group that shares knowledge, and even created a seed library. She turned her office into her place to start seeds and it's been reported by JPL that the Rover can see the light coming out of her windows. From Mars.

Bio-char is probably your best long term bet. I get my mushroom compost from my local landscaping company, cheaper than from a nursery.