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Post by eastex on Feb 19, 2016 2:27:55 GMT -5
So, just my little thread of what I'm about in my garden/life. Today: garden beds. Things I really should have done in the fall, I am doing now. The soil is good already, but I'm layering aged manure and straw and wood mulch. I know some folks are very anti-wood mulching your veggie patch. Well, good on them. But my personal experience has been wonderful with a nice thick layer of shredded mulch over all my veggie beds. Other than that, me n the hubby are payin the tax man for the first time in our lives, and it's a doosey! The joys of being contract labor. So, I'm pretty much bushed and broke. I scrounged enough to get me a handful, of sweet potato slips and that's it until after April. But, I can't complain too much. I have free cardboard and manure and cheapish hay. I'm able bodied enough to lay my beds without help. Bills are paid and seedlings are getting going. Life could be easier financially, but I couldn't be much happier otherwise. I want some Corsican mint, but the shipping on a pot is ridiculous and I haven't found a local source. Seeds are all sold out across the Internet. So, mint will have to wait. I am waiting excitedly to see what types of flowers are going to spring forth from the multiple bulbs the previous owners planted. It's like Christmas, only better. I know one is amaryllis and I'm betting red over white. The rest are a mystery. That's all for now!
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Post by richardw on Feb 19, 2016 12:55:59 GMT -5
You sound like me eastex i'm a real tight ase when it comes to never paying for sources of carbon materials. Where are you getting your aged manure, straw and wood mulch. |
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Post by eastex on Feb 24, 2016 22:25:44 GMT -5
I work for a man who has horses. He lets me have all the aged manure/wood shavings I want. The hay I got from my husband's job for a very good price. Sadly, my mulch was not free. It hasn't been breaking the bank, but it's not free either. I live in an area with a lot of trees, so it's not too hard to find mulch if you can wait until it is free. I didn't have the luxury this year. I'm fortunate in where I live when it comes to materials.
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Post by eastex on Feb 28, 2016 16:48:44 GMT -5
Put in the asparagus and strawberries this weekend. After clearing out the bed from the mess the previous owners had made of it. Stumps still to be removed, but after spring when I can make sure the bastards are good and dead first. Nothing like chasing crepe myrtle suckers all over the yard.
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Post by eastex on Mar 10, 2016 21:04:56 GMT -5
Well, the rain has washed away my wild flower seeded beds. I'm kinda bummed. The husband and I are trying to dig out two huge crape myrtle stumps that are evil incarnate. Will finally have enough saved to pay taxes by the end of this month. A neighbor down the street is gonna give me an Indian peach tree. Apparently these are quite bitter and used for canning? I need to do some research. I'm more interested in the absolutely gorgeous magenta flowers they trees make in the spring. I'm in love with them. Maybe it will be a decent pollinator for my free stone peach trees? We shall see. I'm out of tree space....but I WILL find a place for this guy.
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Post by eastex on Mar 20, 2016 10:49:26 GMT -5
Well, the husband got one of the crape myrtles out entirely. The other one we had to use the chainsaw to cut the root. I'm pretty sure I'll be fighting that bad boy for a while. Got my ostrich ferns planted in the shady corner where nothing grows next to the shed out back. Most of my seedlings are thriving and I'm going to plant them out soon. This weekend was a frost and next weekend one is expected again. But after that, I think they'll be fine. I've got a couple of rhubarb crowns that I am pondering over. They apparently die in the south due to the excessive heat of summer. I'm considering planting them in shade where they will have protection through the summer and sun in the winter where they may produce in fall and spring. But can they survive the heat? That's the question.
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Post by steev on Mar 20, 2016 19:21:44 GMT -5
Rhubarb survives on my farm, where I've seen it go 119F four days running; it needs water.
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Post by eastex on Mar 20, 2016 22:10:09 GMT -5
Awesome! Now THAT gives me some hope. What kind of light conditions do you grow yours in? Is there a shelter from the winds that you use?
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Post by steev on Mar 21, 2016 10:18:50 GMT -5
There are trees giving some E/W wind shelter; sunlight is intense.
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Post by eastex on Mar 29, 2016 19:01:14 GMT -5
So, I am attempting to post pictures.  This is my tree collards. |
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Post by eastex on Mar 29, 2016 19:07:22 GMT -5
Now for the rest  Tree Collards  Sea Kale  Perennial Kale seedlings 1  Perennial Kale seedlings 2  Perennial Kale Seedlings 3  Perennial Kale seedlings 4 trixtrax. See them? |
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Post by johninfla on Mar 31, 2016 5:04:42 GMT -5
Hi Eastex, your pictures came through well! How does the perennial kale taste? My wife isn't much of a greens eater but I can handle collards if they are prepared well with lots of ham  I'd be interested in hearing how your rhubarb does. I tried it once about fifteen years ago, along with asparagus. The asparagus struggled along but never did much and the rhubarb came up the first year and then disappeared. We probably have more humidity than you and bug/disease pressure so you may do much better. John |
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Post by eastex on Apr 1, 2016 21:29:30 GMT -5
johninfla, i will keep ya updated on the rhubarb this year. This is my first time growing these perennial kale. They are a landrace mix I got that trixtrax bred. But, I will let ya know! I am quite in agreement with greens n ham. Or greens and garlic. Or pretty much cooked greens of any kind. I'm not big on raw greens, sadly. I have a brand new asparagus bed on the north side of the house. Nothing has popped up,yet, but I'm holding out hope for success. I'm gonna post some more pics of the permaculture garden, but this time of year it's pretty much mulch and some sticks. It is also a young garden since we just moved in last summer. But it's going to be great as the years go on. My dwarf trees will probably still be just growing this year and not producing fruit. But the greens (perennial kale, perennial arugula, French sorrel, Turkish rocket, etc.) will be feeding us this year. And if my flower seeds sprout, I will have a good mix of edible flowers and vetch around the trees. And the berry plants will produce this year, so I'm pretty stoked about that. It's awfully humid here, but not tropical humid. I'm going to be learning a lot this year since I haven't grown a garden in such a moist environment as an adult. Slugs, moles, and bunnies. In west Texas, where we moved from, water, heat, and corn ear worms were pretty much all I dealt with. And the water thing was dealt with using mulch. I'm terrified of some rodent rampaging thru my carefully tended perennials. If I can expand the far side of the front garden in good time, I will be growing some okra and chilis and beans in the beds with the flowers.
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Post by eastex on Apr 1, 2016 21:32:39 GMT -5
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Post by eastex on Apr 11, 2016 18:44:29 GMT -5
Joyful discovery: termites in my mulch.....ugh.
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