Weekly Gardening Thread
Posted on 09/16/2011 5:18:08 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Weekly Gardening Thread
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I live in Michigan (Magslinger points with his right index finger to a point on the back of his left hand midway between the lowest knuckle of his middle finger and wrist.) In a couple of weeks we will be moving to new digs in the same area. The bright side is that for the first time in my life I will have enough room to make a decent sized garden. I am very much looking forward to that.
I have identified some potential problems with our new place. The location is near three large city parks, two cemeteries and two golf courses. It is infested with deer, has hot and cold running woodchucks and yet is within city limits. If it weren’t for the last, I could very easily reduce the other two problems with some 12 ga. slugs and a brick or two of .22LR. As it stands I am going to need some advice on what may work to keep uninvited pests out of the garden. I would appreciate any advice on how to keep ‘chucks from burrowing under out buildings and porches as well.
I have been so sick for the last two weeks that I haven’t been able to tend the garden...Now I have a yard full of WEEDS! EEK! Such work ahead for me.
Last weekend, I finally finished the roof on the poultry complex. I plan to get the floor joists, insulation and flooring down and painted this weekend. The walls will have to wait. I have other fish to fry first.
The weather turned decidedly cooler last night and it was 50 this morning with a brisk breeze. Autumn is definitely in the air!
Since I have such a small plot, I will be growing tomatos in pretty well the same place next year. Can anyone tell me what I may need to do to the soil to freshen it up for next year. Crop rotation is not an option here. I am sure that I should re-plenish nutriants in the soil, but don't know just what I need.
Top 10
Today is my FReeper Birthday! 7 years and counting
Feels like October here in Central Missouri. I managed to get a small patch tilled up in the garden and planted some green salad. It’s up and loving the cool conditions. Peppers, eggplant and okra are going nuts. Tomatoes are beginning to wither but are still blooming and setting new fruit. The peach trees that I grew from seed are waist high and look fantastic. Still haven’t seen anything popping up where I inoculated with mushroom spawn in the spring. Time will tell...
We had a frost here a couple days ago and all my pumpkin vines died. What can I do to keep the pumpkins “fresh” till Halloween. I would like to carve them, and use the seeds and pulp for recipes. It just seems too early to save them for that. Any suggestions?
Deer pretty much do what they want unless you build a very high fence they cannot jump over. A fence will also keep rabbits and ground hogs out.
We had ground hogs burrowing under our front porch (concrete slab). We tried moth crystals blown down the holes and fox urine (no effect), loud music piped down the hole, filling the holes with crushed stone and concrete (they just dug a new entrance holes), .22 use (got a couple) and have a heart traps (we let them go miles from here, but new ones always took their place).
This went on for years. Once in a while a skunk would decide to invade the burrow and we were treated to that wonderful smell in our basement.
If you want them removed professionally, it will cost you about $250 a pop.
Look into a con-a-bear trap if you want lasting results. Obviously, you have to keep household pets, children, etc. away from it. Then fill all the holes with crushed stone and concrete. Wash, rinse, repeat as needed.
Good morning. Weird change of weather here in eastern coastal Virginia. It reached 91 yesterday afternoon, but dropped to 51 overnight. Daytime high for the next couple of days not to exceed mid 60s, with lots of rain forecast, although the sun is shining brightly this morning.
The garden is just about done, but I do have plenty of butternut squash left to pick.
Otherwise, they'll keep well anywhere in your house.
Tomatoes are declining but it looks as if we’ll have 50 or 60 green peppers for stuffing in a few days. Lake of the Ozarks keeps things milder than nearly.
Tarps out tonight...mid-30’s in Red Hampshire is forecast...
Not sure you can still buy carbon tet, but I suspect that the seed fumigant like phosphene gas pellets that will do the same job.
We don't have them here in New Mexico, but I was wondering if burying heavy wire mesh around foundations and such would work?
We have deer, coyotes, jack rabbits, raccoons, etc. Everything stays clear of the garden because of our chronic fatigued hound dog, except ground squirrels which we trap and shoot. Trap and release doesn't work because animals will travel miles to get back to their home territory.
Hey! It’s a Friday and I’m HOME! I’ll read through all the posts later today. Dr. Appt. this am for another x-ray on my foot to see how I’m progressing. Maybe I can go back to work part time? I’m getting a little squirrely here at home, LOL!
Mom harvested all she could from the garden yesterday - mainly cherry tomatoes. Beans are done, so are the zukes & cukes. Some green tomatoes remain, but with our cool nights, it’s not looking good for ripening. Fried Green Tomatoes or Green Tomato Pie are on the menu for next week!
Fried Green Tomatoes:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/fried-green-tomatoes-recipe/index.html
Green Tomato Pie:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/green-tomato-pie-recipe/index.html
Fall lettuces, beets and spinach are coming along just fine; we’re to have rain this weekend, so that’ll help some.
Later! :)
I pulled up all the dead plants last weekend and will be tilling my garden this weekend for my fall crops. Our back lawn made it through the hot and dry summer. Not so good for the front lawn. I am thinking about buffalo grass to replace the carpet grass. I just hope our trees don’t die from the drought.
“Not sure what the modern wood chuck control method is, but the old timers eradicated the prairie dogs with corn cobs soaked in “high life” (carbon tetrachloride). They dropped the soaked corn cob in the hole and tamped dirt on top.”
Raccoons got into our garage and ate the granulated cricket
bait. The whole family died. I don’t take any delight in telling you that, but they had been doing a lot of damage.
Those “flairs” you light and stick down the hole work well,
be really careful to follow the directions! I lit one in the garage, and then walked to the front yard to plant it..not smart!
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