My tree of gold was smashed by Ian.
A high ficus of a neighbor was knocked over - only good thing about Ian. It was very shallowly rooted.
The oaks lost most of their leaves and some of their branches.
The small shrubs have become poorly rooted after get whipped around by Ian.
One of my slash pines lost its top.
My big oleander got bent over and I will have to replace it.
Almost all my dwarf poincianas got bent over and will need replacement.
My still modest sized royal poinciana got knocked over.
Yesterday, I prepared a couple beds for spring, pulled out the unproductive raspberries, dug a trench for fallen branches (hugelkultur, German for heap gardening) and covered with soil, sowed with winter rye, my first cover crop.
Dog dug herself a nest in the raised bed, didn’t help me with my digging. I wonder if you can train them.
Also threatened all other household members of consequences if they compact my soil.
Has anyone here used a broadfork?
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Just got out and rinsed off the crock pot.
With the Ian remnant slogging through and a chilly nip to the air -
and the fact that it is now October - homemade soup / stew season
is now upon us.
A good hearty beef & vegetable stew is in order - I think.
After my next (third) cup of coffee I shall commence to
chopping and dicing and sauteing - then simmering.
Then on to the mixing, kneading, forming, rising and
baking of homemade dinner rolls.
That's dinner - followed by sliced fruit and raspberry jello
for desert. After that, I and my girlfriend will just have
to figure out something else to do.
But don't worry - I have plans for that as well... (-:
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Their facebook is
Twin Pikes Roastery
or their web page
https//twinpike.com
Just saw this ....
** ALERT ** FIRST WIDESPREAD FROST OF THE SEASON POSSIBLE OCT 8-12 IN MID ATLANTIC (east of the mountains)
I am not in a panic over this because I only have one small patch of zinnias to cover & I’ll likely throw something over my Tithonia, which is busy with bees & anything else nectar-loving that’s still around. Being a ‘volunteer’, it’s not as large as the ones I had last year.
Ian remnants are coming back (can you believe it?) tomorrow - rain starting late morning & a bit windy, but not like we had Friday night. I am headed to Tractor Supply tomorrow morning to get my garden fencing & I’ll stash it until I can get the freezer project done.
Spent Friday resting up from the trip then got down to business yesterday. Spent a couple hours cleaning up in the victory garden. Most of the okra had toppled over from the weight of unpicked seed pods, so I got after it with the loppers and hauled it off to the compost heap. The pepper plants are loaded like I've never seen and I have no idea what, if anything, I'm going to do with all those peppers. Probably chop them down and toss em on the compost with the okra.
I found a nest of eastern yellowjackets out there while I was cleaning up. One of the evil things nailed me on the back of my left hand when I disturbed the nest. Yellowjacket venom doesn't affect me as bad as red wasp venom, but it's bad enough. My hand is still quite swollen today. But of course I got my full measure of revenge. I went out there this morning with six foot of garden hose, a funnel, and a quart of gasoline. They were just waking up when I arrived with their nice petrocarbon breakefast. I stuck the end of the hose down entrance to their burrow and glub glub glub gave them a nice drink.
The Peaches-N-Cream sweet corn is coming along nicely. It's not in full tassle yet, but it won't be long. I did the last top-dressing with urea and watered it in. I've got my fingers crossed for good weather and a bumper crop.
I know there are folks on the Garden thread who have talked about having very poor soil. I had never heard of Hugelkultur Garden Beds before .... it’s very interesting!
On this blog post is also a podcast interview & transcript.
Hugelkultur Garden Beds (What, Why & How)
https://melissaknorris.com/podcast/hugelkultur-gardening/
From link (excerpt):
If you’ve never heard the term hugelkultur gardening you’re in for a treat. This centuries-old method of gardening is making a comeback, and this post is filled with everything you need to know to successfully grow a garden using this German peasant traditional way of gardening.
What is Hugelkultur?
Hugelkultur gardening is a multi-layered garden bed that uses wood as a base. It’s a fantastic way to build up quality soil in an area where good soil is non-existent. You can also use this method to help amend clay or silty soil as well.
How to Build a Hugelkultur Bed
A hugelkultur bed is actually a permaculture bed that mimics the forest floor. The beds include five layers, number one is the bottom layer and number 5 would be the top layer:
Large logs
Smaller wood bits/branches
Greens (or “hot” materials)
Soil
Mulch
You start with logs, then smaller wood bits or branches. As this wood breaks down it tends to pull nitrogen, so to counteract this you put down a layer of “hot” matter such as fresh grass clippings, leaves, animal manure (that’s a couple months old), etc.
After this layer you’ll need to add in about ten inches of good growing soil. It depends on how deep you need your soil to be depending on what you’re growing, then on the very top you add a nice layer of mulch. The mulch is the weed suppressant.
As the wood on the bottom of the bed breaks down it will actually act like a sponge, retaining moisture and requiring you to water your garden less frequently.
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I noticed you do still need to add some good soil on top of a couple of layers so this method doesn’t create good soil out of thin air (unfortunately).