What did you do in your garden today?

[Oliver Buckle]

Lost and Eye?
OMG!
Shirley you jest...

No, carrying a roll of wire netting and I tripped, went flat on my face. The lens of my glasses was pushed back into my eye, I had a bruise exactly that shape after. You adapt, weeding was hard at first, I couldn't judge distances, but I find look at two things and the brain learns to triangulate the other way, two objects one eye instead of two eyes one object, not as good as two eyes, better than none

Went over one of the beds I started on yesterday, added a bit more compost and a bucket of wood ash and broken up fired clay with blood fish and bone , a bit of Epsom salts, and some left over Growmore that had got damp, I'll accept anything free. I think it will probably be onions or garlic, i've hoed and raked it nice and even and fine.
The missus weeded the strawberries while i was in hospital and took off all the runners, and the ones I had from last year I had stood out to plant, but they were blown away by a gale and had died by the time I got back in the garden. Today I found a row she hadn't weeded and got five runners of it, salvation.

 

[skinyea]

Lost and Eye?
OMG!
Shirley you jest...

No he isnt and stop calling him Shirley

 

[Ernst]

No he isnt and stop calling him Shirley

Oh, my my my that's a dirty way to lose an eye?
<bada-boom>

 

[Ernst]

No, carrying a roll of wire netting and I tripped, went flat on my face. The lens of my glasses was pushed back into my eye, I had a bruise exactly that shape after. You adapt, weeding was hard at first, I couldn't judge distances, but I find look at two things and the brain learns to triangulate the other way, two objects one eye instead of two eyes one object, not as good as two eyes, better than none

Went over one of the beds I started on yesterday, added a bit more compost and a bucket of wood ash and broken up fired clay with blood fish and bone , a bit of Epsom salts, and some left over Growmore that had got damp, I'll accept anything free. I think it will probably be onions or garlic, i've hoed and raked it nice and even and fine.
The missus weeded the strawberries while i was in hospital and took off all the runners, and the ones I had from last year I had stood out to plant, but they were blown away by a gale and had died by the time I got back in the garden. Today I found a row she hadn't weeded and got five runners of it, salvation.

Well, I know I can't hear a lot of frequencies now but I focus on the things I have not what I don't.
Your disposition is a healthy one. Sorry for your loss. Happy you found happiness and are getting the better of the clods now!

 

[skinyea]

Today canned 18 pints of red Pontiacs. 18 pints of assorted tomatoes the main ones being Amish paste.

pulled another bed of potatoes. this brings the total o about 700 lbs. have enough to last all winter, trade some, can a ton and then have enough left over for seed potatoes next year.

pulled 4th batch of sweet corn. ate just corn for dinner. freezing about 15 lbs of corn for future use. unfortunately, only really get about 4 months of it frozen that still tastes great.

2 years ago I was able to keep Tomatoes/peppers going till the week before Thanksgiving. Dont think that will happen this year. It has only rained 3 times since May. This is the driest year I can recall, but 5 miles from me they have had severe rain routinely. crazy stuff

 

[Sean Regan]

I was bangin' on about there was no rot anywhere in my 36 year-old tea-house. I regularly check the corners of the veranda when cleaning it, as that's where any rain can gather. There are no drain holes in the floor, as it's wood.
The other day I found a "soft spot" only about a couple of inches square, in the corner next to the bottom of the left-hand door. This is "the weather side," of the building. As it has an overhanging roof, not much rain gets onto the floor anyway and it evaporates when it stops raining.

The whole building is constructed on top of a roofing plywood base on a frame made of lengths of 3" x 2", which sits on small brick piers on paving slabs to keep it 6" above the ground.

The floor of the veranda I made from 3/8ths plywood "tiles" which sit on the base.

So yesterday, I cut through many layers of paint to expose the corner of the tile. I cut out the rotted area with a Stanley knife. I found that the rot was confined to the tile and the plywood base under it was not damaged. I filled the small hole with Cuprinol, a capful was sufficient.
This morning I filled the hole. Tomorrow I'll rub it down and give it a thick coat of paint. It'll all be done and dusted before it rains again.

I hadn't intended to do any more today, just watch the cricket and later the tennis on TV. But when I put the bins out at the end of the drive for collection first thing tomorrow morning, I noticed the headlamps on my car were getting glazed over a bit again. So I got out my electric drill and small buffing pad and gave them a go over with T-Cut. They're now as good as new now, and it only took me 20 minutes.

 

[big rockpile]

Well it really rained a little last night so no watering.

Repotted Spider Plants. Can't figure it out I use to be just as bad. They were very wet and Root Bound broke them un and repotted .

Did some Cactus to.

Might do so more later but probably not.

big rockpile

 

[Sean Regan]

Our local Wilko has signs saying it is closing down although it's not on the list.
Some empty shelves, but a lot of their stuff won't sell at any price. Today I bought a string of 100 red cherry lights for the tea house. £6 well spent.
Half the old set of multi-coloured lights didn't work, but there's also a string of tiny white lights.

So they look quite good with all the other lights in the garden.

Not that they get switched on very often, if at all. but they are "there" if we want them.

 

[Ernst]

Well, Part good neighbor and part devotee of organic soil.
Went ahead and mowed my place and the neighbors half acre.
I had already harvested the first quarter acre so it was mostly light trimming rather than jungle abatement however, the second quarter acre they have was a good eight inches or more tall so there is a heavy harvest in the making. I will give it a day to dry out a bit then start in truck load after truck load.

All this grass is to be worked into the clay soil.
I'd say so far I have about fifty percent of the clay soil dug into deeply with the Rototiller. I do have more to go with that and it is slow going to try and get down the ten or so inches I believe this tiller can do.
So it's another day ahead of hard work on that but, what I do now I don't have to do again for this garden patch. I wont be churnng the depths in the future.
I welcome input on clay soil improvement. I do understand the answer is always more organic materials but those who have done know best.
With this next harvest I expect a least four if not five truck loads of grass.

I sure am falling in love with Gardening once again and strangely enough somehow as a your boy I decided the Soil was the thing that makes plants live and I have a dedication to and an enjoyment of, Organic Soil and the exciting soil food web actions that I believe happen when organic materials are fed in.
I guess I do have a question on Urea...
I was thinking to spread Urea and water in then let things take it's course. Then once I feel there is a stable soil bed then I would be growing what I have here for a cover crop which is orchard grass.
The plan after that grows some is to turn it under in time for a cold weather soil builder crop which is billed as fixing nitrogen in the soil.
If you have a suggestion feel free to say something. I'm back in black on the Green so it's all good man.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I welcome input on clay soil improvement.

I am pretty small scale in my English garden, but I collect the lumps of clay that accumulate when I am hoeing and put them in my bonfire. Yesterday I spent sieving and breaking up the terracotta product of my last fire, four buckets full of mixed wood ash and terracotta, then it went straight on the garden. Repeatedly over time it makes a difference

 

[Ernst]

I am pretty small scale in my English garden, but I collect the lumps of clay that accumulate when I am hoeing and put them in my bonfire. Yesterday I spent sieving and breaking up the terracotta product of my last fire, four buckets full of mixed wood ash and terracotta, then it went straight on the garden. Repeatedly over time it makes a difference

I was wondering if the ash from wood pellets is safe to use?
There is a pellet stove here.

 

[big rockpile]

What didn't I do today.

Took cuttings off of Coleus and Pothos. Took cuttings off a Mosquito Plant.

Repotted Mosquito Plant Repotted some other plants nobody talks about.

Oh pruned up Banana Tree. And did some watering.

big rockpile

 

[Oliver Buckle]

We went out for the day to Great Comp, strolled around the gardens and visited the tea room, then got back and realised, a red hot day and no watering had been done, distributed much water, I think every thing lived, we shall see in the morning.

 

[Ernst]

Added another four heaping truck loads of cut grass.
This makes perhaps a dozen heaping truck loads.

This does make a wonderful tilth in what is a dense clay soil.
I have about a fifth of the bed that needs it's first deep till so that will be the next bit of work.
After that, then it will be working this grass into the soil and attempting to be at least 10 inches deep on the rototiller cut.
I just have to use what I have.
I'd like a dump truck load of manure but I am sure my neighbors would complain.
I still am interested in feedback on spreading Urea once I have this all uniform and worked in as best as I can.
I'm thinking that Urea would fire-up the microbes and once that happens then I'd wait for the soil temps o drop and plant orchard grass as a soil builder crop that will get turned under before the cold weather seed mix soil builder crop.
They say that the cold weather mix once established will be able to survive even below freezing temperatures.
It's all fun and new at the same time.
So happy to have a real garden bed.

 

[Sean Regan]

I got into the garden early today, well for me, it was early on a non golf day, around 9.30 am.
Mowed both lawns, pruned some wisterias and vacuumed up all the dead leaves.
Then tidied the shed and the garage.

Checked on the repair I made to the floor of the tea-house.

It was only about 2" X 2" right in the corner. I dug out the rot and gave it a dose of Cuprinol three days ago. I filled it on Thursday, rubbed it down and painted it on Friday afternoon. I did both plywood "tiles." i'll give it another coat tomorrow.
This floor has had that many coats of paint in 36 years, damp can get through any small break in the surface and start decaying the wood under the paint. You can only detect this has happened by pressing down in any suspect areas, to see if there was any give, as I do occasionally with all four corners of this floor. That's how I found this spot, untreated it would have spread.
This warm weather was the idea time to do it.

This being on the "weather side," it's the most vulnerable area. The floor is perfectly level so I don't get a pool of water anywhere.
Still I can't complain, apart from changing the roofing felt 15 years ago and repairing a cracked window in the centre door, earlier this year, it's all I've needed to do.
That was a pain. I had to remove the door, just two bolts top and bottom and turn it on its side.
Carefully remove the side of the frame and slide in a new plastic pane. I had to first trim it carefully with a hacksaw to fit, as they are quite brittle. (I only had one spare). Also, re-glue the hard wood bars that makes it appear to be three panes, a couple of others on the other doors needed re-glueing.

"Done and dusted."