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Just as an aside, the biggest flora-pest we have in our yard is the bronze fennel my wife has in her herb garden ... self sows like crazy. Or just maybe it is the silver maple trees in my neighbors yard that now have saplings growing out of every orifice in our house and yard. Talk about real...

Here is an option .. all be it a difficult one. Let the strawberry plants where they are. When they send up runners, direct the runners into pots set out in the bed. Let the runners root in the pots and then clip off the runners from the mother. Then replant the potted plants when you have the...

I am beginning to believe that the way to preserve tomato seeds is to process tomatos for canning, take the seeds, skins and cores to the compost pile and then wait till spring when the ones on the edge of the pile sprout like crazy :). I had a failure of my commercial Speckled Roman paste...

Getting back to tumblers ... I've had one for years and I don't like it. I now use it for composting kitty litter for flowers. The problem with tumblers is that in order for it to aerate properly when you turn it you have to have the the moisture and solids balances just right or else it will...

I once got great advice from an old farmer who was on a town "solid waste" advisory committee with me. We were discussing composting elementary school cafeteria scraps and how tough it was. He said, "get a pig or better yet, two pigs" Pass it through the pigs. Instant conversion into compostable...

A couple of comments: It depends on how intensively you plant. Less intensive and you might not need a compost boost. It depends on the overall quality of your soil ... if excellent, you might not need a boost. It depends on the particular plant ... except for nitrogen lovers, an extra boost...

I don't understand the problems people have with weeds seeds from manure. I have 6 major raised beds, each 4' X 16". and a raised bed along a fence of about 40'. I grow them intensively. I manure them in the winter. They sprout feed -based seeds in the spring. These weeds are sooooo easy...

Like anything else there is easy and there is good. Usually you don't find them together. But ... if you want both and you don't generate lots of compost materials then put the raw stuff into your chicken run and let the chicks compost it for you. Other postings are right. I use three connected...

I read about using fava beans as a cover crop in one of the seed catalogs (Territorial???) but I was loath to do it because the seeds are so relatively expensive. Well ... last year I found myself in a middle-eastern market one day and they had dried favas for about $2.00 for a pound package (a...

You don't say what kind of 5 in 1 tree you have ... apple varieties or plum. or peach? Usually, they come together by broad type ... you don't get apples and peaches on the same trunk. Once you know which type, you can prune according to the type of fruit. Peaches and plums fruit on one year...

I do all of my tomatoes on a fence/trellis. I bought 2X2X8' treated poles and I sink them about 18" in the ground about 2' apart and I attach 1X2X8' treated strips across about every foot in height. I use drywall screws to attach the strips to the poles. They last for years, are relocatable and...

The hoop has a mesh that is about 4" square so the melons (and cukes) would probably hang down but that's OK ... melons and cukes will not fall off until they are quite ripe (called "slipping") ... probably after they should be picked. You pick a melon when it slips under very slight sideways...

Works great ... a few cautions. Be careful how you support the vines. They are not natural climbers so as you affix them to the trellis, do so with care. I use garden velcro tape ... self sticking. Just make loose loops around the vine and associated trellis. You don't want to cut the plant or...

I'd have to agree with the folks who say, wait until it gets a bit damp, or water it a bit bed by bed , and then put topsoil/compost thickly over it. There is a lot of literature now that discusses soil structure and everything says not to worry about turning soil over, just put the top layer...

I agree with all that you all say. I also think, however, that if you can educate customers then you get to sell to them first. Many years ago, and for a few years running, I lived in the country and I did a seedling bed of cauliflower, broccoli, kale and collards that I grew from seed...

Maybe I mis-represented my interest. Has anyone observed a business where one can purchase starter plants for placing into the garden later in the season? I can go to local nurseries today (April) and find lots of starter plants for lettuce, collards, etc but if I go to those same nurseries in...

We all know the nursery business for vegetables (in temperate climates) is based on the rule that they all make their money on the six weeks of planting from mid April to June. Has anyone observed a business model that works on making succession plants available for much more of the growing...

I toyed with the idea of doing a small market garden because I consider myself a great gardener ... until I read some books and pamphlets on market gardening.They pointed out that in the list of issues, growing was simple, marketing was tough. Sell cheap at first, sell good products and build a...

I've reported this elsewhere so sorry for the duplication. We use Good Mews for kittly litter. It is recycled newspaper. We buy unscented. We religiously and quickly remove the fecal matter and flush it. But the urine soaked litter makes great coarse matter for the compost pile and if you are a...

Just a quick story about Garlic Mustard ... My wife and I were in our local magnificent wildflower reserve (The Poland Forest) the past few days doing a garlic mustard pull. My wife is on the board so me and the dog get enlisted. The story is that while we were pulling away at tons of the stuff...