flowerbug
Garden Master
after living with someone who kept nine birds of various kinds i would not want to do that again. they were way too noisy for me (especially in the morning!).
What Did You Do In The Garden?
- Thread starter digitS'
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flowerbug
Garden Master
not a bad day out there at all, not too hot, not too cold.
i went out to weed the old strawberry patch which has a lot of oxalis in it and plenty of other weeds too. it is the worst one i have left to get done (others still to go). first though i scraped another big garden to make sure none of the little grass plants in there have an easy chance to get going further. 20 minutes for a rather large garden is easy work compared to the old strawberry patch. i probably will not get it done today at the rate i'm going, but i should be able to make a good dent in it.
laying here on my futon is not, however, going to get that any further so i better get back out there.
i went out to weed the old strawberry patch which has a lot of oxalis in it and plenty of other weeds too. it is the worst one i have left to get done (others still to go). first though i scraped another big garden to make sure none of the little grass plants in there have an easy chance to get going further. 20 minutes for a rather large garden is easy work compared to the old strawberry patch. i probably will not get it done today at the rate i'm going, but i should be able to make a good dent in it.
laying here on my futon is not, however, going to get that any further so i better get back out there.
ducks4you
Garden Master
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NOT in my garden, but I got 2025-6 hay delivered yesterday, 300 bales. I finally swept where the old hay had been, EVERYWHERE in the loft, and moved/stacked 53 (2024) bales. they all weigh between 60-65 lbs each.
It looks nice and neat and I start This winter with 153 bales of hay, an adequate sufficiency.
It looks nice and neat and I start This winter with 153 bales of hay, an adequate sufficiency.
flowerbug
Garden Master
made more progress today on cleaning up the old strawberry patch. i should be able to finish it up tomorrow in about an hour to an hour and a half.
i took a few pictures of the gardens out there that i've put up plus the few still left to go yet
i also took pictures of the soil profile of the old strawberry patch since i was digging in there and the difference was rather stark. the subsoil is white or gray clay and light sand, the top is about a foot of dark topsoil with plenty of organic matter and looks like perfect. it's a bit too low though and prone to a lot of weeds until i get it back under control. i'm tempted next year to smother it with cardboard and mulch and leave it for a few years. when i want to grow beans in there i'll poke holes through the cardboard...
i took a few pictures of the gardens out there that i've put up plus the few still left to go yet
i also took pictures of the soil profile of the old strawberry patch since i was digging in there and the difference was rather stark. the subsoil is white or gray clay and light sand, the top is about a foot of dark topsoil with plenty of organic matter and looks like perfect. it's a bit too low though and prone to a lot of weeds until i get it back under control. i'm tempted next year to smother it with cardboard and mulch and leave it for a few years. when i want to grow beans in there i'll poke holes through the cardboard...
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digitS'
Garden Master
Dug up the celery roots and prepared that end of the bed for 2026.
The surface soil has benefited from several years of cultivation and moving soil and organic material in. That end was part of a driveway at one time. Really, the entire bed was but, probably many years ago, the route to the garage was abandoned as it was modified into a shop with a wood floor. The carport replaced it and may have been used into the '80's.
I once thought that gravel had been moved in but all of those rocks may just be the nature of the soil here. Nevertheless, driving on it to the carport messed up the ground. I have never parked any vehicle in the carport and keep them out of the backyard. That carport/garage is at the very back of the lot. and that ground has been grass covered for 3 or 4 decades.
After removing the top 6" of soil at that end of the bed, I went over that compacted ground with a Pulaski. That seemed the best choice. Tomato plants went in there along with kitchen scraps and all the soil was returned with 3 large pots of what was compost in the Spring and served the tomatoes through the growing season. Maybe some day there will be some useful depth to that ground.
Also, I have dismantled the tomato trellis that supported 2 plants against the south side of the house. It really served a useful purpose and worth the time and effort to build with 1 by 2's. Since the 2 tomatoes planted there did so well, I will just dig out the compost that I buried there in the Spring and replace that compost to grow a couple more tomatoes in '26. I hope that I don't run into trouble having them in the same ground. Using a post hole digger for compost seemed so much same as I do the same sort of thing for the potted cherry tomatoes at the bottom of the backsteps. Three or 4 of them sit in the same location every year and roots escape their 6 gallon pots growing through the drainage holes at the bottom. They don't seem to have any disease problems. We.will.see.
The surface soil has benefited from several years of cultivation and moving soil and organic material in. That end was part of a driveway at one time. Really, the entire bed was but, probably many years ago, the route to the garage was abandoned as it was modified into a shop with a wood floor. The carport replaced it and may have been used into the '80's.
I once thought that gravel had been moved in but all of those rocks may just be the nature of the soil here. Nevertheless, driving on it to the carport messed up the ground. I have never parked any vehicle in the carport and keep them out of the backyard. That carport/garage is at the very back of the lot. and that ground has been grass covered for 3 or 4 decades.
After removing the top 6" of soil at that end of the bed, I went over that compacted ground with a Pulaski. That seemed the best choice. Tomato plants went in there along with kitchen scraps and all the soil was returned with 3 large pots of what was compost in the Spring and served the tomatoes through the growing season. Maybe some day there will be some useful depth to that ground.
Also, I have dismantled the tomato trellis that supported 2 plants against the south side of the house. It really served a useful purpose and worth the time and effort to build with 1 by 2's. Since the 2 tomatoes planted there did so well, I will just dig out the compost that I buried there in the Spring and replace that compost to grow a couple more tomatoes in '26. I hope that I don't run into trouble having them in the same ground. Using a post hole digger for compost seemed so much same as I do the same sort of thing for the potted cherry tomatoes at the bottom of the backsteps. Three or 4 of them sit in the same location every year and roots escape their 6 gallon pots growing through the drainage holes at the bottom. They don't seem to have any disease problems. We.will.see
.
flowerbug
Garden Master
@digitS' dealing with mostly clay is tough enough for me i'm not sure i'd enjoy messing around with a lot of rocks and gravel in the ground but we do have spots here or there where the gravel has escaped the pathways and i don't enjoy dealing with that either. i spend some time every garden weeding session picking gravel out of the dirt and putting it back in the pathways. gravel makes scraping a lot harder!
and then for added fun many years ago Mom was putting gravel in the bottoms of holes for planting to discourage the moles or whatever from going through so here or there i'm always finding such treasures buried... oy...
and then for added fun many years ago Mom was putting gravel in the bottoms of holes for planting to discourage the moles or whatever from going through so here or there i'm always finding such treasures buried... oy...
Shades-of-Oregon
Deeply Rooted
digits’ wow sounds like you got a lot done . Good job. Enjoy those home grown tomatoes.
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ducks4you
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Burned weeds.
Shades-of-Oregon
Deeply Rooted
Still trimming and limbing up trees and shrubs. I had eight 60’-80’ pine trees removed due to black beetle kill. Been out cleaning off the needles from the roof, garden and pastures from the last rain and wind storm. What’s that saying , “A woman’s work is never done”.
Did I mention how early it gets dark.. At 4:30 pm . It’s dark when ya wake and dark before dinner. The time change always seems to throw me for a loop. I do enjoy the extra hour of sleep, I guess for one day of the year. Is it really worth it ? Arizona and Hawaii do not observe day light saving time they observe the standard time year round.
U.S. territories like Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands also do not change their clocks. Every once in awhile a mention to maintain standard time in Oregon and Washington but never comes fruition . It’s always been a very controversial subject.
Did I mention how early it gets dark.. At 4:30 pm . It’s dark when ya wake and dark before dinner. The time change always seems to throw me for a loop. I do enjoy the extra hour of sleep, I guess for one day of the year. Is it really worth it ? Arizona and Hawaii do not observe day light saving time they observe the standard time year round.
U.S. territories like Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands also do not change their clocks. Every once in awhile a mention to maintain standard time in Oregon and Washington but never comes fruition . It’s always been a very controversial subject.
ducks4you
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DH fell and hit his head, getting up in the middle of the night, sans any light on. Went to PT and therapist told him anybody on blood thinners is highly susceptible to a brain bleed, so get a CT Scan. He did that, then they saw something and wanted an MRI, which didn't happen until 3PM ToDAY, so another overnight stay so that they can read it.
ANYWAY, I burned yesterday morning, was sure that the small pile was out BUT winds picked up. I didn't make it home until 10PM last night. I was SURE that I burned my place down.
Nope.
God intervened and kept it all safe.
DH is looking better than ME, well rested and he got some HD pain meds.
