What makes You an "Easy" Gardener?

bobm said:
Marie ... I dispose of a dozen or much more coyotes per year. My neighbor across the street does the same. The cattle ranch owner that owns 5,000 acres (just a mile from our ranch ),invites 10-15 of his buddies for 2-4 weekends in January every year. They harvest between 75-100 coyotes per year... and that is only a drop in the bucket in the coyote population. :old :he
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That's just so bad. I wish I could advise but I don't have a clue.

I just wish you could come up with a way to let the cats hide from these things, but the brave little things wouldn't do that. :(

I guess you've tried all that's in this link
www.niteguard.com

How to Protect Dogs from Coyotes [5 Tips] | Nite Guard

Have you seen evidence of the local coyote population on your own property? Coyote tracks? Tipped-over trash cans? Is coyote behavior becoming a threat to your sanity? With rural, suburban, and urban coyotes all increasing in numbers, it’s becoming more and more important to take precautions and...
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Our 5 Livestock Guard Dogs keep the coyotes away. Without them, the coyotes and a cougar that was around last year, killing goats at a neighbor's, would wipe out our sheep. I love my big dogs!
 
Back to the topic--I let my plants dictate what is going in my gardens and beds. For instance, I bought a hibucus, and I Think it's hardy. My new friend, from FL said, "Ya know, those things get 3 ft tall and 3 ft wide." I planted it in an 18 in x 18 in space. I decided that, should it survive the winter, I will move it next Spring. Pretty red flowers close to the street, where everybody could admire it, most of the summer/fall. DD bought me a 3 pack of yellow sedum, stuck Them in the same beds, and they have flowered, too. Most of my flower beds were created bc I have never like a string trimmer and got tired of trying to cut grass right next to sidewalks and foundations. Better to make the beds, set down borders with bricks at grass level and then my mower can run wheels over the bricks and get the trimming done, same with foundations.
Wherever I have a need, I make a plan, then the plans change according to time I have to spend and needs. I am digging up about 8 volunteer tomatoes which sprouted bc I had a bucketful of tomatoes that were bug eaten/rotten and I buried them. I planted 1/2 of the 2 onion sets that I had forgotten about with them and watermelon radishes, which I had always wanted to try. Didn't think of using this bed for those things. It was Planned as my 2020 Roma bed, but I didn't get planting done in time there, and it was sitting fallow.
My main bed was a weedfest until a few weeks ago. I had only planted sweet corn on the north 1/4 of it, which is 12 ft x ~30 ft. I finally put late beets, and later turnips in on the first 10 ft of the south part of it, then a cover crop of oats, covered with soiled hay and straw from the barn floor. I pulled all of the curly dock and few other random noxious weeds first, then mowed with my bag mower, then tilled to plant.
This was done, first beets/turnips bed in September, the rest in October. I will be covered the beets and turnips and we will see it they make it to Thanksgiving, at least that is the plan. After that I will cover them with More soiled hay and straw, so that there is no uncovered garden dirt. I have a plan for 2021...we will see how THAT goes.
I had always wanted a good crop of potatoes, so I used the tractor to move a big pile of ashes, the Bottom of which was becoming dirt, for those who don't think that this happens over time! I built up a one time raised bed with available 1/4 plywood about 2 1/2 ft wide (tall), the length of the side of the garage, maybe 30 ft. Good experiment. I got a decent potato crop, nothing to crow about, but we have been eating them.
My cistern beds have been a success, although I am not satisfied with my tomato stewardship. Still, I harvested enough tomatoes to fill seven 10 gallon buckets. We are having 2 un announced frosts/freezes this week, and I didn't want to lost them.
I planted all of my peppers in front of this bed, south facing, Full Sun. I had a decent pepper crop, but I got them out too late to enjoy harvesting them until September.
So, you see, the best "laid" plans of Ducks and men doesn't always happen! :gig
 
digitS' said:
I don't really mean a participant in TEG. Although, that should certainly lead to learning about others' successes (& stumbles) and guide our own direction in the garden.

I mean something like this: I want success. So, I like diversity -- how can the stellar performance of the tomatoes, the okay performance of the peppers, and the poor performance of the eggplant be anticipated? After decades of experience, I can't even be confident of a guess.

There are 4 or 5 varieties of eggplants, about that number of peppers, and about a dozen tomatoes. Not all of them in those groups did poor, okay, and stellar! For sure, the Apple Green eggplant did better than any season out of the last several. The Giant Marconi and Mucho Natcho did just fine. The 4 tomato plants in "the neighbor's" garden here at home probably rate a C-. (I don't expect stellar performance for the potted cherries at the foot of the backsteps but those other4 were in the ground 🙁.)

Something else that makes gardening easier for me under this heading I suppose is a wishy-washy attitude. Of course, I'd call it flexibility. I'm willing to try new things. That's an important reason for me to be on TEG :). @Trish Stretton is a no-pesticide gardener. Well, I try not to be poisoning things out there and tried something that I thought was an interesting idea this year - deterence. So, composted mint tea was sprinkled on the cabbage instead of insecticidal soap or neem oil. Aphids have entirely ruined cabbage plants some years. They showed up but it has been a super cabbage year and they really got ahead of the bugs. Was it that compost tea :hu? Maybe so.

Well, that's a couple of personal quirks that make gardening easier for me ...

Steve :)
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WHAT? All this time I though the word Easy was just a silly paradoxical title.
 
Upon reflection, I realize that the only thing 'easy' about gardening is failure. Had plenty of that this year. Success, on the other hand, takes a combination of planning, attention (think of it as a child, in terms of labor) and providence. Every year is different, and sometimes you lose everything despite your best efforts... to continue as a gardener requires the ability to roll with the punches, get back up, and keep trying.
 
Hooch, @flowerbug ?

:) I could use some B & B in my morning coffee. I will just settle for some acetaminophen for this sinus headache ... neck muscles become tense after hours of this "mild" pain. "Unhealthy for some groups" air quality, this morning ... Rain, a-comin'! Will appreciate it.

Here's a quote from Plato, of course ;): "After much effort, as names, definitions, sights, and other data of sense, are brought into contact and friction one with another, in the course of scrutiny and kindly testing by men who proceed by question and answer without ill will, with a sudden flash there shines forth understanding about every problem, and an intelligence whose efforts reach the furthest limits of human powers."

:) Steve
 
After turning the sheep in to eat everything to the ground, the garden has other ideas. The purple hull peas and Asian long beans have sprouted back out. Tomatoes are blooming. After being denuded by voracious sheep, the jalapeno peppers are also sprouting new leaves, as is the Cubanelle peppers. The sheep ate the sweet peppers too. They also stripped the eggplant and the plants think a new spring is here. After working my tail off all summer, picking, weeding, watering, nurturing the plants and freezing, dehydrating and canning the proceeds, I JUST WANT IT TO STOP! MAKE IT STOP! BRING ON A HARD KILLING FROST!! JUST DIE! PLEASE!!!
 
baymule said:
After turning the sheep in to eat everything to the ground, the garden has other ideas. The purple hull peas and Asian long beans have sprouted back out. Tomatoes are blooming. After being denuded by voracious sheep, the jalapeno peppers are also sprouting new leaves, as is the Cubanelle peppers. The sheep ate the sweet peppers too. They also stripped the eggplant and the plants think a new spring is here. After working my tail off all summer, picking, weeding, watering, nurturing the plants and freezing, dehydrating and canning the proceeds, I JUST WANT IT TO STOP! MAKE IT STOP! BRING ON A HARD KILLING FROST!! JUST DIE! PLEASE!!!
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have tractor will flatten...
 
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