[Mr Tiles]

thanks guys. we are going to have a LOT of squash and eggplant. My wife wanted all of that stuff so she should be happy with the harvest.

It's been well over a 100^ out for the last week or so. With that kind of heat and a little watering, stuff has been blowing up. I took those pics last Friday and the stuff has doubled in size since then.

Also, this stuff is key:
http://www.terracycle.net/worm_poop.htm

 

[stosh]

thanks guys. we are going to have a LOT of squash and eggplant. My wife wanted all of that stuff so she should be happy with the harvest.

It's been well over a 100^ out for the last week or so. With that kind of heat and a little watering, stuff has been blowing up. I took those pics last Friday and the stuff has doubled in size since then.

Also, this stuff is key:
http://www.terracycle.net/worm_poop.htm

Yeah our zuccini plants have probably tippled in the past week. Everything had been struggling to weeks ago when some of the nights were almost freezing.

I have a feeling my garden will be overgrown by the stuff I planted...


PS. I want a rain barrel so badly. My garden is next to my shed and I can get enough water for our garden from the shed.

 

[Mr Tiles]

a rain barrel is most definitely on my list of things to get.

 

[jimmydean]

I got rid of the black composter and built a wooden one out of pallets from work. It's easier to turn and is big enough to produce enough for the whole garden. I hope to pick up at lesat one rain barrel next weekend. $25 each off CL for 55 gallon pineapple juice barrels to repurpose.

 

[berkshire_rider]

Don't y'all have deer where you live? If you don't use electric fence around a garden in NE, those bastards will eat everything you plant.

 

[stosh]

I got rid of the black composter and built a wooden one out of pallets from work. It's easier to turn and is big enough to produce enough for the whole garden. I hope to pick up at lesat one rain barrel next weekend. $25 each off CL for 55 gallon pineapple juice barrels to repurpose.

I've been waiting for one to come up on CL. Can't find one, and people love to get big $ for "rain barrels"

 

[stosh]

Don't y'all have deer where you live? If you don't use electric fence around a garden in NE, those bastards will eat everything you plant.

I need to get a fence of some sort up. I planted a ton of Marigolds which they hate so for the time being I think they are staying away.

I WISH I didn't have to have a fence.

 

[jimmydean]

Don't y'all have deer where you live? If you don't use electric fence around a garden in NE, those bastards will eat everything you plant.

See "rabbit". No deer in the city, that would be strange.

 

[jimmydean]

I've been waiting for one to come up on CL. Can't find one, and people love to get big $ for "rain barrels"

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/grd/712155209.html

I bought one a while back for diesel when I had to drain a friends truck tank. We are getting a few more to use for our biodiesel projects as well.

 

[stosh]

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/grd/712155209.html

I bought one a while back for diesel when I had to drain a friends truck tank. We are getting a few more to use for our biodiesel projects as well.

Wow that is sweet! Sooooo LUCKY!


What's the setup cost for a bio-diesel production?

 

[jimmydean]

Wow that is sweet! Sooooo LUCKY!


What's the setup cost for a bio-diesel production?

The still itself will run about $300 for everything. We are building a separate shed at his house to keep it clean and isolated. If it works out ok, I might build one at my house as well.

If the WVO is free, then the product runs between $.70 and $1.20 a gallon to produce. If you are using clean oil, it's more like $3 a gallon, but still a lot cheaper then $4.69.

 

[Mr Tiles]

Don't y'all have deer where you live? If you don't use electric fence around a garden in NE, those bastards will eat everything you plant.

we got all kinds of deer but they are scared of that wind chime. little things like that keep unwanted critters away, or at least it has for me.

 

[stosh]

The still itself will run about $300 for everything. We are building a separate shed at his house to keep it clean and isolated. If it works out ok, I might build one at my house as well.

If the WVO is free, then the product runs between $.70 and $1.20 a gallon to produce. If you are using clean oil, it's more like $3 a gallon, but still a lot cheaper then $4.69.

Wow, $300 aint bad. Good call on the shed, wouldn't want his house to explode... oh wait... your not making whiskey.

 

[stosh]

we got all kinds of deer but they are scared of that wind chime. little things like that keep unwanted critters away, or at least it has for me.

I'll have to try one of them.

 

[BillT]

I'm not having such great luck with my garden this year. My tomatoes got overrun with caterpillars and other bugs and lack of rain combined with me going out of town for two weeks caused me to lose a bunch of squash plants and one sage plant. I also managed to lose a beautiful 1.5 year old lavender bush for no apparant reason. On the plus side, my rosemary is doing great as well as thyme and my other sage plant.

 

[stosh]

I'm not having such great luck with my garden this year. My tomatoes got overrun with caterpillars and other bugs and lack of rain combined with me going out of town for two weeks caused me to lose a bunch of squash plants and one sage plant. I also managed to lose a beautiful 1.5 year old lavender bush for no apparant reason. On the plus side, my rosemary is doing great as well as thyme and my other sage plant.

Sorry to hear that!

I think all the caterpillars eating the oak tree slightly over my garden then pooping in my garden kicked it into super hyper over drive.

 

[jimmydean]

My wife uses Diatomaceous earth to fend off slugs and whatnot. Seems to be working rather well so far. She lost a few leaves off the sunflowers and one tomato plant until she sprinkled some of that stuff on.

All natural goodness.

 

[BillT]

I've been keeping the garden organic/pesticide free so I've stayed away from chemicals but this year I guess i was just unlucky. I thought I got rid of all the catepillars but I didn't and those guys can eat. I was most upset about the lavender bush - it was huge a beautiful and then just started to die from base up. At least my fig tree is starting to produce some fruit.

 

[stosh]

I've been keeping the garden organic/pesticide free so I've stayed away from chemicals but this year I guess i was just unlucky. I thought I got rid of all the catepillars but I didn't and those guys can eat. I was most upset about the lavender bush - it was huge a beautiful and then just started to die from base up. At least my fig tree is starting to produce some fruit.

Next year I'm going to plant some fruit trees I think.

 

[jimmydean]

I've been keeping the garden organic/pesticide free so I've stayed away from chemicals but this year I guess i was just unlucky. I thought I got rid of all the catepillars but I didn't and those guys can eat. I was most upset about the lavender bush - it was huge a beautiful and then just started to die from base up. At least my fig tree is starting to produce some fruit.

We have 4 huge lavender bushes in the front that are doing well. But out plumb tree that usually has WAY more fruit than we can handle has about a dozen plumbs this year.

Our apple and pear trees are well, though. I didn't see any bees until Sunday and I saw 1.

 

[Greyhound]

My wife uses Diatomaceous earth to fend off slugs and whatnot.
All natural goodness.

I use this stuff to plant my bonsai trees in. A lot of people will recognize it as Oil-Dri -- the stuff you sprinkle on your driveway to absorb spills. Another great use for this is to put a couple handfulls into a bucket with some water and let it soak for a few minutes. Drain the water into a spray bottle and use it to naturally kill aphids and several other small critters that do enormous damage. Make sure you use only diatomaceous clay(Turface is another brand name of it usually sold at John Deere dealers.) if you're converting to inorganic soils or if using it as an amendment. Anything else, like kitty litter and Fullers Earth are unfired clays, and will break down too rapidly--not allowing your root systems to drain fast enough and root rot will likely set in. I also use Aquatic planting medium(not tiny aquarium rocks) as well for this--essentially the same thing.


BillT:
I caught this in a Home and Garden article not too long ago....

"Most gardeners are familiar with the advantageous bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis, also know as Bt, which is extremely effective against caterpillars, from cabbage loopers to tomato hornworms. This beneficial bacteria has been around for years and is quite efficient, but up to now its potency hasn't last long, and it has required re-application every few days. Recently, however, scientists have been able to slow the degrading process of Bt and create a new and improved version that lasts up to four times longer. "

 

[jimmydean]

if you're converting to inorganic soils or if using it as an amendment. Anything else, like kitty litter and Fullers Earth are unfired clays, and will break down too rapidly--not allowing your root systems to drain fast enough and root rot will likely set in.

This is what she used:
http://terradisiac.com/products.php?pid=246&openparent=115

 

[BillT]

I'm going to move my fig tree (it is in a huge pot) and create a bed around it where I'll plant some more lavender and tri-color sage. I think I may start a rose garden as well.

 

[jimmydean]

When my wife and I bought our first house, we also bought a dwarf graphed apple. When we moved 3 years later, I put it in a huge box and it was in that for 3 more years and was unhappy. When we moved into our new house, I put it back in the ground. It was ok the first year, but last year my wife planted elephant garlic around it and it's gone nuts ever since.

Not sure if it's nutrients, or just less bugs, but it seems very happy this year. I think 3 of the 5 graphs died, though. But it's a good looking tree.

 

[stosh]

do you typically have to plant more than 1 tree of each fruit to aid in pollination?

 

[Greyhound]

When my wife and I bought our first house, we also bought a dwarf graphed apple. When we moved 3 years later, I put it in a huge box and it was in that for 3 more years and was unhappy. When we moved into our new house, I put it back in the ground. It was ok the first year, but last year my wife planted elephant garlic around it and it's gone nuts ever since.

Not sure if it's nutrients, or just less bugs, but it seems very happy this year. I think 3 of the 5 graphs died, though. But it's a good looking tree.

Growing in the ground is always faster and will result in thicker trunk development. What you did, by putting it into the box, was actually "training" the root systems to produce lots of fibrous feeder roots. When it got put back in the ground, it then had a very easy way to obtain nutrients and probably was loving you for that. I plant many of my trees with a 12in x 12in ceramic tile underneath the roots to help them fan out instead of going straight down.

 

[stosh]

Growing in the ground is always faster and will result in thicker trunk development. What you did, by putting it into the box, was actually "training" the root systems to produce lots of fibrous feeder roots. When it got put back in the ground, it then had a very easy way to obtain nutrients and probably was loving you for that. I plant many of my trees with a 12in x 12in ceramic tile underneath the roots to help them fan out instead of going straight down.

Plants are soooo stupid!

 

[jimmydean]

My rabbit has topped 5 of my pepper plants! I didn't think she would eat the leaves, but I was WRONG.

I just made a batch of Thai pepper spray from last years crop and sprayed the whole bunch. Man, I only have a few flowers so far, this year is going to suck!