Fed up with the garden

[rswyan]

Running really late on getting things in the ground, mostly owing to prepping the garden area.

Hauled a lot of screened compost down to amend the bed and then graded it.

Worked yesterday on getting weed block fabric (woven, which passes water) laid down, today getting some holes melted in it so we could get some of the pepper plants in the ground, many of which already have peppers on them.

Used a HF "weed burner" propane torch and a couple of stainless steel exhaust adapters to melt the holes:

Got 27 peppers in the ground today, probably another dozen or so to go. Eggplants will be next on the list after that.

 

[Yander]

Yes if you have certain breeds, golden comets being one of them, the eggs will be bigger than what you get in the grocery store. I have seven golden comets. They are large egg laying machines

 

[Alan46]

I am fed up with my front garden. I have attenpted to start a few times, I get 70% complete then do nothing for a few months.

I find myself at a cross roads. I am either going to sell my house and as such I need to tidy up the front. Or stay where I am and redo the whole drive way, it is in need of some repair.

The area used to be grassed and I removed this a few years ago, put down some membrane, bark and some nice plants. However it is now in a state of repair.

The first thing that I need to do is clear the weeds and grass around the edges

A couple of challenges:
- I dont have any weeds growing through the membrane, but they do appear to grow in the bark. Is there anything I can do to prevent this.
- My drive is on a slope so the bark appears to move towards the path over time.
- Fence needs replacing.
- Edging needs replacing. In the first picture, you can see that there is a row of bricks between and the drive and garden area with extends 3-4" into the garden under the layer of the soil. This means that putting the edging in is difficult. I encountered a similar problem around the drain cover.

If I sell I need this to be an easy (due to my disability) and cost effective solution.

My preference would be to work with what I have, clear the weeds and put in a nice edge.

I would also like to do something under the front window, my ideas was a few biggish pots the same colour as my front door, and to paint the electric cabinets the same.

Pictures?

 

[ning]

Did someone say large egg? This came from a chicken. I was stunned and had I not collected it myself would have thought someone was yanking my chain. Those are grade A large brown eggs surrounding it. If you notice, the eggs around it are barely fitting in the egg carton themselves.

View attachment 811818

This was in late June. On the left is a typical egg around here (XL; some of my hens lay barely-large eggs but most are in the XL range). I pity the hen that dropped the double yolker

 

[Yander]

That's a whopper. Now I'm curious and have to find the scales to weigh and measure mine

 

[jaxs]

Did someone say large egg? This came from a chicken. I was stunned and had I not collected it myself would have thought someone was yanking my chain. Those are grade A large brown eggs surrounding it. If you notice, the eggs around it are barely fitting in the egg carton themselves.

View attachment 811818

Sometimes the obvious turns out to be the truth. I can't recall their names but I heard a couple old men actually "planted" duck and turkey eggs in their neighbor's nests . After people started questioning the man's creditability, the old farts drove 20 miles to buy fertile Naked Neck eggs to sneak under the man's brooding hen. In case anyone here missed the lesson,don't discuss it at the coffee shop when you plan to set some eggs and NEVER allow visitors to become friends with your dog.

 

[ning]

That's a whopper. Now I'm curious and have to find the scales to weigh and measure mine

My goose (embden breed) lays very consistently sized 143-146g eggs
Here you can see 3 duck eggs in the back (73-76g), a bunch of chicken eggs (most in the 64-69g, one hen lays about 61 often, and someone very occasionally lays in the upper 50's), with the one-is-not-like-the-others goose egg:

Cooking with a goose egg is interesting - there's a fine line how much force does it take to crack it open vs splattering it!
I usually use the duck eggs to make pasta. IMO they're a bit strongly flavored for eating eggs straight.

 

[lman]

I am fed up with my front garden. I have attenpted to start a few times, I get 70% complete then do nothing for a few months.

I find myself at a cross roads. I am either going to sell my house and as such I need to tidy up the front. Or stay where I am and redo the whole drive way, it is in need of some repair.

The area used to be grassed and I removed this a few years ago, put down some membrane, bark and some nice plants. However it is now in a state of repair.

The first thing that I need to do is clear the weeds and grass around the edges

A couple of challenges:
- I dont have any weeds growing through the membrane, but they do appear to grow in the bark. Is there anything I can do to prevent this.
- My drive is on a slope so the bark appears to move towards the path over time.
- Fence needs replacing.
- Edging needs replacing. In the first picture, you can see that there is a row of bricks between and the drive and garden area with extends 3-4" into the garden under the layer of the soil. This means that putting the edging in is difficult. I encountered a similar problem around the drain cover.

If I sell I need this to be an easy (due to my disability) and cost effective solution.

My preference would be to work with what I have, clear the weeds and put in a nice edge.

I would also like to do something under the front window, my ideas was a few biggish pots the same colour as my front door, and to paint the electric cabinets the same.

As long as your getting your tomatoes, beans, peppers, etc, I wouldn't be so concerned about edges. Clean it up with your tiller when the season is over. If it's too much to handle, reduce the size of your garden.
My mom is 89 and she won't quit her garden. It's only half the size it was but there are no weeds. If you're going to have a garden it has to be tended to weekly, if you can't do that, plant it to grass.

 

[Jstpssng]

My goose (embden breed) lays very consistently sized 143-146g eggs
Here you can see 3 duck eggs in the back (73-76g), a bunch of chicken eggs (most in the 64-69g, one hen lays about 61 often, and someone very occasionally lays in the upper 50's), with the one-is-not-like-the-others goose egg:
View attachment 812102

Cooking with a goose egg is interesting - there's a fine line how much force does it take to crack it open vs splattering it!
I usually use the duck eggs to make pasta. IMO they're a bit strongly flavored for eating eggs straight.

My father raised geese and ducks for a few years. One spring we had a gathering and made ice cream from goose and duck eggs. It was a VERY rich recipe!!

I sometimes get big eggs like that, usually from older hens. Often they are double yolks, but not always. Something else I once encountered; I would come home to find the nesting box all torn up and couldn't figure out what was going on. One night I found a dead hen on the box with an egg partially out, which is where it hardened. She must have had something wrong so that the eggs were hardening too soon.

 

[Oaktree]

Worked yesterday on getting weed block fabric (woven, which passes water) laid down, today getting some holes melted in it so we could get some of the pepper plants in the ground,

Where did you get that fabric? All I can find locally is more cloth-like and doesn't look like it would stand up to sunlight or foot traffic very well.

 

[masseyrider]

Except for corn, taters, peppers I'm rototilling everything. I give up. It all got powdery mildew and collapsed.
Weather, whatever... it wins. I can get 10 corn for $2 at the local grocer and cukes and tomatoes for $0.89. What I wasting time fuel and equipment for.
Beautiful Washington cherries are $2.44 a pound. The shot gun shells to defend mine cost me more than what I'll spend in store.

 

[GeneV]

My goose (embden breed) lays very consistently sized 143-146g eggs
Here you can see 3 duck eggs in the back (73-76g), a bunch of chicken eggs (most in the 64-69g, one hen lays about 61 often, and someone very occasionally lays in the upper 50's), with the one-is-not-like-the-others goose egg:
View attachment 812102

Cooking with a goose egg is interesting - there's a fine line how much force does it take to crack it open vs splattering it!
I usually use the duck eggs to make pasta. IMO they're a bit strongly flavored for eating eggs straight.

We got ducks and geese too. The goose stopped laying lately, but the ducks are still consistent. I love both of their eggs, and eat the duck eggs every morning. It's all about how you prepare them.

 

[LD1]

Except for corn, taters, peppers I'm rototilling everything. I give up. It all got powdery mildew and collapsed.
Weather, whatever... it wins. I can get 10 corn for $2 at the local grocer and cukes and tomatoes for $0.89. What I wasting time fuel and equipment for.
Beautiful Washington cherries are $2.44 a pound. The shot gun shells to defend mine cost me more than what I'll spend in store.

I agree on most parts.....but I still do corn and tomatoes

For me.....yup. Produce at the grocery is cheap. And if I cannot taste a difference, why bother. Onion, green pepper, jalapenos, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, etc I simply cannot tell a difference.

But Im a snob when it comes to sweetcorn. I have very rarely had good sweetcorn outside of my garden. Its picked too late, or sits too long. Tough and chewy, starchy, etc. A "few" local farmers markets or roadside stands have good corn. But its hit or miss.

And when asking someone what kind of sweetcorn they have and their answer is either "yellow" or "bi-color".....sorry that didnt answer my question. Looking for an answer like serendipity, bodacious, peaches n cream, etc.

Currently the 3 varietys I plant are
1. Trinity. Its a good early bi-color. Not the earliest I have found as its a 70 day corn.....but its the earliest I have found that is worth a crap.
2. Jackpot. Very good and 82day
3. Kandy Corn. 89 day yellow. Also good.

Can plant all 3 at the same time and have a staggered harvest of ~3-weeks where there is always fresh corn comin ready.

And tomatoes.....what is bought in the store is flavorless and the wrong texture. Sorry, you shouldnt be able to cut a mater with a butter knife. and they should be bright red inside, not pink

 

[masseyrider]

I agree on most parts.....but I still do corn and tomatoes

For me.....yup. Produce at the grocery is cheap. And if I cannot taste a difference, why bother. Onion, green pepper, jalapenos, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, etc I simply cannot tell a difference.

But Im a snob when it comes to sweetcorn. I have very rarely had good sweetcorn outside of my garden. Its picked too late, or sits too long. Tough and chewy, starchy, etc. A "few" local farmers markets or roadside stands have good corn. But its hit or miss.

And when asking someone what kind of sweetcorn they have and their answer is either "yellow" or "bi-color".....sorry that didnt answer my question. Looking for an answer like serendipity, bodacious, peaches n cream, etc.

Currently the 3 varietys I plant are
1. Trinity. Its a good early bi-color. Not the earliest I have found as its a 70 day corn.....but its the earliest I have found that is worth a crap.
2. Jackpot. Very good and 82day
3. Kandy Corn. 89 day yellow. Also good.

Can plant all 3 at the same time and have a staggered harvest of ~3-weeks where there is always fresh corn comin ready.

And tomatoes.....what is bought in the store is flavorless and the wrong texture. Sorry, you shouldnt be able to cut a mater with a butter knife. and they should be bright red inside, not pink

My tomatoes got blight from the bottom up even though they were tied up off the ground and all the low leaves and stems were pruned out. Egg plant has about 3-4 yellow sickly leaves each. Even the peppers are screwed. Plants look great. The peppers themselves have black worms inside that leave the inside coated with black excrement.
This is the worst year I have ever had in the garden.
Everything is planted well spaced with good air circulation. I just have had enough.

 

[blehmann]

I gave up about a week ago. Our well water is so hard that plants would rather die than filter out the gyp to get the moisture. No rain, 110 degree highs, and no end in sight. This summer has been a bummer.

 

[oldballs]

At over 90 YO, I can say that gardening is a way of life........a hobby maybe..........a cash losing deal however. Each year of late, I debate whether I want to garden.......but .....I always come back to it. There is a lot of sweat and grief dealing with the weather, one's health, the critters that roam around, the insects...etc.

But my family and my neighbors enjoy the fruits of my labor and I love seeing the seasonal flowers and veggies grow.

Plus, it keeps me rather "fit" without joining some health club or sitting around shooting the chit with other old gezzers.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[bigtiller]

At over 90 YO, I can say that gardening is a way of life........a hobby maybe..........

Plus, it keeps me rather "fit" without joining some health club or sitting around shooting the chit with other old gezzers.

Cheers,
Mike

I agree. A secret to a long life is to take a few deep breathes, and get the old pump to thumping hard in our chest to burn out some of the monsters floating around in our bodies.

 

[oldballs]

I agree. A secret to a long life is to take a few deep breathes, and get the old pump to thumping hard in our chest to burn out some of the monsters floating around in our bodies.

Yep......... hoeing in the morning until the sun starts beating down on one will do that. So far, things are looking pretty good. This area of eastern Kansas has had some evenly spaced rain.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[rswyan]

Where did you get that fabric? All I can find locally is more cloth-like and doesn't look like it would stand up to sunlight or foot traffic very well.

Amazon:

Agfabric Landscape Fabric Weed... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0177IQA6K?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

They have it in various widths and lengths.

These are what we used to staple it down:

200Pcs Landscape Staples + 200Pcs... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WW57CJR?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[wmfamily]

At over 90 YO, I can say that gardening is a way of life........a hobby maybe..........a cash losing deal however. Each year of late, I debate whether I want to garden.......but .....I always come back to it. There is a lot of sweat and grief dealing with the weather, one's health, the critters that roam around, the insects...etc.

But my family and my neighbors enjoy the fruits of my labor and I love seeing the seasonal flowers and veggies grow.

Plus, it keeps me rather "fit" without joining some health club or sitting around shooting the chit with other old gezzers.

Cheers,
Mike

That's the way to do it. My mother still has a garden at 89 and reduces the size every few years. When we were growing up the garden was several acres, that's what a family of 11 lived on for the year. I remember planting 100 lbs of seed potatoes. I enjoy working in the garden and for what I grow it is a true joy. I like to grow my own starts (tomatoes, eggplant, broccoli, etc.) and can grow varieties that you can't get through the normal sources.

I had to take this year off due to some back surgery but I hope to have something growing again next year. We still planted some tomatoes, beans, and eggplant in planters just as an experiment to see how they work out. So far everything is looking good.