Road Dust
Takes a little sunshine
I speak hillbilly quite fluently
Garden pics
- Thread starter rebel
- Start date
Road Dust
Takes a little sunshine
Been busy planting seeds and getting flower pots cleaned up and placed. Will be posting some pics a bit later. I prefer starting seeds indoors and then transplanting them to the garden once they are big enough, rather than planting the seeds directly in the garden or buying plants already started. Instead of buying those fancy little seed starting kits, this year I made my own. I used little plastic yogurt container, which I always save. Using my Dremel, I drilled holes in the bottom of the containers, then cut small small circles from coffee filters to place in the bottom to keep the soil in place but allow water to drain. I used inexpensive Popsicle sticks to label each container.
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
The grass is turning green here. Time to plant termaters soon.
I did a controlled burn to get rid of all the old dead foliage along a section of the creek near the house 3 days ago. Yesterday afternoon I went out there on my ATV and the ground, which was black 2 days ago, is now green. These 2 pics were taken 2 days apart! The 4 wheeler was parked in the exact same spot in both pics.
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I did a controlled burn to get rid of all the old dead foliage along a section of the creek near the house 3 days ago. Yesterday afternoon I went out there on my ATV and the ground, which was black 2 days ago, is now green. These 2 pics were taken 2 days apart! The 4 wheeler was parked in the exact same spot in both pics.
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Tim
U.S.Constitution
Thats why river bottom ground is so fertile....flooding waters bring in top soil plus when the water recedes small fish are trapped on the ground and thus adds a natural fertilizer.
If you want a green grassy lawn, set it on fire in the fall if its dry. It will look like hell for most of the winter but come spring you will wear out a lawn mower.
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
For my lawn, I prefer if the grass is NOT green. Green grass grows fast, and I hate mowing the lawn.
I grew up in a subdivision in an unincorporated area with no city sewer. Everyone has a septic tank and field under the back yards. The lawn would grow so fast it would be a foot tall in under a week.
And my cheap-ass parents would only buy cheap 3.5 HP push mowers. Mowing the back yard was a miserable experience. When I was 13 I took some bed-frame angle-iron and made a push mower that was nothing but a frame, no sheet metal except for right underneath the cylinder to keep wet grass from plugging up the gaps between the cooling fins. It shot the grass straight up, and it was the only machine I ever saw that could cut that grass with only 3.5 HP, though it was dangerous to operate for obvious reasons. I thought that machine would finally convince my parents to get a real mower with at least a 5 or 6 HP engine or maybe even a riding mower or a bush hog, but no. They were perfectly content with their 13 yr old son out there mowing the grass with a machine with a totally open and exposed blade spinning with the governor wide open.
I felt like one of those kids who were forced to work around dangerous machinery in the late 1800's during the industrial era.
Tim
U.S.Constitution
But it made you a stronger better person!!
If you told a kid today they had to "push" mow the lawn they would come up with some kind of simple ass solution as this;
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
But it made you a stronger better person!!
If you told a kid today they had to "push" mow the lawn they would come up with some kind of simple ass solution as this;
I never had an ATV back then, just a dirt bike and miscellaneous Briggs & Stratton powered contraptions made by my dad before I learned how to weld and make my own. None of them were capable of going slow enough not to overwhelm the mower.
If you take a typical riding mower, set the throttle down to idle, and put it in the lowest gear it has, that's even too fast to push/pull a typical 3.5 HP mower in that stuff I had to cut, even after I downsized to a 20" blade and even took one to school to shorten it to 18" and balance it.
My dad had an ultralight aircraft that he crashed when I was 11. It had a Rotax 440 engine, which put out 40 HP, and a belt reduction drive that reduces the high 2-cycle RPM to a more efficient 3600 RPM for a propeller, and it also had an intake manifold that allows the carb to be right-side up no matter what angle the engine is mounted, even as a vertical shaft if you wanted.
I always wanted to put that engine on a push mower. 40 HP might have been enough to swing maybe a 22" blade at a normal walking pace through that jungle we called a back yard.
Saw ladybugs today, which is great because they haven't been around for a few years.
Started seeing bees a couple weeks ago, already busily pollinating the peach blossoms.
Both are good signs after the poor year I had last year.
Hummingbirds are supposed to show up early this year which will complete the trifecta of airborne assistants.
Started seeing bees a couple weeks ago, already busily pollinating the peach blossoms.
Both are good signs after the poor year I had last year.
Hummingbirds are supposed to show up early this year which will complete the trifecta of airborne assistants.
Road Dust
Takes a little sunshine
In addition to ladybugs, here are just a few more beneficial insects: Top 10 Beneficial Garden Insects - Learn to Recognize These Top 10 Beneficial Garden Insects
Although wasps aren't listed, they too provide a service. Wasps lay their eggs on tomato hornworms, which feed on the worm and destroy it.
Unfortunately, many of the products we use to kill the bad bugs also eliminate the good ones.
Although wasps aren't listed, they too provide a service. Wasps lay their eggs on tomato hornworms, which feed on the worm and destroy it.
Unfortunately, many of the products we use to kill the bad bugs also eliminate the good ones.
Never heard of the Assassin Bug(#3) but that has to be the coolest bug name ever.
Followed by the Minute Pirate Bug(#5) Har!
Road Dust
Takes a little sunshine
I actually had an assassin bug living in my backyard when I lived in Missouri. He was kinda evil looking and I was always paranoid that he wasn't really a good bug at all. I kept an eye on him but don't know what became of him after I moved away.
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
ALIENS HAVE LANDED!!!
"Take me to your leader!"
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This one's pulling a trailer!!
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"Take me to your leader!"
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This one's pulling a trailer!!
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Road Dust
Takes a little sunshine
I read somewhere that onions and strawberries make good companion plants. I wouldn't have thought so, but I'm giving it a try and growing my strawberries and onions in a separate little area all to themselves. Both are doing nicely so far. I learned my lesson the hard way about trying to grow onions with peas.
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Road Dust
Takes a little sunshine
Two of my recently planted zucchini were eaten down to the stem last night. The third one has huge holes eaten out of the leaves and is almost all gone. I'm pretty sure the culprit is a slug. Usually, I spread crushed eggshells around the plants and make a collar from empty toilet paper rolls as a precaution until the plants get a little larger but this time I didn't. I have some more seeds planted but it will be a few days before they are up. In the meantime I am going to pick up some Slug B Gon or Sluggo (both work well).
I just read that and got all paranoid so I went out and spread this Ortho Bug-Geta I used last year that seemed to work ok. Just little pellets to scatter around, like a teaspoon for every 12 square feet and can be re-used after 14 days.
Last year I think I used it once a month, if that. Plus I have the eggshells out there this year.
Road Dust
Takes a little sunshine
I just read that coffee grounds deter slugs. I'm not going to take any chances though after last night. Time to bring out the big guns.
On another note, I also read that coffee grounds were acidic so they might be beneficial for blueberry bushes.
Don't worry about cleaning them up. It's all organic.
The evil slugs and cutworms won't crawl over the sharp edges of the shell for fear of slicing open their slimy bellies.
Road Dust
Takes a little sunshine
No need to wash the egg goo off. Just lay them out somewhere to dry out. I've read some folks have even dried them out in a warm oven. Then just crumble/crush them into good sized pieces. Slugs and other soft bodies insects won't travel across the sharp, jagged edges of the shells. They also add calcium to the soil. Tomatoes love calcium and will get blossom end rot if they don't get enough, as will peppers.
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