Fran Farmer wrote:
songbird wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:
songbird wrote:
...
i have to write those friends a note of thanks.

perfect timing on the rain last night too.


Such an enjoyable post. I love it when I read posts such as yours and
see that you are someone who knows how to put good products to a good
use. Lately I've come upon a few blogs where the bloggers have
discovered the need for frugality, not wasting anything, being good eco
friendly sorts and how they would LOVE to have a veggie garden. Fine
and dandy and I'm with them up to that point but then they go and spoil
it by saying that they need to wait to have a veg garden till they can
buy edging and bring in soil and doing that is currently beyond their
means.

thanks Fran. you're a sweetheart!

Snort. I'm certainly not that 'bird but nice of you to say so :-))

everyone knows that curmudgeon is the crunchy
outer exterior of a true softie.


while i'm no big fan of raised beds i do
understand that some folks can use them and
do well with them.

I wouldn't be so gobbsmacked if they had been writing about raised beds.
These people seem to consider that the sort of bed you and I would
start to dig for a normal old ground level bed and which we'd start from
scratch by digging out the sod and removing it or smothering the sod and
then digging once the grass had died must have some sort of 'proper'
edging and imported soil.

people in cities tend to think in boxes? i dunno...
smothered sod is excellent stuff for gardens, but it
takes some years to get all the seeds out of there.
good thick mulch over it helps keep a lot of seeds
from sprouting.


I'm sure that like me you've used anything that is handy and or free
with which to edge such beds or, failing anything handy, just had a
neatly spaded edge.

oh yes, rocks, chunks of wood, pieces of bark, but
my favorites are the piles of dirt with the sides
compacted down a little so they won't collapse in the
rain and then i mulch them to keep them in place.
often i can plant something right on the edge too.


i wrote a note of thanks and got a reply
back that they'll have more. we have plenty
of room...

'Onya 'bird! If it wasn't blowing a mild gale here I'd be out right now
collecting wheelbarrow loads of cow plops. The cows have been in a
paddock close to the house and I can see lots of nice plops there just
waiting for me to collect them and shove onto one of my newer beds.

the dung beetles don't get them? we have deer
nuggets and bunny drops, but i rarely "collect"
them unless they've been dropped on the crushed
limestone pathway or decorative area. every little
bit of organic material left on the crushed limestone
eventually acts as a seed starting booster so what
i can get off there helps to keep those weeds from
sprouting. can't believe that it's already almost
been 20 years since they built the place.

good luck with the high winds! today is more rain
which we can use. i have to run out and vote then
will be puttering about inside. have some worm food
to get in the bins from peeling and prepping garlic
and veggie scraps. made 14 pints of sweet and sour
garlic relish and stunk up the house real good
yesterday. all those roots and garlic peels and
pieces seem to really be appreciated by the worms.


songbird