songbird wrote:
Terry Coombs wrote:
songbird wrote:
...
is the cold weather getting down your ways?

Up here they call it "ass-bitin' cold ". It was around 15° this
morning at 3 when I was outside trying to get the generator running
because the power was out . With around 2" of fresh snow on the
ground ...

uhg! that's about what it has been today. night time temps
are in the single digits. we've sometimes been able to get
out for some walks but i hate it when the eyelashes freeze
together when you blink.


songbird

I hate it more when my breath condenses and freezes on my beard and 'stach
..

--
Snag

Terry Coombs wrote:
songbird wrote:
....
uhg! that's about what it has been today. night time temps
are in the single digits. we've sometimes been able to get
out for some walks but i hate it when the eyelashes freeze
together when you blink.

I hate it more when my breath condenses and freezes on my beard and 'stach
.

i wear a short round scarf (call it the foreskin )
which is also thick so that the air going out preheats the
air breathed in. saves a lot of sinus and lung troubles
for me.

i've already put winter goggles on the list for our
next outing to the stores as i really would like to be
able to see when i'm walking...


songbird

George Shirley wrote:
....
39F this morning upon rising, now it's lots of sunshine and in the low
sixties. Winter here should be over in a few weeks, maybe sooner. Almost
time to put in the spring garden. Have a couple of huge cabbage heads to
harvest very soon, harvested a six lb cauliflower head last week, good
thing my wife likes the stuff. Her cauliflower soup does manage to stink
up the kitchen. Bah!

sounds wonderful!


songbird

On 1/19/2016 8:51 AM, songbird wrote:
Terry Coombs wrote:
songbird wrote:
...
uhg! that's about what it has been today. night time temps
are in the single digits. we've sometimes been able to get
out for some walks but i hate it when the eyelashes freeze
together when you blink.

I hate it more when my breath condenses and freezes on my beard and 'stach
.

i wear a short round scarf (call it the foreskin )
which is also thick so that the air going out preheats the
air breathed in. saves a lot of sinus and lung troubles
for me.

i've already put winter goggles on the list for our
next outing to the stores as i really would like to be
able to see when i'm walking...


songbird

Look around for one of those military surplus felt face masks. We used
those anytime we were topside on a destroyer in the Arctic. Beat frozen
nose hair and eyebrow's, not to mention my 'stache. I think I've
mentioned before how much I hate cold weather. G

49F out this morning and a lot of sunshine, forecast for mucho rain
coming though. Won't be long before spring is here in SE Texas. Finally
pulled up the eggplants, the sweet chilies are still producing and
haven't been frostbitten as yet.

Won't be long until the fruit trees are blooming and getting leaves on.

George Shirley wrote:
On 1/19/2016 8:51 AM, songbird wrote:
Terry Coombs wrote:
songbird wrote:
...
uhg! that's about what it has been today. night time temps
are in the single digits. we've sometimes been able to get
out for some walks but i hate it when the eyelashes freeze
together when you blink.

I hate it more when my breath condenses and freezes on my beard
and 'stach .

i wear a short round scarf (call it the foreskin )
which is also thick so that the air going out preheats the
air breathed in. saves a lot of sinus and lung troubles
for me.

i've already put winter goggles on the list for our
next outing to the stores as i really would like to be
able to see when i'm walking...


songbird

Look around for one of those military surplus felt face masks. We used
those anytime we were topside on a destroyer in the Arctic. Beat
frozen nose hair and eyebrow's, not to mention my 'stache. I think
I've mentioned before how much I hate cold weather. G

49F out this morning and a lot of sunshine, forecast for mucho rain
coming though. Won't be long before spring is here in SE Texas.
Finally pulled up the eggplants, the sweet chilies are still
producing and haven't been frostbitten as yet.

Won't be long until the fruit trees are blooming and getting leaves
on.

I have one of those full face things , I wear it when I ride the
motorcycle in subfreezing temps . It's up to 26° here , predictred high of
32° but I don't think it'll make that up here in The Holler . And there's a
90% chance for 1-3" of snow tonight ...
Fruit trees - mine have been in the ground for 1 and 2 years , they aren't
doing so well. Suggestions for a fertilizer that's eco-friendly ? These have
never had anything but a little fish emulsion last summer , and I'd like to
see them grow more , they haven't gottan any bigger since they were planted
..
--
Snag

On 1/19/2016 9:28 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:

Fruit trees - mine have been in the ground for 1 and 2 years , they aren't
doing so well. Suggestions for a fertilizer that's eco-friendly ? These have
never had anything but a little fish emulsion last summer , and I'd like to
see them grow more , they haven't gottan any bigger since they were planted
.
--
Snag


We have the same problem, a kumquat and a fig tree in the backyard. We
had to dig holes in the gumbo clay and I'm afraid we didn't dig the
holes wide enough or deep enough. The trees are growing very slowly but
are still producing a decent crop of fruit. We usually add a little
composted cow manure every few months and that helps.

At our former home we had very deep loam soil from eons of tree leaves
falling on what had, a long time ago, been a sand dune (think ancient
bottom of the Gulf of Mexico). Fruit trees shot up like they were on
steroids there. I miss that soil and am willing to bet that under that
five feet of clay in the back there is another ancient sea bed that
would have done the job. Albeit that the clay was laid down to keep us
from having to pay for gubmint flood insurance.

I'm thinking of devising something that I could drive down around the
trees to penetrate the clay some more and then add fertilizer of some
sort to help the roots spread wider and deeper.

George Shirley wrote:
On 1/19/2016 9:28 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:

Fruit trees - mine have been in the ground for 1 and 2 years , they aren't
doing so well. Suggestions for a fertilizer that's eco-friendly ? These have
never had anything but a little fish emulsion last summer , and I'd like to
see them grow more , they haven't gottan any bigger since they were planted

what kind of fruit trees? are they on grafted rootstock?
how were they planted? how much light do they get? how
much water? soil conditions?


We have the same problem, a kumquat and a fig tree in the backyard. We
had to dig holes in the gumbo clay and I'm afraid we didn't dig the
holes wide enough or deep enough. The trees are growing very slowly but
are still producing a decent crop of fruit. We usually add a little
composted cow manure every few months and that helps.

At our former home we had very deep loam soil from eons of tree leaves
falling on what had, a long time ago, been a sand dune (think ancient
bottom of the Gulf of Mexico). Fruit trees shot up like they were on
steroids there. I miss that soil and am willing to bet that under that
five feet of clay in the back there is another ancient sea bed that
would have done the job. Albeit that the clay was laid down to keep us
from having to pay for gubmint flood insurance.

I'm thinking of devising something that I could drive down around the
trees to penetrate the clay some more and then add fertilizer of some
sort to help the roots spread wider and deeper.

i've seen various methods for planting fruit trees in
difficult conditions (read Sepp Holzer's works sometime ).

once the tree is already in i suppose you could go
back and gently dig down close to the tree to find the
roots and then trench outwards through the clay and then
fill that trench in with better quality soil. (it would
look like an asterisk or the spokes of a wheel). the roots
will follow that trench outwards. you'll have to keep
topping it off as the organic material decays, but it
should help as long as the slope is not towards the
tree (it should be level -- clay will eventually soak
up any extra water in there).

in the future the much easier method is to just make a
pile of the best soil you can including plenty of good
organic materials and plant into that without doing much
digging. the tree will do much better and you can keep
adding organic materials around the tree as the pile
breaks down. no trenching or digging needed. especially
in a small area where you're putting in miniature trees.
this way you avoid water logging issues too and the
tree roots will eventually find their way down into
the clay as needed (via worm holes ).


songbird

Terry Coombs wrote:
....
Fruit trees - mine have been in the ground for 1 and 2 years , they aren't
doing so well. Suggestions for a fertilizer that's eco-friendly ? These have
never had anything but a little fish emulsion last summer , and I'd like to
see them grow more , they haven't gottan any bigger since they were planted
.

it can take a few years for them to get going. worm
castings, horse poo, rabbit poo, dead fish, plenty of
organic materials (but not right up against the tree
trunks).

i already asked these questions in the other reply,
but describing the location, what type of plants, how
much light and moisture they get, if they are mulched
(and with what), etc. is helpful.


songbird

In article ,
"Terry Coombs" wrote:
Fruit trees - mine have been in the ground for 1 and 2 years , they aren't
doing so well. Suggestions for a fertilizer that's eco-friendly ? These have
never had anything but a little fish emulsion last summer , and I'd like to
see them grow more , they haven't gottan any bigger since they were planted

If your trees are being shaded by the forest (I think you are in a hole
in the forest around your house), harvest some more firewood - light
makes the biggest difference. But, 1-2 years is a short time in the life
of a tree (the best time to plant one is 20 years ago, the second best
time is now.)

As for bad soil, with trees I think the best approach is to leave it be
when planting - the tree deals with what *is* and grows through it,
where a tree in a hole of improved soil in the midst of bad soil is more
prone to be potbound and unwilling to poke its roots out. For much the
same reason I think a smaller/younger new tree is better than an older
one to transplant in a difficult location. While almost everybody would
love to be on the loamy gravel, plenty of trees manage just fine on less
pleasant soils. Improve it from the top...

Build a ring of compost at the dripline - that's where most of the
feeder roots are. Potholing compost/worm fodder (dig postholes, not too
close to each other, and fill with compost/compostables) can help get
things down more, but it's more work and the worms will do that
eventually from stuff on top. But if you want to feel more active about
it, go to. As the tree manages to grow, keep the ring at the dripline
(ie, moving out.) This will also naturally keep your pile from being
built-up near the trunk, which is problematic for several reasons and to
be avoided. If you avoid anything too hot you can simply build a pile
right there, or you can start it in another location and move it to the
trees after it's cooked a few months. Shredded leaves are a good base
for whatever else you are putting there - they will break down to leaf
mold eventually and will moderate runoff/leachate from more active
compost above - don't mix them in, just layer them under, and when you
stop turning (if you turn at all) over.

Do not add fresh material when it might induce a growth spurt going into
winter. After things are fully dormant you can pile it on, but from
roughly August (northern hemisphere) until then you should hold any
collected materials in a pile _not_ around the trees - but do keep
collecting as much as you can lay your hands on, or have dropped off by
the dump-truck load. Manure, spoiled hay, mushroom compost, clean
woodash, apple pomace, lawn clippings, etc.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.