we had a few days last week that were warm enough
where i could get out and finish cleaning up a few
gardens (burying garden debris), but that is likely
the last of that sort of thing i'll be doing outside
for the season.

i wasn't even really planning on doing this but it
just worked out. with all the rains and snow we've
had (that's melted) the garden i was mostly digging in
was muddy, but i really wanted those last two gardens
cleaned up.

normally i have a policy of trying to bury what is
grown in a garden in the same garden where it was
grown. this returns the nutrients and fiber to the
soil and gives the worms something to work on through
the winter. this time though because i was planning
on digging up most of the garden in the spring i was
not able to stick to this policy and buried it in
another garden instead. the other reason to not bury
things in a different garden than where grown is to
cut down on spreading weeds/weed seeds around (which
isn't a major problem inside the fence, but every
little bit helps).

the garden that got all the debris is yet another
pretty fertile heavy clay garden here. it has been
amended in the past, but not very deeply so each time
i get a chance to add to it and to work down a little
more it makes progress. i have buckets of ashes to
use up too - i put some of those in with the organic
material - the next few times i did through that area
(i don't disturb a whole garden that often so it may
take a few years to get all the way through a garden
again) it will get mixed in better.

the biggest improvements are in getting the area
raised up a bit and better drainage where some worms
can hide out. i was glad to see that there were worms
in the garden. it had been amended before with the
worms and worm compost and other organic materials so
they had enough to eat. it takes about 3-5yrs of
amending a solid clay garden here before i see a
reasonable number of worms in them. it really helps
if when i start out i dig a few deeper holes and bury
organic material in them so that worms have a place to
be during the hot and cold parts of the season. a
shovel and a half seems to work ok for the depth here.


songbird

On 2019-12-02 05:44, songbird wrote:
we had a few days last week that were warm enough
where i could get out and finish cleaning up a few
gardens (burying garden debris), but that is likely
the last of that sort of thing i'll be doing outside
for the season.

i wasn't even really planning on doing this but it
just worked out. with all the rains and snow we've
had (that's melted) the garden i was mostly digging in
was muddy, but i really wanted those last two gardens
cleaned up.

normally i have a policy of trying to bury what is
grown in a garden in the same garden where it was
grown. this returns the nutrients and fiber to the
soil and gives the worms something to work on through
the winter. this time though because i was planning
on digging up most of the garden in the spring i was
not able to stick to this policy and buried it in
another garden instead. the other reason to not bury
things in a different garden than where grown is to
cut down on spreading weeds/weed seeds around (which
isn't a major problem inside the fence, but every
little bit helps).

the garden that got all the debris is yet another
pretty fertile heavy clay garden here. it has been
amended in the past, but not very deeply so each time
i get a chance to add to it and to work down a little
more it makes progress. i have buckets of ashes to
use up too - i put some of those in with the organic
material - the next few times i did through that area
(i don't disturb a whole garden that often so it may
take a few years to get all the way through a garden
again) it will get mixed in better.

the biggest improvements are in getting the area
raised up a bit and better drainage where some worms
can hide out. i was glad to see that there were worms
in the garden. it had been amended before with the
worms and worm compost and other organic materials so
they had enough to eat. it takes about 3-5yrs of
amending a solid clay garden here before i see a
reasonable number of worms in them. it really helps
if when i start out i dig a few deeper holes and bury
organic material in them so that worms have a place to
be during the hot and cold parts of the season. a
shovel and a half seems to work ok for the depth here.


songbird



My garden is covered in snow. It has been snowing for
the last four days. But not very hard.

I stuck my Choke Berry clipping in the ground a week ago.
I think I hear him calling me names from under the snow.
I could be the wind though.

T wrote:
....
My garden is covered in snow. It has been snowing for
the last four days. But not very hard.

we've had some snow, but it has mostly been
melting off. this week looks to be getting
colder but not by much.


I stuck my Choke Berry clipping in the ground a week ago.
I think I hear him calling me names from under the snow.
I could be the wind though.

if you didn't acclimate it it may not be able
to survive, but i guess this is one way to find
out what kinda of abuse they can survive.

good luck!


songbird

On 2019-12-02 22:09, songbird wrote:
if you didn't acclimate it it may not be able
to survive, but i guess this is one way to find
out what kinda of abuse they can survive.

It started to die on me inside. But it may have been
going deciduous, I did not know. If it dies on me, I
will try again in the spring.

:-)

T wrote:
On 2019-12-02 22:09, songbird wrote:
if you didn't acclimate it it may not be able
to survive, but i guess this is one way to find
out what kinda of abuse they can survive.

It started to die on me inside. But it may have been
going deciduous, I did not know. If it dies on me, I
will try again in the spring.

:-)

you may be surprised. we'll see what happens!


songbird

On 2019-12-03 17:06, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
On 2019-12-02 22:09, songbird wrote:
if you didn't acclimate it it may not be able
to survive, but i guess this is one way to find
out what kinda of abuse they can survive.

It started to die on me inside. But it may have been
going deciduous, I did not know. If it dies on me, I
will try again in the spring.

:-)

you may be surprised. we'll see what happens!


songbird


It is the waiting part that gets me. I don't know
how farmers do it.

:'(

wrote:
T wrote:

It is the waiting part that gets me. I don't know
how farmers do it.
They occupy themselves worrying about money.

life a frugal life.

when you have a good year, stash some away. when you
have a bad year, rough it as much as you can so you
don't get into your stash. after a few years you have
enough to invest. keep doing this. within 20yrs you
can retire if you keep living a simple life.

children and wife, complicates things, but put 'em
to work if they get too complacent or spoiled.


songbird (not a farmer

On 12/7/2019 10:49 AM, songbird wrote:
wrote:
T wrote:

It is the waiting part that gets me. I don't know
how farmers do it.
They occupy themselves worrying about money.
life a frugal life.

when you have a good year, stash some away. when you
have a bad year, rough it as much as you can so you
don't get into your stash. after a few years you have
enough to invest. keep doing this. within 20yrs you
can retire if you keep living a simple life.

children and wife, complicates things, but put 'em
to work if they get too complacent or spoiled.


songbird (not a farmer

Â* Reminds me of the story about the Iowa farmer who won a million
dollar lottery . When asked what he was planning on doing now that he
was a millionaire he replied "I reckon I'll just keep on farmin' until
it's all gone." .

--
Snag
Yes , I'm old
and crochety - and armed .
Get outta my woods !

On Wednesday, December 4, 2019 at 12:46:19 AM UTC-5, T wrote:
On 2019-12-03 17:06, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
On 2019-12-02 22:09, songbird wrote:
if you didn't acclimate it it may not be able
to survive, but i guess this is one way to find
out what kinda of abuse they can survive.

It started to die on me inside. But it may have been
going deciduous, I did not know. If it dies on me, I
will try again in the spring.

:-)

you may be surprised. we'll see what happens!


songbird


It is the waiting part that gets me. I don't know
how farmers do it.

:'(

My wife and I sometimes get anxious over the garden (too much rain, too little rain, not enough sun, too many bugs, etc.) but it's just a hobby for us.. For example, when our pumpkin patch got rained out a couple of years ago, we just went to the store to buy pumpkin pie filling in cans. I can imagine that if the crop is your whole livelihood things can get real tense at times.

Paul