likely it for the season

[songbird]

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

[T]

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.

[songbird]

T wrote: ...

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

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

[T]

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.

:-)

[songbird]

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

songbird

[T]

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

:'(

[derald]

They occupy themselves worrying about money.

[songbird]

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

[Terry Coombs]

  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." .

[Pavel314]

My wife and I sometimes get anxious over the garden (too much rain, too lit tle 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 imagin e that if the crop is your whole livelihood things can get real tense at ti mes.

Paul