Gardening

Sam, I use the horse stuff and plenty of it in my garden because it is easy for me to get.
I do think the cow poo is better but harder to get (it's actually the bedding they use more than the poo itself) At any rate Fred is right , if you till everything in real good and deep it doesn't much matter what you use, it's all good.

The Marlin .338 Express works wonders as well. Especially under 100 yards!

Wifey just started planting yesterday. It's tough getting these things started with 4 cats in the house. The minute something green pops up, they eat it. Now that our second floor is abandoned & sealed off from the rest of the house, they'll be going up there to grow. Perfect environment too. Gets to be 75% humidity up there, & about 90° when the sun is on the roof.

Our garden is still under 6" of snow, but it's melting fast. Still another 2 weeks for it to melt & maybe another 2 for the ground to thaw out enough to till it up. We just do a small garden because neither one of us has enough time to really dedicate to the garden. We end up losing half of what we plant, & by the end of the season you can't tell the weeds from the good plants!

Well I got a load of chicken poo, there is some sawdust mixed with it for bedding. Should I add lime with that because of the sawdust?

Coldsweat, I would add the chicken poo and till it in well then take a sample and test it to see whats up. You can buy test kits at just about any garden shop or send the sample to the Agr. Extension Service and they will do an analysis for free.

I`ll most likely wait until the end of this season & have my neighbor bring a load or two of cow poo, I tilled in about a foot of leaf mulch in the fall. The way its going I might not get to even see where the garden is before its time to plant, I still have about 6 or 7" on top.

I'm just waiting for the ground to dry out so i can get in the garden. I wont have my peas in by St. Patty's day (traditional time around here) but i should'nt be far behind.

Rick

Got Dirt? Mine was partially frozen out in the hoop house. I'm trying to re-pot some plants I started inside. Too cold to transplant into an unheated hoop house. I need to thaw a little more screened compost out to get the job done. Looks tasty, a?

Just last tuesday I rototilled my garden.I put cow poo on back at thanksgiving.I try to rototill before the frezee,so come spring I do one finial roto and good to go before all the wet weather.Iv'e been putting cow poo every year and after 15 years I finially have great top soil, instead of concrete dirt.The rototiller would just hop and jump in the red clay before,and now I can burry the tines 8" deep.During the summer all I need to do is just scratch the top and no more weeds.
Theres an old hot bed back at my parents and my brother told me to take it,might try to grow some scallions and raddish early since the sun is always there.Usually I have yellow dandilions growing with snow on the ground.
I usually grow raddish,scallions,green beans,tomatoes,lettuce and weeds the rest of the veg. I buy at the veg. stand,cheaper and don't waste too much space since my garden is only 6'x30'.
Good thing I rototilled the other day,it's now 15* outside.

This is one of the plants I was transplanting. Broke this one. Anyone know what it is?

Dennis wrote:Just last tuesday I rototilled my garden.I put cow poo on back at thanksgiving.I try to rototill before the frezee,so come spring I do one finial roto and good to go before all the wet weather.Iv'e been putting cow poo every year and after 15 years I finially have great top soil, instead of concrete dirt.The rototiller would just hop and jump in the red clay before,and now I can burry the tines 8" deep.During the summer all I need to do is just scratch the top and no more weeds.
Theres an old hot bed back at my parents and my brother told me to take it,might try to grow some scallions and raddish early since the sun is always there.Usually I have yellow dandilions growing with snow on the ground.
I usually grow raddish,scallions,green beans,tomatoes,lettuce and weeds the rest of the veg. I buy at the veg. stand,cheaper and don't waste too much space since my garden is only 6'x30'.
Good thing I rototilled the other day,it's now 15* outside.

I just started last year. I can't wait 15 year for decent soil!!!!!! I have plants under plastic in my hoop house. I don't dare uncover them for a look until after the cold snap. Theoreticallyally they should be good to 20 degrees. We shall see. Outside it was 11. No idea what is was under the plastic. I have 3 1/2 garbage pails full of rabbit poo. I brought home about 20 garbage pails full of ell grass that got washed ashore after the hurricane. I've lost count of the 3 year old horse poo I dragged home. My chick-oes and ducks are makin plenty of excrement as well. I feel like the king of poo! Never dreamed I'd be so fond of tihs. My soil is still like crap though. I need MORE POO!

cokehead wrote:I just started last year. I can't wait 15 year for decent soil!!!!!!

cokehead wrote:My soil is still like crap though.

About 4 years ago,I put about 6" of old compost on top then rototilled it in good.That has been the best improvement for loosening up the soil.When I get the cow poo,I scoop it from inside the barn without the straw. If the ground unthawls I might rototill again,the frost helps kill the weed roots.

Chicken and horse poo has lots of acid in them. Don't plant too soon after putting it down.

Dennis wrote:Chicken and horse poo has lots of acid in them. Don't plant too soon after putting it down.

I haven't used the chicken manure yet. It is aging. When I added the 3 year old horse manure I added lyme at the same tyme. Dosing was by the seat of my pants. My old grass and leaf/yard waste compost is sweet. My soil with or without the horse pucky is a little acid. Need more lyme.

I haven't tested the rabbit poo. It is mixed with shreaded newspaper and chopped straw or hay. Light and airy stuff. I was told by the people I got it from that I could mix it 50/50 in raised beds with other soil and it won't burn my tender little roots. So far it hasn't killed what I planted in it. I was trying to get some lama doo butt the proud owner didn't want to give a.....ahhh give it up. I hear 8 out of 10 plants prefer lama poo and I am full of it.

When we were kids,the Kimberton fair had elephants and my uncle brought some home and put on his garden.That stuff was the size of footballs.

Dennis wrote:When we were kids,the Kimberton fair had elephants and my uncle brought some home and put on his garden.That stuff was the size of footballs.

It doesn't get any better than that. That is what I call braggin rights!

My cousin took this picture of my garden a couple weeks ago. A work in progress. I found a free source of nice compost. No more hand screening topsoil or lugging home poo. Most of the raised beds are about 2 feet deep with good stuff. They are like icebergs and all carrot soil. rock free! My new style raised beds are 15 1/2" deep above ground, right on the surface. I'm sick of diggin rocks out. They are not in the picture.