Where does all that stuff go?

I am not technically opposed to dandelions. I think they are quite pretty. In the spring, mix them with the purple flowers of chickweed and the other "weeds" and it is a lovely spring sight. I do not, however, like to have dandelions in my yard, I think they should be in a big field.

I am very opposed to the chemicals that are rampant throughout the neighborhood. There was a commercial on the radio the other day that I heard and wished people would hear and actually "hear" what was being said. It is a little girl talking about how great her daddy is and how hard he works in the yard to make it nice. Then at the end of commercial her last words are "Where does all that stuff go?". Do you know where all that stuff that makes your yard so beautiful go? Do you know what it actually does? And, yes, I do believe I am stepping up onto a soap box about now. All the chemicals that people use to make the yard green or kill the "weeds" or to "feed" the plants go into the ground and end up in the nearest stream. Do you know what those chemicals do? They kill fish and actually weaken your plants and grass.

I had a manager who came in one day and said, "You know how I spent over 200$ on the fish for my pond? I got up today and they were all dead!!". I asked him what he thought had happened and he said he had no clue. He had been working in the yard all day the previous day and they were fine. I asked him if he happened to fertilize his yard, and of course he had. So it leached into the pond and killed all his fish. You should actually read the bag if you fertilize yourself. And why do you think the yard care company, who sit there with their truck on the side of the road with a big tank and a hose, wear rubber gloves, masks, and big rubber boots? Because the damn stuff is poisonous. Seriously, anything you have to use protective gear on to use, isn't the best thing all the way around.

There are plenty of organic non harmful ways to make your yard beautiful with out damaging the ecosystem. I actually use a dandelion digger to get them out of the yard. It is labor intensive" but you bend over to spray a spray so bending over to manually remove them is almost the same. Raise the outer leaves of the plant and then go in at an angle about an inch under the soil. All you are doing is cutting the root and lifting the green part of the plant out. They will come back, but if you keep it up, before long they will stop. See, the root has to have the green to survive. Keep removing their food source and they will die. While you do that, let your grass grow higher than normal and when you start mowing it, cut it at 3" instead of 2". The weeds need the sunlight, and if your tall grass is blocking it out they can't survive. See, it isn't hard. It just takes time. You go for the quick fix and it actually ends up being bad. Here is a good article I found on naturally removing dandelions.

Ok, I am stepping down from the soap box now. Enjoy the beautiful days and relax on the rainy ones!!

Taters in a Bucket!!

Laura has planted a bug in my ear and I am going to copy her. I am going to grow me some taters in a barrel, or bucket or trashcan, whatever I might find to do such a thing. I have heard of this before, but it is one thing I have NEVER tried. Well, this year, I am going to do it. I put a link up there on the right about growing potatoes in a barrel and here is another example as well.

I am ready for the last frost so I can get to some serious digging. I started pulling up sod the other day for the main garden area and got about 1/3 of it done. It rained yesterday so the rest will have to wait til things dry out again.

I have big plans for some morning glories this year. I hope the idea works. Pictures on that are to come - and May will help a lot.

Anticipation

Well, I am a bit stuck and can hardly wait. I have the plans down, and my only vice at the moment is waiting on the the tiller to get fixed. It is as the shop and they are waiting on some kit to fix the carburetor. Alan and I sat down last week to plan out the garden for this year. The winners this year are: Kale, garlic, onions, beans, carrots, broccoli, beets, cucumbers, Roma tomatoes, green peppers, jalepeno peppers, and brussel sprouts. We are going to have a 15x15 ft area and there to the left you can see where I have moved the compost bin up to the top of where it will be.

There on the right is where the old garden area was. The compost there is awesome. I think anything is going to grow there. I have that area designated for the kale, garlic and onions. It doesn't get a lot of sunlight but we will see what happens. I know for sure it isn't the best place for tomatoes. I used my adaptable weed trimmer. It is gas powered and you can add different attachments to do different things. I only have the weed trimmer attachment and the little tiller one as well. So, I knocked out all the top weeds the other day and worked in the compost as best I could with what I had to work with. I have to wait for the larger tiller before I tackle the main garden area. Double digging is the way to go to really get your ground ready to work and be fertile. Of course with the help of a tiller it will be a lot better. If you have never done manual double digging, you should do a small area that way at least once. You will ache for a week but it will be so worth it!! And a good load of compost from the Kentucky Horse Park will do just nicely, since my composting is only for small areas. That I do manually, and hauling it from the vehicle to the garden area - whoa - good work out. And the wheel barrel needs a new tire as well - I killed it last year and haven't taken the time to fix it yet.

So, I am in great anticipation until I can get my tiller and really start digging up the yard - HA!! One last picture. I have found a way around my inability to start things from seed they are called peat pellets. Here is a picture of what I have started and their wonderful progress:

In that picture you see roma tomatoes, bibb lettuce, broccoli, basil, English daisy's, and cherry tomatoes and you can't see them but there are cucumbers as well.

Spring is in the air

My favorite flower and smell in the whole world is the Hyacinth. I gave in to a moments weakness and bought this pot one day as I was walking through the store. They smelled things up good for a bit, now they are dying back. I sure wish they lasted longer, but what are you to do, it is better not to mess with nature.

Like I said, spring is in the air and I have a hankering to get some things started. The same day I got the Hyacinth I got some raspberry and blueberry plants. I have never grown blueberries, so we will see how that goes.

Today I thought I would give the seed starting thing another chance. I do it every year and sometimes it works. Last year I started borage from seed and they did great. Broccoli and bibb lettuce were my choices today.

In past posts I stated I was going to move the garden. I have plans for getting that going. I am going to have to build up one end with 4x4's and 2x6's because the yard is sloped a bit. Maybe today after school I will make the kids help me stake it out so I know just how much lumber I am going to need. It should be sort of fun for them and a lot of fun for me - HA!!