TOR Victory Gardens

[Oswego]

from the worst side of the bed to the best the right side of my bed is finally flowering and getting ready to explode in whatever the yellow stuff is. I mixed the seeds and spread them evenly so besides sun I'm clueless as to why they are growing totally different. Rightg side bulked up and is flowering way later late with no poppies. Left and middle grew quick and thin and had poppy plants all over.

put cages around all the plants and muched much heavier tonight. something still got in and chewed some new growth earlier this week. didn't use the neem oil yet - very windy the past two days

think I have enough cardboard stockpiled so ordering some topsoil and mulch tomorrow or Saturday so I can get rid of all the weeds/crabgrass. guys at work filed my car to the roof today with a bunch of flat cardboard from a job

 

[Oswego]

Black gold is here. 94* with 62% humidity right now so I might just stair at it today as I drink some beers then hit it hard and knock it all out tomorrow.

Pricing wasn't horrible and the supply co was super nice. Asked me if I was a contractor so of course I said yes and that this was for a client...which of course are all truths

Started shooting the sh*t with the delivery driver and he was saying timber is very hard to get right now. Said his family is Amish and has a shed building co and they are about to go bankrupt because they can't get materials to build sheds. Said they have tons of orders but nothing to build them with. He said its got something to do with Canada and of course my reply was we need to bring those jobs back to the US and open up our timber industry again so everyone's here has basic materials.

 

[Oswego]

Hydration break time... it's going to be a scorcher here today. Think I already sweat out a gallon of last nights beers and only been at it 3hrs.

Same as round one I underestimated the amount of cardboard needed think I can get 2/3-3/4 of the fenced in area done today.

 

[Taco Loco]

Why are you mulching in that complete area?

 

[Taco Loco]

You really need to consider doing drip/micro
irrigation system, install a single stage filter housing or double filter system and use a carbon filter to help eliminate chlorine/fluoride if that is a concern for the plants, when placed on a timer it can save you a ton of time by not having to water regularly.

 

[Oswego]

Why are you mulching in that complete area?

hitting a few birds with one stone

1) less grass and weeds to cut every week (almost 1,000sqft)
2) all my plants have top root systems and can't compete well with anything especially the crazy crab grass I have
3) following the farmers recommendation that I bought them from for less watering
4) my soil is nothing but beach sand and road base with maybe a few inches of grey sand on top so eventually this will help it
5) for 16 years Ive removed the leaves and never fertilized so my soil is completely malnourished
6) its what all the cool kids are doing
7) laying the foundation for the future and DIK what that holds. Like to fill the bed up with all kinds of stuff eventually. figure time to plan ahead especially if tomatoes get legalized in Nov

You really need to consider doing drip/micro
irrigation system, install a single stage filter housing or double filter system and use a carbon filter to help eliminate chlorine/fluoride if that is a concern for the plants, when placed on a timer it can save you a ton of time by not having to water regularly.

I'm toying with the idea of running some scd 40 pvc underground to add a hose bib out there. If I do that, I'd prob go with a drip system. it is getting a little old hand watering. Each plant took over a gallon last night x 13 plants = a time suck sometimes, other times I enjoy it

 

[Taco Loco]

hitting a few birds with one stone

1) less grass and weeds to cut every week (almost 1,000sqft)
2) all my plants have top root systems and can't compete well with anything especially the crazy crab grass I have
3) following the farmers recommendation that I bought them from for less watering
4) my soil is nothing but beach sand and road base with maybe a few inches of grey sand on top so eventually this will help it
5) for 16 years Ive removed the leaves and never fertilized so my soil is completely malnourished
6) its what all the cool kids are doing
7) laying the foundation for the future and DIK what that holds. Like to fill the bed up with all kinds of stuff eventually. figure time to plan ahead especially if tomatoes get legalized in Nov



I'm toying with the idea of running some scd 40 pvc underground to add a hose bib out there. If I do that, I'd prob go with a drip system. it is getting a little old hand watering. Each plant took over a gallon last night x 13 plants = a time suck sometimes, other times I enjoy it

The timed watering on my garden is what keeps it going, also 100% sand here, and practically zero organics(decomposing leaves/plants) of nutrients going back to the soil.

Watering times might seem long, but many of the plants only have .5 gallon per hour emitter, so most plants receive less than gallon per day.

Copy and paste from my phone notes. And about mid August I will start cutting the watering time amounts down gradually and/or turn off individually rows that are no longer productive.
As of 20200706

Zone 1

6:45 13min

11am 23min

2:35pmp 18min

6:30pm 11min


Zone 2

6:30am 13min

10:35am 23min

2:15pm 18min

6:15pm 11min

Zone 3 vents the hot water out.
10:30am 1 min
2pm 2 min
6pm 2 min

 

[Oswego]

the hotter it gets the more and more I think it's time for a drip. I was soaked just watering my plants yesterday. My thermostat's exterior thermometer thats mounted under my eve in the shade....was at 103*

 

[Oswego]

Just got off the phone with the landscape supply company - heading there for a meeting at 2:30today to check out the difference in their root mulch vs hardwood mulch so they can deliver it right after I choose. Neither are exactly what I want, but it is what it is. I'd go with cedar but the costs is over 2x as much as concrete is so for that much money I might as well just lay down some forms and put down a permanent slab to grow in

Ill get just enough to cover my topsoil for now so it doesn't wash away or start growing weeds then when I have my trees trimmed Ill have those guys give me those chips as well.

 

[Oswego]

and now I have two piles. Glad I stopped to talk to the owner. Ended up with misc wood chips from all kinds of trees and got the bottom of his pile so it already started breaking down. Told him the older the better. It's got sticks and leaves in it, but thats what I wanted. Only difference is I paid for this and wood chips like this can be gotten free from tree guys. He cut me a deal because I wanted the stuff other clients don't but it still cost me $50 + $20 for delivery = Cost of not being proactive enough and not getting it for free.

Would of gone cedar but like i said - it's way too much $$ and I already have termites so what better to recreate a forest floor like chopped up hard & soft wood trees. + Some of the stuff I want to plant in here isn't cedar or acid lovers and everything likes normal wood chips/sticks/leaves. His cedar mulch did look great though - someday in a much smaller/less costly bed

 

[Oswego]

Ill take moving wood chips over dirt any day. Still HOT as heck with 96* temps and 60% humidity, but thats the norm. Lost 8# water weight Saturday out there for 10+hrs and I drank a few gallons of water throughout the day.

got about a yard left over to even out some low spots, but I'm done for the day. already watered it in with my sprinkler for 30 min so it's not sucking away water + the top soil was dry as a bone before I laid it on top

 

[Silverback]

That's a nice she-shed you got there. Damn thing has gutters even!!

 

[Silverback]

I put those two 4x2x2 galvanized stock tanks in the wifes garden area but didn't bother to fill them with rock/dirt yet. She said to wait, she wasn't planting anything else this year. Fine by me. Its hot. But I do think I am going to do it anyways, at least line them, add some rock and some dirt to keep them in place in case of high winds. Also want to get some cedar fence pickets and cut them down and add around the sides for "decoration" and to keep the heat down inside them. I have a bunch of misters that we had at the old house for keeping cool on the patio, thinking of adding them to the tanks as a watering system. She'll probably shoot it down as the garden is her "get away from the world place" and she likes to water it.

 

[Oswego]

That's a nice she-shed you got there. Damn thing has gutters even!!

I put gutters on all the family sheds (mine/my moms/my sisters). They are just coated T-111 so over time the bottoms rot if you let the rain drip on the ground and shoot dirt and water back up on them after it hits the ground. To this day Ill never understand houses w/o gutters. They are literally rotting out their foundations and first 1-2' of their houses sheathing....or at minimum decreasing it's lifespan. That was a buy once cry once shed. Shopped all over looking for something built to the same codes as a house. No crappy 2x3's (2x4's), no single stud header (doubled up), and no 24" centers (all 16" std). Also good 30 year shingles not the crap ones with 3/4" thick T&G plywood floor with PT 4x4's 12" on center for the foundation. I got my moms, sisters, and mine all at the same place. So far so good - sisters has gotta be 20+ years old.

I put those two 4x2x2 galvanized stock tanks in the wifes garden area but didn't bother to fill them with rock/dirt yet. She said to wait, she wasn't planting anything else this year. Fine by me. Its hot. But I do think I am going to do it anyways, at least line them, add some rock and some dirt to keep them in place in case of high winds. Also want to get some cedar fence pickets and cut them down and add around the sides for "decoration" and to keep the heat down inside them. I have a bunch of misters that we had at the old house for keeping cool on the patio, thinking of adding them to the tanks as a watering system. She'll probably shoot it down as the garden is her "get away from the world place" and she likes to water it.

I agree- just do it. Soil won't go bad just sitting there then I bet once you have them ready sitting there plants will miraculously appear in them

Ill be building my mom some raised beds this fall/winter to prep for next year. She plants in pots right now and they suck IMHO (constant watering/get hot/roots bottom out). Rather build her a big bed all her tomato plants can reside in.

 

[Oswego]

Pretty amazed at the water holding capacity of wood chips. Dug down to see how much soil was still wet last night after a 30 minute watering the day prior and holy cow.... you could flip a single chip over and everything under it was wet let alone dig down - everything was soaked. Nice not having to water every day. Hopefully I don't retain too much water cause all my plants like well draining soil. I then dug up a section of garden that had no much but was watered the same amount and the first 7" of ground was bone dry.

Still got some bug issues so since I didn't need to water last night was prime time for neem oil. For something thats organic I'm amazed at the health cautions and PPE requirements. That said lead is organic and it's not like the body likes that either. I sprayed both of my blackberry plants and 4 of my 11 blueberry plants. If they are doing good in a week or two Ill spray the rest - just didn't want to take them all down if for some reason the oil had an adverse effect.

Mulch/topsoil/cardboard also helped knock down the ant population for now. They were getting bad. I'm sure my plants have aphid issues just due to the amount of ants I see on my plants.

 

[CowboyTaco]

release the ladybugs?

 

[Oswego]

I already have them. Came with the plants. Hopeful the neem doesn't kill them off.

Also have a bunch of praying mantis's.

 

[Oswego]

So far no adverse effects from the neem oil. It didn't discourage the ants at all so I think I need to take care of them or they will keep planting aphids under my leafs. Half of what Ive read said ants are good - the other half they are bad. So hard to vet good info thats true these days. Seems everyone has a biased opinion

Also stopped watering via sprinkler so I do not get the leaves wet at night. Blueberry bush's don't mind wet leaves but I'm sure it's not helping so from here out Ill just water the roots. Getting closer and closer to going drip with every passing day

 

[CowboyTaco]

yeah. I want to do a drip irrigation system in our flower beds and garden.

It's supposed to have rained every day for the last few days. There have been thunderstorms around us, but nothing has hit our house.

 

[Taco Loco]

Swiss Chard is holding up well in this heat, very surprising.