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Post by wildhorseluvr on Sept 14, 2022 0:36:41 GMT
I’ve mentioned a time or 3 that I’m not much of a gardener…always preferred to spend my time with livestock. But necessity is changing that.
I’m trying to think ahead to next year and am pondering how to make compost. Is it possible to make a compost pile without turning it? Doing so is absolutely impossible for me…just ain’t happening no matter what. Do I need one of those barrel composters? Are maple leaves suitable for composting? (I have plenty.) I don’t have any livestock at all, but can get up to 4 chickens which would give me a small source of manure. But then I don’t know if chicken feed will continue to be available or affordable. 🤷🏻♀️
Also, what common garden supplies should I stock up now, providing I can even find anything this late in the year? Fertilizer, insecticide, bone meal, soil…what? I have common garden tools, garden hoses, seeds.
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Post by Billy G on Sept 14, 2022 8:06:51 GMT
Start a small worm farm and let them do the turning for you! No need to buy a pound of worms online, the red wigglers sold as fishing bait are the same thing and are much cheaper. Toss in some spent coffee grounds and they'll make black gold for you.
Maple leaves piled up take a year or so to break down into what's known as leaf mold, an excellent soil amendment. Maples are one of the fastest and easiest leaves to decompose so you have a little gold mine right there. If you're not spraying your yard with anything grass clippings are an excellent addition to the pile as well.
As far as fertilizers etc stock up on what you are familiar with using, a straight jump into organic comes with a somewhat steep learning curve. The Lowe's here had most all of that stuff yesterday still, I went searching for a bale of peat moss and found everything but. I personally view all that stuff as a potential 'supply chain issue' so I'm trying my best to do without it. You may have seen the Grazon issue addressed on here in the past so be aware that animal manure sources need to be well-vetted to avoid long-term garden soil contamination. That goes for their feed sources as well.
I've never tried a compost tumbler but if you could find one cheap on Craigslist it'd be worth trying.
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Sept 14, 2022 12:50:52 GMT
You might consider in addition to chickens maybe raising some rabbits. Their waste can go right into the garden soil unlike the chicken manure that has to age at least 6 months. I don't turn our compost piles, they break down all by themselves over time. I made our rabbit cages, but you can buy them online from a company not too far from here - www.bassequipment.com/ they've got everything you can think of for rabbits. We went to the 35 gallon canvas buckets for our garden, 4" of gravel in the bottom, the rest topsoil mixed with compost, filled to within 6" of the tops. Picking beans, etc. is done sitting in a plastic chair, along with pulling any weeds that might have blown in. They're pretty inexpensive, about $8ea if I remember correctly. For tomatoes I made cages with regular field fence, put a t-post in, and tied the cages off to them. We have two rows of buckets, and using a 3' wand makes watering easy.
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Post by ohiodreamer on Sept 14, 2022 13:08:37 GMT
If you do chickens, have them do your composting! That's what we do. In their run we put wood chips (find them free from local tree guys). Then we add our grass clippings as we mow. Food scraps go in. Any fruit trees in your region?? Ask if you can rake up the falls and toss those in. Chickens will eat, lessening the food bill, and it will compost. The sweet juices bring more "bugs and worms" which do more composting....and feed chickens . And weeds....anything we pull goes into the chicken run. The only leaves and wood chips we do not use is black walnut. That tree has a compound in it that prevents many garden veg from growing. OH....and don't put this stuff in nicely and pretty. Drop it in mounds....they LOVE to do the grading work. Nothing a chicken enjoys more then " un-piling" stuff, lol. We do this all "thaw" year long (well, food scraps go out in winter, too) then in the spring dig out black gold for our gardens....then do all over again.
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Post by wildhorseluvr on Sept 14, 2022 14:20:18 GMT
Thanks, everyone. Billy G, thanks for mentioning the worms. My best friend has lots of experience with that and I’d been wanting to try it. Since my move, I’d forgotten all about it. I’ve been avoiding weed killers on my lawn, been pulling weeds out or cutting them individually and carefully dabbing Tordon on the cut stem. So could compost the grass clippings. I would LOVE to have chickens and rabbits again, but a) lifting/carrying is very difficult and shoveling/raking almost impossible now, and b) I’ve been informed if I end up in the hospital again, animals will immediately be disposed of. ☹️ So that’s a big concern. I’m allowed 4 chickens and could probably get by with a couple rabbits. I have 6’ wood fencing down 2 sides of my yard and could have more wood fence put just inside the neighbors’ chainlink fence. Doubt they’d complain about a couple “pet” rabbits anyway. Had to leave about 25-30 rabbit cages and stands behind when I moved. 😢 Still have my cage tools though so could make a couple more. If I had to choose between chickens and rabbits, the chickens would be more useful but rabbits might be less work. I have a retaining wall along the length of my back fence which makes one long raised bed. Has flowers in it at present but those will be ripped out to make room for veggies. Also have 8 or 10 large containers. Plan on buying some metal water troughs to use for more raised beds. Ozarks Tom, do you leave your canvas buckets out year round? From what I’ve read, they’re supposed to be emptied, washed, dried and stored each fall…not possible for me to do. Those of you who use commercial products, any favorite brands/types of fertilizers, insecticides, etc? What would you NOT want to do without in a SHTF situation? Need to get some livestock panels, t-posts, rolled fencing etc. delivered. Maybe some cedar boards, metal panels etc. to make raised beds if I can’t purchase water troughs. My yard is small but except for the area under the huge maple tree, almost all of it could be put to use for gardening…probably far more than I could physically handle.
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Post by ohiodreamer on Sept 14, 2022 15:31:26 GMT
For gardening I like: Blood meal for greens....lettuces, spinach, corn, brassicas, etc. Bone meal for fruits.....tomatoes, peppers, squash, potatoes, etc Potash for root crops....carrots, beets, garlic, onions, etc (Note...potatoes are a fruit, not a root crop in nutrient needs) On top of that I just use a basic 12-12-12 fertilizer if I think I need any. Set your garden up for a 4 year rotation. Do a quick online search for a graph/photo/etc of what to do. I did this too late, and it's a pain trying to get things into a nice format. If you get on a 4 year rotation, crops will leave what the next rotation wants....lessening the need for fertilizers. Know your heavy feeders....give them the kind of fertilizer they need (bone meal, blood meal, etc) no matter what (onions and potatoes fall here) Onions and garlic do really well when planted with tomato and peppers, but they still need a bit of feed if you want them of any size. Insecticides...I keep Seven dust on hand, but hate the stuff, lol. In SHTF I'll use it, but otherwise no. It kills my bees. I do use row covers on brassicas, that helps. (Kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli, etc...otherwise they get eaten to "lace" by the "local bugs"). I find row covers cheapest at Berlin Seed. They are Amish, not online. But you can call for a catalog at 1-877-464-0892. They are also great for seeds And yes, all my above amendments come from them....I can drive to them If you are buying cattle panels and t-posts, but sure to buy enough to grow things on. Green beans are so easy on them!! I do the panel in a hoop with t-post holding them in place on the outside. Pole beans grow up (I like pole beans because they keep giving and I don't have to get down on the ground to harvest) and often the beans grow down into the tunnel, so 70-90% of the beans are hanging there just waiting for you to reach up and grab them. Almost feels like cheating....almost . I use them for tomatoes, too (again...I grow indeterminate tomatoes, so they keep on giving....and grow tall so I don't have to bend as much). Cucumbers, melons, etc can be grown on them as well. You might have to coax them in the beginning to go up the panel....but once they "catch on" they are good to go.
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Post by wildhorseluvr on Sept 14, 2022 18:31:11 GMT
Thank you, ohiodreamer, the hoop thingies are what I was thinking of with the panels and t-posts. Also could attach them horizontally to my 6’ wood fence that runs along the retaining wall, and train veggies to grow up the panels. I have all kinds of ideas…remains to be seen how much I’m capable of actually implementing…but I want to purchase at least some materials now in case of shortages or future price hikes.
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Post by woolybear on Sept 14, 2022 23:21:22 GMT
Another idea if you don't want to raise the critters would be to ask around if anyone is wanting to rid themselves of the manure. Around here there are ads on facebook market place offering up chicken and rabbit manure. You may have to pay for some of it, but that may be cheaper than trying to get yourself set up for raising them, especially if you want to get your composting started now. And get the critters when you are more settled and have the time to take it slowly.
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Post by fordy on Sept 15, 2022 0:21:54 GMT
..............I heard about a person who took an old Maytag washer and would dump his organic seasonings into IT and then let it "Wishee Washee" for a few minutes and then dump into a wheel barrow and push to the pile ! He had the washer mounted on a swivel mechanism with a handle so it was easy transfer over into the wheel barrow ! , fordy
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Post by woolybear on Sept 15, 2022 0:47:16 GMT
..............I heard about a person who took an old Maytag washer and would dump his organic seasonings into IT and then let it "Wishee Washee" for a few minutes and then dump into a wheel barrow and push to the pile ! He had the washer mounted on a swivel mechanism with a handle so it was easy transfer over into the wheel barrow ! , fordy OH OH OH how about a portable cement mixer?? We used one a few years ago to knock the hulls off of black walnuts. Toss in the nuts, add a couple buckets of water, turn that baby on and watch the hulls come off. Dump the contents out onto a screen and BOB's your uncle. Yeah it cracked a couple of nuts but when you're doing 5-6 5 gallon buckets that's a small price to pay. Just think what it could do with compost (umm I guess it could do compost)
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Post by themotherhen on Sept 15, 2022 3:54:44 GMT
wildhorseluvr, could you put the compost material in a trash can with an attaching lid and turn it on it's side to roll around? That might be easier than turning it.
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Post by wildhorseluvr on Sept 15, 2022 4:50:12 GMT
Hey, themotherhen…great minds…” and all that, LOL. I was sitting outside with my dog awhile ago and looking at an empty trash can and thinking that just might work.😁
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Post by ceresone on Sept 15, 2022 21:22:56 GMT
decide where you want it, put down cardboard, and start your garden on top, now is the time to start, pile everything on the cardboard and start building. read up on lasagna gardening
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Post by UseLess on Sept 16, 2022 11:45:41 GMT
decide where you want it, put down cardboard, and start your garden on top, now is the time to start, pile everything on the cardboard and start building. read up on lasagna gardening This isn't a bad plan, but folks should be aware that unless the stack is inside a fence, (and even if it is), kitchen waste in the stack can readily attract mice, rats, racccoons, 'possums or other scavengers.
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Post by woolybear on Sept 16, 2022 12:15:19 GMT
decide where you want it, put down cardboard, and start your garden on top, now is the time to start, pile everything on the cardboard and start building. read up on lasagna gardening This isn't a bad plan, but folks should be aware that unless the stack is inside a fence, (and even if it is), kitchen waste in the stack can readily attract mice, rats, racccoons, 'possums or other scavengers. My garden attracts deer, rabbits and groundhogs. A compost pile would attract the a fore mentioned critters, and the bird feeder attracts the bear. I have a no win situation here lol
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