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Post by wildhorseluvr on Mar 23, 2023 13:49:34 GMT
laurazone5, thank you! That gave me a multitude of good ideas. I have tons of gallon jugs as I buy water each week for myself and the dogs. I wouldn’t think they’d hold up too long in the sun though…might need fairly frequent replacement, but then they’re “free”. I have a covered patio so could hang a lot of plants from there w/o taking up precious space in the retaining wall area or raised beds. I also space all along my carport for hanging strawberries, as well as fences I can attach gutters to. I will have to give more thought to recycling containers. 🙂 I’m supposedly now in Zone 6b…not supposed to ever get below -5*…will the plants survive ok in thin containers over the winter? Or do I need to do something to protect them?
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Post by wildhorseluvr on Mar 23, 2023 13:56:57 GMT
There is no promise that the trees shredded are not diseased, sprayed, etc. Just as big a problem for me is the size and location of the load. Even a small load would be impossible for me to manage. Guess I’ll just have to come up with ideas as I go.
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Post by solargeek on Mar 23, 2023 18:31:44 GMT
Likewise there's no promise that the topsoil we purchase wasn't scraped off of a Superfund clean-up site. I guess it all boils down to risk tolerance and we just do our best to avoid the things we can. Yes you can determine where your soil came from (and NO you really don't want Superfund soil...) You simply ask who ever you are buying it from. We knew our Organic status even to us (we do not sell any of our excess produce but I do give it awy) would take 3 years to achieve. So we ordered mixed soil and added organic mixed in and of course for raised beds, vermiculite. We asked for some from the cranberry bogs that were from Ocean Spray which has gone on record of not using the really bad for you chemical commonly sprayed on the bogs. What you really need to beware of if using straw for cover or straw bales, is the spraying done to the straw while it is growing. The Prairie Homestead woman Jill Winger, wrecked her entire year of growth due to not asking what had been used on it. We are blessed that we live in this crazy area of crop spraying and some organic farmers. We get our bed covering straw from the organic guys.
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Mar 24, 2023 22:24:07 GMT
From my experience, bags marked "top soil" are nearly devoid of nutrients. Could be river bank or flood plain scrapings that have been leeched out. That's not to say we won't use it, but we add copious amounts of rabbit/sheep compost and mix it in really well.
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