Farm and Garden

[Uncle Gump]

Not much to see on the garden at the moment unless you like seeing pictures of dirt piles as the dirt is getting broken up and amended with chopped up leaves from the trees. Due to the rain, cooler temperatures, and fog, that has been on hold until the dirt dries up enough to work it.

Might be the wrong time of the year to find any... but I always buy several bags of composted manure to till into my garden soil. I usually find pallets full of it in the spring at the big box home improvement stores.... and it's cheap.

I would really like to get a compost pile going this fall and probably will. Not gonna go bigger scale though because I don't want to stay here for long... and don't think it would be a selling point when we try to sell this place.

You should save all your egg shells too... nearly pure calcium and a great addition to your garden soil. My grandmother even started all her seeds in a half of an egg shell. When time to plant she would just crunch it up when planting.

 

[sgtsandman]

Might be the wrong time of the year to find any... but I always buy several bags of composted manure to till into my garden soil. I usually find pallets full of it in the spring at the big box home improvement stores.... and it's cheap.

I would really like to get a compost pile going this fall and probably will. Not gonna go bigger scale though because I don't want to stay here for long... and don't think it would be a selling point when we try to sell this place.

You should save all your egg shells too... nearly pure calcium and a great addition to your garden soil. My grandmother even started all her seeds in a half of an egg shell. When time to plant she would just crunch it up when planting.

The local hardware store has the manure compost as well as Lowes. The idea with the leaves is partially compost but more to keep the soil from clumping up too badly again. And hopefully keep the clay broken up.

Once the retaining walls are fully built and the soil is leveled out, I plan to cover the soil with the manure compost and leave it there until spring. Then work it into the soil in the spring.

We have a small composter going as well. I’m thinking of working that into the soil before the manure gets laid out. It’s a mixture of egg shells, fruit and vegetable scraps, and coffee grounds and tea bags.

 

[Uncle Gump]

My last garden was pretty much all clay. I used sand... pea gravel... and natural hardwood mulch to get it going in the right direction. Then I had Mushroom compost trucked in and several bags of manure compost.

You can also do as you wish but I don't plant anything without some of the Fox Farms Happy Frog fertilizer. I swear by the stuff.

 

[sgtsandman]

My last garden was pretty much all clay. I used sand... pea gravel... and natural hardwood mulch to get it going in the right direction. Then I had Mushroom compost trucked in and several bags of manure compost.

You can also do as you wish but I don't plant anything without some of the Fox Farms Happy Frog fertilizer. I swear by the stuff.

There is a mixture of clay and decent soil. Thankfully, less clay than soil but enough that something needed to be done. We’ll see how the growing goes next year and the soil gets a chance to settle. I figure it’s probably too late to test the soil now to see if it needs any sand but I figure the leaves and the compost and manure can’t do anything but help. I probably should get a pH tester to see where the soil sits in the alkalinity/acidity scale before I mix in the compost and spread the manure.

I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading but I’m sure the learning curve is still going to be steep.

 

[ericbphoto]

Compost? I've had a pile going since I moved here 3 years ago. This summer, I finally closed it in in 3 sides and got more faithful about putting stuff in it. It's mostly grass clippings and dog poop right now. I should do better at adding coffee grounds and vegetable scraps.

I don't have a garden yet. That's going to be a project. My yard is all clay, heavily laced with rocks. I think the builder stole the topsoil before he built the house. Grass won't even grow in some areas. I have no trees at all and surprisingly don't get many from the huge oak in my neighbor's yard.

 

[bilbo]

Not really a garden, but we’ve started our edible landscape tropical style. We planted a lychee tree, papaya, dwarf banana, chocolate pudding fruit, and custard apple. We probably won’t be doing the traditional northern crops this year as I think we’re a little late for planting, but next year we will be ready with either a plot or raised beds.

 

[Roert42]

One of my ducks started laying eggs. This is good for the ducks, because I previously didn’t like them.

 

[snoranger]

Not really a garden, but we’ve started our edible landscape tropical style. We planted a lychee tree, papaya, dwarf banana, chocolate pudding fruit, and custard apple.

I’m not falling for that… chocolate pudding doesn’t grow on trees.

 

[racsan]

Let the chickens wander just outside the door in the yard, the coop & cage is winter-ready.

 

[racsan]

Got a dusting of snow on the back deck tonight, thinking about some tire chains for the tractor, these seem to be the best for the $. and its per chain, need 2 so $750+. Traditional “ladder” stlye chains wont work well with ag cleats, would just end up between the lug bars, my tires aren’t worn enough for them to work.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Got a dusting of snow on the back deck tonight, thinking about some tire chains for the tractor, these seem to be the best for the $. and its per chain, need 2 so $750+. Traditional “ladder” stlye chains wont work well with ag cleats, would just end up between the lug bars, my tires aren’t worn enough for them to work.
View attachment 85537

Wrong time of the year but you can snipe them at farm sales and cut them down to fit smaller tires too.

I love mine:

 

[Blmpkn]

Tried having a good ol fashioned motor-swap-monday... but things didn't pan out the way I wanted, of course.

The blower on the right is a 1985 Toro I got for free years ago, couldn't get it's 5hp motor to run when I got it... so I slapped a predator 212 on it. Since then it's been trouble free other than constantly smoking auger belts thanks to some crummy bushings letting the auger shaft & pulley slop around more than they should.


The blower on the left is some craftsman job that doesn't look like it's got too many hours on it... just doesn't have any compression. Got this one for free also. The recoil on the blown up motor indicates it's a 179cc so 5.. 5.5hp mabey. The 6.5hp predator will be a good upgrade.

Inside the new blower. It would be spotless If it wasn't for mice leaving empty acorns behind.

Pretty much 0 wear on the auger blades.


Anyways... I got MOST everything done and was about to put the proper pulley on the 212 when I realized that the blown up motor has a 1" shaft and the predator has a 3/4" shaft... dammit.

Instead of cheaping out and getting a 3/4 > 1" crank sleeve I'm just gonna go all hot rod and put a 8hp big block in it

Let it snow I say. She's gonna eat.

 

[oldgeek]

I've started making raised gardens using cattle panels, cut in half, length wise. I rolled them into a circle, tying the ends together. Makes it about waist high. Used hugelkultur method to fill them. It's nice not to have to bend over so much.

 

[Blmpkn]

I went and picked up a 301cc predator motor from hazard fart for the blower today. 8hp vs the 6.5 I wanted to use.

It's uh.... a bit bigger than I expected this may be a bit of a custom job here now lol. Raining too hard for a test fit today so well find out tomorrow.

 

[Blmpkn]

Blown up motor far right, the 212cc I wanted to use in the middle, and the 301cc far left.

It fits! Enough anyways. I'll have to space out the chute aimer thing or just remove it and spin the chute around by hand because the valve cover is right in the way of where it needs to go lol..

Another hiccup though... totally my fault..

Turns out the Blown up motor has a 3/4" shaft, and not a 1" shaft. So the crank pulleys still won't fit -__- I incorrectly remembered the 212cc motors as having a 3/4" shaft but they're apparently only 5/8". Ugh. Too committed at this point though... ill go down to tractor supply and pick up some pulleys that will work.