To Do List Keeps Growing

I know I’ve been slacking a little bit on the blog posts but I have a good excuse.  I will outline this excuse to you below in the hopes that you will forgive me for not posting enough great articles for all to read.

To Do List

• Design and build a new flower bed in front of house and remove dying azaleas
• Design and build a new flower bed around cherry tree in front yard
• Build a new fence around back yard (338 feet of fencing needed)
• Plan and plant vegetable garden
• Drywall garage and paint
• Replace garage floor with new epoxy floor
• Hardwood floors throughout house
• Expand lower level of house into one large room (replace full bath downstairs with half bath)
• Tile Master Bathroom floor and replace/expand the shower
• Tile kitchen floor
• Replace decking and expand back deck
• Replace front porch and stairs
• Plant flowers around mailbox
• Move unknown species of climbing rose bushes near back walk and replace with something new
• Build irrigation system for new garden plots
• Move landscape timbers from old garden and build new strawberry planter. Plant grass and flowers next to pool
• Replace roof
• Replace garage doors and openers
• Remove two trees and grind stumps in front yard

Whew.

That’s not even all of it.  I hope everyone can be patient for a few more weeks while I work on the vegetable garden design and order some seeds.  I plan on spreading some compost over the garden plots as well as work in some peat to help with the drainage of the red clay soil we have in Georgia.  I would like to get my tomato plants in the ground sometime in March and I really need to work some peas and lettuces into this plan.

As always, if you enjoyed this post please Like It and Share It by clicking on the social media buttons.  Pictures of the garden plots are coming in the next post if it will stop raining long enough to actually get some work done in the garden.

TroyBilt Super Bronco Tiller has Arrived!

Well, the day has come…finally.  I am the proud owner of another Troybilt Super Bronco garden tiller and I couldn’t wait to put it through its paces.  The garden tiller arrived Saturday morning and after unpacking it, attaching the handle, and adding some fluids, it has been used to plow up two small garden plots.  I had no issues with it at all and am proud to have a machine as well built as any tiller I have used in the past.  Troybilt really knows how to build them.

Meet my neighbors

Hello all,

We have been debating whether we should move the vegetable garden that we built next to the swimming pool to a larger area outside of the safety of the fence.  If you have been following this blog then you are probably already aware of the nice raised beds that we built last Spring once we moved into the new house in the West Georgia area.  The first season of crops outperformed our expectations and I want more space to grow more vegetables.  I’m sure everyone understands that desire if you like to get your hands in the dirt like I do.  Just to catch you up, the image below is a picture of the raised beds that we built.

As you can see from the picture, there is some open space on the other side of the fence for more vegetables.  In reality, there is a lot of open space over there that is not used for anything except grass.

Now, to get to this new area we have recently ordered a new garden tiller from Troybilt.com.  It should be here in a couple weeks so I will be working all winter on clearing the grass out and amending the new garden space with manure and compost.  I am planning two garden plots on the other side of the fence as well as moving the existing raised beds and reclaiming the space with grass and other non-vegetable plants.  🙂

My concern though are my neighbors.  They seem to show up at the strangest hours and are voracious in cleaning out my vegetable plants and their fruity offerings.  There are 3 of them that we have seen creeping through the yard where the new vegetable garden plots will be so now I have to figure out how to keep them out of the garden.  I’m sure you have figured out what I’m talking about by now so here are a couple pictures I took last week.  If anyone has ideas on how to keep the deer out of my garden without building a fence around my acre property, please leave a comment.

Also, I would appreciate if you would click on some of the social media sharing buttons and help spread the word about my blog.  I will post some pictures of the new tiller once it arrives so stay tuned.

Using Manure in Your Vegetable Garden in Georgia

Manure, from the proper sources, gives the average vegetable gardener a great opportunity to add much-needed nutrients back into the soil.  I would also recommend that you brew a wonderful elixir called manure tea using seasoned manure from a reputable source. We’ll cover manure tea sometime in the future.

Manure is organic matter that contains large amounts of nutrients for your vegetable plants, such as nitrogen.  As with everything, there is a good and a bad with using manure in your vegetable garden.  Using dog, cat and human manure is bad and can be toxic to your plants as well as the ecosystem. Do not use these manures, ever. Good manure comes from sources such as cows, horses, chickens and other types of animals that are fed grain or grass.

Fresh manure that is less than 6 months old should not be applied directly to the garden or around your plants.  It is best to wait until the end of the growing season to add fresh manure to the soil.  Be sure to thoroughly incorporate the fresh manure into the soil.  Now, if the manure has been seasoned, meaning it is typically older than 6 months, you can add it lightly around your plants.  Typically it is good practice in a vegetable garden to add manure at least 4 -6 weeks prior to planting in the vegetable bed.  This allows the manure to start releasing the nutrients as well as time for your friendly earthworms to find the manure where they will also help to break it down.

So where do you get manure? You could buy it at a local home or garden center, but why do that if you can get it for free from a local horse or cow farm. You can search on the internet for local horse or dairy farms.  Many of these farms will offer to give the manure away as long as you have a way to load and transport it but usually there is a small fee charged if they offer to transport it.

You can sometimes find horse or dairy farms in Georgia advertising their free manure or manure compost on the Georgia Department of Agriculture Market Bulletin publication and website.  Although this Market Bulletin is not free, I think it is well worth the $10 / year for a bi-weekly mailed publication ($11 is you order the subscription online).  You can find more information about the Market Bulletin as well as upcoming Agriculture news and events @ http://agr.georgia.gov/

Benefits of a No Dig garden

Benefits of a No Dig garden

1.Easy to learn and do- you can set up a small garden in an afternoon yourself.
2.Low cost- most materials are free and readily available
3.Minimum of effort with no digging involved unless present soil is heavily compacted
4.Doesn’t disturb worms, micro- organisms or fungi in the underlying soil
5.Doesn’t bring up buried weed seeds to the surface where they can germi

nate and grow
6.A thick mulch of organic material:
•Provides low maintenance because it smothers most weeds
•Retains moisture and shades the soil therefore saving water
•Provides food and protection for worms and micro organisms which help develop soil
7.Ideal for doing together in neighborhood groups which builds community and is fun.

Reasons to replace part of your lawn with a food producing garden

1.If you grow an organic garden, it improves food quality and safety because commercial crops contain toxins from pesticides and herbicides.
2.Precious water is used to grow food instead of on non productive grass.
3.Less money is spent on food and gas since there is less need for shopping for food
4.You get more nutrition since food is fresher. This results in better health and more energy, which also lowers family medical bills
5.No waste of food scraps, leaves or grass which can be composted into plant food.
6.Food security is high if gardens are in your own back yard. Less chance of stealing.
7.A medium sized backyard garden can produce a large quantity of food each year.
8.Sharing produce and gardening with neighbors is fun and builds good relationships

To Compost or Not to Compost

I have always wanted to build a compost bin so I can harvest “black gold” for my garden vegetables.  But, this concept has alluded me for years now.  I know it is supposed to be very easy to compost garden and yard waste (waste as in plant materials), but I have just been too lazy to start a compost bin.  Every year I review dozens of composting bins that you can buy as well as build and I promise myself that I will start composting.  I also spent hours reading about worm composting, also known as vermiculture, but there has always been some reason to not pursue it.  This back and forth is going to stop this year though.  I will build a compost bin.  I will do it this year, after we purchase our new house……There I go again, excuses.

I need some help from my readers now.  Since this is the year to build that compost bin, I would like to hear from my readers on the best BUILT, not bought, compost bin that works for you or someone you know.  I have a dozen plans in my head and have read hundreds of articles on composting but I don’t trust some of the websites that I have read with telling me the absolute truth about the matter.  Has anyone tried worm composting?  What worked for you or didn’t work?

I’m still working on the 2nd article of the “Everything You Need to Know About Seeds” series and will have it up sometime this week.  Stay tuned.