davebarnes
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Watch Monty Don on Netflix.
He is England's Favorite Gardener®.
He is England's Favorite Gardener®.
Gardening In Retirement
- Thread starter StanV
- Start date
Sometimes hard to watch those English Gardening shows - UK is like a temperate rain forest and anything grows. Just spent 2 weeks in at my SIL's home in southern UK - rhodos 30 feet tall and covered in blossoms, Wisteria covering the entire house. So envious!
Souschef
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Picked my first ripe tomato today 8.3 ounces! I have a tradition to make a B LT sandwich with the first tomato of the season
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Ha! I happened across this thread and just saw your post mentioning me. I'm sure it was me, I am a HUGE earthbox fan! We have the most incredible harvests! I'm so glad they have been such a delight for you! They are well worth the money. People think I have a green thumb...I think it is the earthbox!
(Ok, I do have a "formula" I put together over the years, but I couldn't grow like I do without these boxes, for sure!)
Lsbcal
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I do a fair amount of gardening too. Some techniques I've used to reduce the physical stress of gardening as I age:
1) Avoid too much stooping by limiting time to maybe 1 or 2 hours per day.
2) Employ good quality tools
3) Employ experienced help ... DW comes to mind
4) Wait until it is not too cool outside to begin work
5) Go to gym and get some conditioning going
Here is part of the backyard. In the upper right you can see the see-through fence which keeps deer out. Beyond the fence is a nice state park which we walk and I run in.
And here is my latest tool. It's an 80V cordless blower for clearing leaves:
1) Avoid too much stooping by limiting time to maybe 1 or 2 hours per day.
2) Employ good quality tools
3) Employ experienced help ... DW comes to mind
4) Wait until it is not too cool outside to begin work
5) Go to gym and get some conditioning going
Here is part of the backyard. In the upper right you can see the see-through fence which keeps deer out. Beyond the fence is a nice state park which we walk and I run in.
And here is my latest tool. It's an 80V cordless blower for clearing leaves:
That is a great tradition to have! We will have to do that with ours as well! Love BLT's!Picked my first ripe tomato today 8.3 ounces! I have a tradition to make a B LT sandwich with the first tomato of the season
Hi simplegirl! Are the earthboxes the same as raised planting beds boxes? I will have to do a search on them. Now that I am older, getting down on the knees to garden is no longer an option, so raised garden boxes are making more sense than ever.Ha! I happened across this thread and just saw your post mentioning me. I'm sure it was me, I am a HUGE earthbox fan! We have the most incredible harvests! I'm so glad they have been such a delight for you! They are well worth the money. People think I have a green thumb...I think it is the earthbox!
Hi Lsbcal! Good tips for sure. I follow those as well. I found a Fiskers long handled tree pruner with an adjustable pruning head on it. I found that I can adjust the head at just the right angle to do all of my early Spring rosebushes pruning from a standing position. Since I cannot get down on my knees anymore, I needed an option or give up on some of the rosebushes care I had been doing. The tree pruner tool made things very possible for me. I like your new blower and its cordless part. Your photo of your back yard is great! Love the colors mix.I do a fair amount of gardening too. Some techniques I've used to reduce the physical stress of gardening as I age:
1) Avoid too much stooping by limiting time to maybe 1 or 2 hours per day.
2) Employ good quality tools
3) Employ experienced help ... DW comes to mind
4) Wait until it is not too cool outside to begin work
5) Go to gym and get some conditioning going
Here is part of the backyard. In the upper right you can see the see-through fence which keeps deer out. Beyond the fence is a nice state park which we walk and I run in.
And here is my latest tool. It's an 80V cordless blower for clearing leaves:
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No, they are not the same. Here is a link where you can see them: https://earthbox.com/
They are containers that have a water reservoir on the bottom (I think it holds about 3 gallons). You fill the reservoir via a pipe on the top that goes down into the reservoir. There is an overflow pipe, so you can never overwater. The roots sit on an aeration screen, so there is always an inch or so of air between the screen and roots - so they do not get waterlogged.
You use a plastic cover over the box (cut holes for plants). This keeps the fertilizer strip from being washed out by rain and also keeps almost all weeds out. I never weed!
The boxes are containers so you put them where you want to work. My husband built stands that are a few feet high so we can work on them without having to crouch over. You can also purchase stands from the company that have wheels. I may consider that at some point. The boxes do get very heavy once they have water in them, so they are hard to move around. That is the only drawback. I have learned not to try to move them after I have them fully planted and watered.
I add a little fertilizer "snack" every week. I'm happy to share my formula for dirt, etc. for anyone who is interested.
Here's a picture showing the amazing production I can get. The box with the peppers is on a few bricks but you can see the raised stands my husband built on the right side. I need to get another stand as I added more earthboxes than I have space for on the current stands.
Attachments
Thanks for the information and link simple girl! How slick are those boxes! A great concept and they do not look all that pricey either. I will be checking them out further. Thanks again! If you do not mind posting your soils mix information, that would be awesome!
SumDay
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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Thanks for sharing these pictures Stan. I especially like the elk - that's pretty awe inspiring (and a little scary!).
Here are some of my hostas which were looking exceptionally beautiful this year, until a freak hail/wind storm blew through on Saturday. They need to come out with a Teflon Hosta.
Here are some of my hostas which were looking exceptionally beautiful this year, until a freak hail/wind storm blew through on Saturday.
They need to come out with a Teflon Hosta.
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We snagged a 1200 sqft (30X40) plot at the community garden last summer. Despite being relative rookies, we managed to harvest so many vegetables that we couldn't eat them all. Every day I took some vegetables to work to give away and we canned like crazy (we still haven't eaten everything we canned last year.) I don't know what we'll do with the excess now that we're retired.
We learned quite a bit last year and we continue to learn this year. Among other things, we learned how vital is is to keep up with the pests. It is an organic garden, so we can't spray the strong stuff. Last year, the Colorado potato beetles defoliated the plants in very short order. We got some small potatoes, but not many. This year, we go out at least every other day to pick the beetles and egg masses off the plants. So far, we have not found any larvae (which do the most damage), so I'm hoping we can eliminate a whole generation of beetles this way. I also learned how to save seed and was able to start tomatoes, beans, and peas this year from saved seed. The fennel seed didn't work.
So far this year, we've eaten asparagus and radishes and herbs from the garden. We have also made rhubarb sherbet. The peas are almost ready to pick and I really look forward to them.
We are trying to grow artichokes this year. I started them indoors from seed in January and transplanted them out in April. They appear to be growing properly so far. We are in Zone 7a, so I'm not sure if they will overwinter. I may dig up half at the end of the season and keep the roots in the cellar and leave half to see if they will survive in the ground.
I look forward to spending a lot more time in the garden this summer.
We learned quite a bit last year and we continue to learn this year. Among other things, we learned how vital is is to keep up with the pests. It is an organic garden, so we can't spray the strong stuff. Last year, the Colorado potato beetles defoliated the plants in very short order. We got some small potatoes, but not many. This year, we go out at least every other day to pick the beetles and egg masses off the plants. So far, we have not found any larvae (which do the most damage), so I'm hoping we can eliminate a whole generation of beetles this way. I also learned how to save seed and was able to start tomatoes, beans, and peas this year from saved seed. The fennel seed didn't work.
So far this year, we've eaten asparagus and radishes and herbs from the garden. We have also made rhubarb sherbet. The peas are almost ready to pick and I really look forward to them.
We are trying to grow artichokes this year. I started them indoors from seed in January and transplanted them out in April. They appear to be growing properly so far. We are in Zone 7a, so I'm not sure if they will overwinter. I may dig up half at the end of the season and keep the roots in the cellar and leave half to see if they will survive in the ground.
I look forward to spending a lot more time in the garden this summer.
Hi SumDay! Thanks for the kind words! Your Hostas looked amazing! So sorry to hear of the hail storm. Some folks here in Colorado have been hit very hard by the hail recently. So sad and so destructive it is.... If you are looking for something to give them to help them recover, try watering them with some water that has both a product called Super Thrive and a root stimulator mixed into the same water. The Super Thrive helps the plants deal with the shock and stress and the root stimulator gives the root systems a kick start to get going again. I use the mix for the next 3 to 4 waterings after a shock or stress event be it weather, insect attack or fungus attack.Thanks for sharing these pictures Stan. I especially like the elk - that's pretty awe inspiring (and a little scary!).
Here are some of my hostas which were looking exceptionally beautiful this year, until a freak hail/wind storm blew through on Saturday.
Hi Gumby! That sounds awesome! When we lived out on the farm, we had a huge veggie garden. What we did not need for eating or canning, which was quite a bit, we took in to local nursing homes. They took the veggies to cook up for the residents and I am sure staff took some home as well. Hopefully no laws prevent that these days.
MOSAT
Recycles dryer sheets
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DW has a green thumb and enjoys gardening. Me not so much, I'm used as day labor, haul this, till that, dig here. Over the 25 years we've been here we had multiple garden types, butterfly, Knockout Roses, (really a 60 foot split hedge of them, they were gorgeous).
Currently she has a front yard perennial bed and a vegetable garden in the back. Previous years we've had so many tomatoes of multiple varieties that we couldn't eat or give then away fast enough. DW found a local food kitchen that would accept them and a few other veggies. I estimate that one year she probably donated 60 pounds of tomatoes alone.
We have started to scale back, only planting a few tomatoes and other things that we like to eat and only enough to share with immediate neighbors and good friends. We'll keep gardening until it get to be too much physical effort, probably gauged by how much Ibuprofen it takes to recover from a day gardening.
Over the 25 years we've been here we had multiple garden types, butterfly, Knockout Roses, (really a 60 foot split hedge of them, they were gorgeous).Currently she has a front yard perennial bed and a vegetable garden in the back. Previous years we've had so many tomatoes of multiple varieties that we couldn't eat or give then away fast enough. DW found a local food kitchen that would accept them and a few other veggies. I estimate that one year she probably donated 60 pounds of tomatoes alone.
We have started to scale back, only planting a few tomatoes and other things that we like to eat and only enough to share with immediate neighbors and good friends. We'll keep gardening until it get to be too much physical effort, probably gauged by how much Ibuprofen it takes to recover from a day gardening.
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Lsbcal
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
There has been some mention of deer on this thread. One bush we like is the Hotlips Salvia. It is hardy and needs sun. Deer don't touch it here in Northern California but hummingbirds love it. Blooms spring through fall with many small white/red blooms.
You can see an image here: https://www.google.com/search?channel=tus&q=image+hotlips+salvia&tbm=isch&source=univ&client=firefox-b-1-d&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivs-TC2s3iAhUzPn0KHe_IDaEQsAR6BAgDEAE&biw=1276&bih=875#imgrc=ZvC6f0M42vxESM:
You can see an image here: https://www.google.com/search?channel=tus&q=image+hotlips+salvia&tbm=isch&source=univ&client=firefox-b-1-d&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivs-TC2s3iAhUzPn0KHe_IDaEQsAR6BAgDEAE&biw=1276&bih=875#imgrc=ZvC6f0M42vxESM:
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Happy to share! Here you go!
SimpleGirl's Earthbox "Formula":
*Happy Frog Potting Soil
mixed into the soil:
- 1.5 cups dolomitic lime - mixed in gradually as you progress along
- wet as you go and mix
- I also mix in some Perlite as I go along as the soil feels a bit too dense to me; but it's not 100% required
*on top put about 1.5# of Happy Frog Tomato and Vegetable organic fertilizer (7,4,5) (in the 2” deep and wide strip - see earthbox instructions); cover with dirt; mound dirt over this like a hill/gentle slope - helps water run off
* Note - I bought a big bag of earthbox covers online - they work way better than making your own. The covers keep the fertilizer from being washed out by rain and also help keep moisture in so you don't have to water as often and also keep weeds out.
* Ongoing fertilizer: calcium nitrate as a "snack", 1 tsp in the reservoir (after watering) about once per week to every 10 days; also helps prevent blossom end rot (I buy mine online at Amazon...it comes in a big bag and lasts FOREVER. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HDZJH0E/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
* Staking: two of these cages work beautifully for most plants. If you plant six plants the two in the middle lean onto the cages just fine, although sometimes I use a few bamboo sticks and ties to improve support.
* I mix in new dolomitic lime, Perlite, and the fertilizer strip once a season when refreshing the boxes. You do not have to get new potting mix. I use a new earthbox cover if needed.
Good luck, hope you love them as much as I do!
audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I did an elaborate landscape design (butterfly garden) for our new house. And enjoyed watching the landscape crew do the work.
Been a great garden. We’ve recorded 152 species of butterfly since it started blooming.
But we only do the occasional trim or plant replacement. The HOA contracts most of the yard maintenance.
Been a great garden. We’ve recorded 152 species of butterfly since it started blooming.
But we only do the occasional trim or plant replacement. The HOA contracts most of the yard maintenance.
Souschef
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I have one and love it. We do not have a deer problem, fortunately.
Here is part of the backyard. In the upper right you can see the see-through fence which keeps deer out.
That would make the deer around here collapse in helpless laughter. Six foot fences are meaningless to them -- just an easy jump.
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Just back from the garden; the okra is finally up! It is inter-planted with sweet potatoes. I also just put down some store bought fennel seed after my saved seed failed.
Lsbcal
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I don't know why this works here. Perhaps the boulders in the area discourage the jump? We've been here over 20 years with no deer jumping the fences. Maybe our deer are just nicer and more respectful.
Hi MOSAT! I am glad that you do share in the gardening with your DW, I know she appreciates your help. Working together in a garden is a great thing on many levels. I also understand the scaling back. We have done that as well.
Some deer spook easier that others and thus are less aggressive about getting into areas that require extra effort. There is also the Food Source aspect Lsbcal, if the deer are able to find food readily elsewhere and without the extra effort, they will do so. That could be what is going on where you are. Different scenarios bring about much different actions.
