Today my wife planted Henderson's Pink Ponderosa, Porkchop, Garden Peach, Chef's Choice Orange and Indigo Apple in the back yard. A couple of these seedlings were two feet tall but still in their original container.
One interesting thing noted: Three of the holes dug on the north side near the lemon tree had some water in them! My wife attributed this to the soaker hose feeding the nearby roses.
I continued to move a bunch of compost around in the back yard, slowly flattening the two mounds.
The gardeners cleared out all the sweet peas in the "koi pond" in the early afternoon. Finally, the "koi pond" is available for planting! Late in the evening (just before 10 PM) I got three more wheelbarrows of compost into the "koi pond".
Showing posts with label Compost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Compost. Show all posts
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Monday, April 27, 2015
Eight More Seedlings Planted
On Tuesday my wife surprised me by planting four tomato plants -- Blue Boar Berries, Black From Tula, Snow White and Kentucky Beefsteak.
However, I wasn't able to dig any holes for the rest of the week -- I was just too busy with other priorities in the evening.
On Saturday I dug four more holes in the back yard. Yesterday I prepped the dirt and in the evening my wife planted four more tomato plants -- Nyagous, Yellow Perfection, German Orange Strawberry and Pineapple.
Tonight I managed to dig a couple more holes in the back yard and moved around some more compost.
Our seedlings are getting quite large and should have been planted weeks ago. We'll simply do the best we can and leave it at that.
However, I wasn't able to dig any holes for the rest of the week -- I was just too busy with other priorities in the evening.
On Saturday I dug four more holes in the back yard. Yesterday I prepped the dirt and in the evening my wife planted four more tomato plants -- Nyagous, Yellow Perfection, German Orange Strawberry and Pineapple.
Tonight I managed to dig a couple more holes in the back yard and moved around some more compost.
Our seedlings are getting quite large and should have been planted weeks ago. We'll simply do the best we can and leave it at that.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Planted Two More Tomato Plants
On Wednesday I finished off the third hole left from Tuesday and dug a couple more.
Thursday and Friday I didn't do anything about planting tomatoes. If I dig too much my right knee swells and I have to back off. This was a backing off period.
Saturday afternoon I had a little time to spread out some of the compost in the back yard, but it was too hot to plant.
Yesterday I worked the TomatoMania event at Flora Gardens in Ojai. Not only was it turning dark by the time I got home, I brought home some more seedlings. I went to bed early...
...and I got up early. But I did spend time before dawn prepping the dug dirt piles for planting. Also, I added compost to all of our seedlings not yet planted.
Tonight we got two more planted: Momotaro and Aunt Ruby's German Green. Afterwards I placed compost in the spaces between the planted tomatoes.
So the short term goal is to plant tomatoes in the six remaining holes and then move more compost around the areas recently planted. Then it's dig, dig, dig more holes in the back yard. When my wife pins back the sweet peas growing in the "koi pond" in the front yard, I can dig there as well.
Thursday and Friday I didn't do anything about planting tomatoes. If I dig too much my right knee swells and I have to back off. This was a backing off period.
Saturday afternoon I had a little time to spread out some of the compost in the back yard, but it was too hot to plant.
Yesterday I worked the TomatoMania event at Flora Gardens in Ojai. Not only was it turning dark by the time I got home, I brought home some more seedlings. I went to bed early...
...and I got up early. But I did spend time before dawn prepping the dug dirt piles for planting. Also, I added compost to all of our seedlings not yet planted.
Tonight we got two more planted: Momotaro and Aunt Ruby's German Green. Afterwards I placed compost in the spaces between the planted tomatoes.
So the short term goal is to plant tomatoes in the six remaining holes and then move more compost around the areas recently planted. Then it's dig, dig, dig more holes in the back yard. When my wife pins back the sweet peas growing in the "koi pond" in the front yard, I can dig there as well.
Monday, April 13, 2015
Moved Some Compost
We got some compost delivered on Thursday.
I spent Thursday through Sunday moving the compost off the driveway. We needed the driveway to park our cars. I worked furiously and was wiped out by Sunday afternoon. Note, we don't have the compost in place, we just got it off the driveway.
I did manage to dig three holes Sunday afternoon. Two of them were in the southeast raised bed. Both holes were "rooty", I assume from the ponderosa pine tree. I was able to pull out a half of a brick from the second hole.
The one hole I dug in the back yard growing area had the bottom of a glass jar within the dirt.
There was no time this evening to do anything about the compost. I worked late and had other things to catch up on.
The plants we planted are doing well. But I need to find time to move the compost to where it's needed and of course, plant more tomatoes.
I spent Thursday through Sunday moving the compost off the driveway. We needed the driveway to park our cars. I worked furiously and was wiped out by Sunday afternoon. Note, we don't have the compost in place, we just got it off the driveway.
I did manage to dig three holes Sunday afternoon. Two of them were in the southeast raised bed. Both holes were "rooty", I assume from the ponderosa pine tree. I was able to pull out a half of a brick from the second hole.
The one hole I dug in the back yard growing area had the bottom of a glass jar within the dirt.
There was no time this evening to do anything about the compost. I worked late and had other things to catch up on.
The plants we planted are doing well. But I need to find time to move the compost to where it's needed and of course, plant more tomatoes.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
August 2014 Tomato Analysis
Let's compare the August numbers...
2014 -- 1942 tomatoes
2013 -- 1320 tomatoes
2012 -- 3240 tomatoes
2011 -- 3863 tomatoes
2010 -- 2165 tomatoes
2009 -- 3250 tomatoes
2008 -- 1004 tomatoes
2007 -- 2806 tomatoes
Five years were higher, two were lower. What's notable is that for the July analysis, the 2010 total was slightly higher than 2014. The same is true for August. We may have a precedent...
My original estimate of 1650 tomatoes was a little low but it wasn't too far off.
The tomatoes weren't bad but they weren't great either. They were more like September tomatoes -- a little thicker skin, inconsistent maturing on the skin, not bad but not great taste. Standouts were Pink Berkeley Tie Dye(1), Blue Beauty and Husky Cherry Red.
So why is this happening? Well, we still believe it was quite a good year. The compost really helped and the kelp meal added to the seedlings didn't hurt, either. But Southern California is under drought conditions. We had a second consecutive low rain year and therefore the worms didn't have the environment to do what they do during the winter. Also we had the hottest first six months of the year in recorded history.
To recap, we prepared very well for this year but nature didn't cooperate. This left us with great tasting tomatoes starting out but we had no "staying power" for lack of a better term. The hot conditions burned out the plants and the season sooner than usual.
For the upcoming months Sunchocola will be the wild card. Although doubling over in places, our Sunchocola plant is getting strong new growth. But will this new growth translate into new blooms and new tomatoes? Time will tell. The rest of the plants are burning out, though either of the Husky Cherry Red plants could make a bit of a comeback.
Since we may have established a pattern, let's look at the upcoming 2010 numbers.
September 2010 -- 717 tomatoes
October 2010 -- 261 tomatoes
November 2010 -- 214 tomatoes
December 2010 -- 90 tomatoes
Total 2010 harvest -- 8092 tomatoes
It looks like 2010 had the "staying power" that I believe this year will lack.
Last month's estimate of 7500 total harvested tomatoes looks consistent with the 2010 numbers. But I'll revise that estimate down to 7300 harvested tomatoes for the year. For September 2014 I'll estimate a harvest of 550 tomatoes.
2014 -- 1942 tomatoes
2013 -- 1320 tomatoes
2012 -- 3240 tomatoes
2011 -- 3863 tomatoes
2010 -- 2165 tomatoes
2009 -- 3250 tomatoes
2008 -- 1004 tomatoes
2007 -- 2806 tomatoes
Five years were higher, two were lower. What's notable is that for the July analysis, the 2010 total was slightly higher than 2014. The same is true for August. We may have a precedent...
My original estimate of 1650 tomatoes was a little low but it wasn't too far off.
The tomatoes weren't bad but they weren't great either. They were more like September tomatoes -- a little thicker skin, inconsistent maturing on the skin, not bad but not great taste. Standouts were Pink Berkeley Tie Dye(1), Blue Beauty and Husky Cherry Red.
So why is this happening? Well, we still believe it was quite a good year. The compost really helped and the kelp meal added to the seedlings didn't hurt, either. But Southern California is under drought conditions. We had a second consecutive low rain year and therefore the worms didn't have the environment to do what they do during the winter. Also we had the hottest first six months of the year in recorded history.
To recap, we prepared very well for this year but nature didn't cooperate. This left us with great tasting tomatoes starting out but we had no "staying power" for lack of a better term. The hot conditions burned out the plants and the season sooner than usual.
For the upcoming months Sunchocola will be the wild card. Although doubling over in places, our Sunchocola plant is getting strong new growth. But will this new growth translate into new blooms and new tomatoes? Time will tell. The rest of the plants are burning out, though either of the Husky Cherry Red plants could make a bit of a comeback.
Since we may have established a pattern, let's look at the upcoming 2010 numbers.
September 2010 -- 717 tomatoes
October 2010 -- 261 tomatoes
November 2010 -- 214 tomatoes
December 2010 -- 90 tomatoes
Total 2010 harvest -- 8092 tomatoes
It looks like 2010 had the "staying power" that I believe this year will lack.
Last month's estimate of 7500 total harvested tomatoes looks consistent with the 2010 numbers. But I'll revise that estimate down to 7300 harvested tomatoes for the year. For September 2014 I'll estimate a harvest of 550 tomatoes.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
July 2014 Tomato Analysis
First, let's compare our July tomato totals against other years...
2014 -- 3884 tomatoes
2013 -- 1970 tomatoes
2012 -- 6068 tomatoes
2011 -- 3876 tomatoes
2010 -- 4108 tomatoes
2009 -- 4576 tomatoes
2008 -- 1629 tomatoes
2007 -- 6154 tomatoes
Four years were higher, three were lower. However, 2011 was only lower by 8 tomatoes.
My estimate of harvesting 5250 tomatoes in July was sufficiently off the mark to consider it a bad guess.
The standouts were obvious -- Sunchocola and Orange Paruche were nothing short of spectacular. And not just production, but taste as well. We are extremely pleased with these two varieties. We will grow them again and again. Other standouts include Adriana's Grande and the old standby German Orange Strawberry. Blue Beauty was a pleasant surprise that matured later in the month.
Several people have told us that this year's tomatoes have tasted better than in prior years. I believe that is directly tied to the compost added in November of last year as well as clearing out our passive compost bin in the back yard.
The downsides include the "corner office" and a majority of the back yard growing area. I added a good amount of purchased compost and a liberal amount of our "compost paella" to the "corner office". All the tomatoes from this growing area are on the small side. Some of this is related to the hedge on the south side, blocking a fair amount of the sun. But it appears that the soil is still exhausted from years of planting.
That's the similar story for the back yard tomatoes. We added lots of compost but most of the tomatoes are on the small side. The exceptions are the four plants closest to our back door. This is a new tomato growing area, but also the sprinklers were still hitting this area. It is possible that we're not watering the back yard tomatoes enough. We've floated the idea of a drip system before but never followed through...
It's been reported that 2014 has been the hottest first six months of the year in recorded history. Some of our tomato plants are already burned out. For me, it's not the highs that are so bad, it's the fact that the atmosphere isn't cooling off sufficiently at night. Our tomato plants have no time to rest.
My estimate for the August harvest is 1650 tomatoes. My adjusted estimate for the year is around 7500 tomatoes.
2014 -- 3884 tomatoes
2013 -- 1970 tomatoes
2012 -- 6068 tomatoes
2011 -- 3876 tomatoes
2010 -- 4108 tomatoes
2009 -- 4576 tomatoes
2008 -- 1629 tomatoes
2007 -- 6154 tomatoes
Four years were higher, three were lower. However, 2011 was only lower by 8 tomatoes.
My estimate of harvesting 5250 tomatoes in July was sufficiently off the mark to consider it a bad guess.
The standouts were obvious -- Sunchocola and Orange Paruche were nothing short of spectacular. And not just production, but taste as well. We are extremely pleased with these two varieties. We will grow them again and again. Other standouts include Adriana's Grande and the old standby German Orange Strawberry. Blue Beauty was a pleasant surprise that matured later in the month.
Several people have told us that this year's tomatoes have tasted better than in prior years. I believe that is directly tied to the compost added in November of last year as well as clearing out our passive compost bin in the back yard.
The downsides include the "corner office" and a majority of the back yard growing area. I added a good amount of purchased compost and a liberal amount of our "compost paella" to the "corner office". All the tomatoes from this growing area are on the small side. Some of this is related to the hedge on the south side, blocking a fair amount of the sun. But it appears that the soil is still exhausted from years of planting.
That's the similar story for the back yard tomatoes. We added lots of compost but most of the tomatoes are on the small side. The exceptions are the four plants closest to our back door. This is a new tomato growing area, but also the sprinklers were still hitting this area. It is possible that we're not watering the back yard tomatoes enough. We've floated the idea of a drip system before but never followed through...
It's been reported that 2014 has been the hottest first six months of the year in recorded history. Some of our tomato plants are already burned out. For me, it's not the highs that are so bad, it's the fact that the atmosphere isn't cooling off sufficiently at night. Our tomato plants have no time to rest.
My estimate for the August harvest is 1650 tomatoes. My adjusted estimate for the year is around 7500 tomatoes.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Compost Project Finished; Tomato Seeds Planted
Catching up...
I deconstructed our large passive compost bin a few weeks ago. This involved taking out everything within the chicken wire fencing and making three piles. 1) Stuff that shouldn't have been in there in the first place (mostly pine needles) 2) Stuff that still needed to be decomposed and 3) The rest.
"The rest" involved good compost mixed in with decomposing stuff that was too small to filter out. My best description of the remaining compost was "compost paella".
This "paella" filled up at least a dozen cartfuls of material. Four of the cartfuls were put in the "corner office", three in the "South Garden" and the rest were spread among the raised beds. The spread in the "corner office" was so soft that our outdoor cat was leaving paw prints in the dirt!
After we processed all the compost, we stopped using the approximately seven foot in diameter chicken wire fencing and made a two foot in diameter chicken wire fencing for composting. It will be much easier to handle now. The #2 pile was added back to this fencing.
The composting project (for now) is finally done, done, done.
My wife started tomato seeds this year. Most of the seeds planted were from Wild Boar Farms. As of now they haven't germinated.
I deconstructed our large passive compost bin a few weeks ago. This involved taking out everything within the chicken wire fencing and making three piles. 1) Stuff that shouldn't have been in there in the first place (mostly pine needles) 2) Stuff that still needed to be decomposed and 3) The rest.
"The rest" involved good compost mixed in with decomposing stuff that was too small to filter out. My best description of the remaining compost was "compost paella".
This "paella" filled up at least a dozen cartfuls of material. Four of the cartfuls were put in the "corner office", three in the "South Garden" and the rest were spread among the raised beds. The spread in the "corner office" was so soft that our outdoor cat was leaving paw prints in the dirt!
After we processed all the compost, we stopped using the approximately seven foot in diameter chicken wire fencing and made a two foot in diameter chicken wire fencing for composting. It will be much easier to handle now. The #2 pile was added back to this fencing.
The composting project (for now) is finally done, done, done.
My wife started tomato seeds this year. Most of the seeds planted were from Wild Boar Farms. As of now they haven't germinated.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Finished Processing the Organic Compost!
I finished hand turning the rest of the back yard tomato growing area!
It took two or three days to hand turn the approximately 10 x 13 area. Because I left this dirt in place I only went down a few inches -- say 4 to 6 inches -- versus the other digging where I made a large dirt pile to the side -- going down 6 to 12 inches or more. There were sprinkler pipes criss-crossing the remaing area so I didn't feel comfortable using the Mantis. I applied a liberal amount of compost over this area on Wednesday night and turned the dirt a second time on Thursday.
Overall I pulled out about two gallons of rock and asphalt and about one gallon of roots...not much at all in the grand scheme of things. As noted previously, I didn't dig as deep as other areas. However, I did find three full bricks about one inch under the ground laid end to end. What's surprising about this is that I didn't find these bricks earlier through the years while planting seedlings.
This still left a significant amount of compost. I put a small cart full of compost into one of the raised beds and another cartful onto the "South Garden". I put out another dozen or so cartfuls of compost all over the back yard growing area. After some point I was able to move the compost pile off of the south side over toward the center of the growing area by pulling the bottom tarp. We have been covering the compost with tarp, but this last time the pile got small enough that we laid down one of the tarps on the ground, placed the compost on top, covered the compost with the rest of the tarps and anchored it with bricks and cinder blocks.
I evened out the compost piles using the bow rake, then watered it down. For all practical purposes, I am done with this project!!
There still are other offshoots planned. My wife wants me to turn the "South Garden" so sooner or later I'll get around to that. I need to move a hay bale and the wood pile sitting on top of it (This pile got moved around just like the compost pile) back to east of the lemon tree.
The other item I have relevant to tomato growing is to process our own passive compost pile. We have a huge pile of decaying organic matter in a roughly seven foot in diameter chicken wire fence. My goal is to pull all of it out and make three piles. The piles are (1) Matter that still needs to decompose (2) Matter that shouldn't be in there (think pine needles from our ponderosa pine) and at the bottom (3) Good self-made compost!
While I'd like this good compost to be on the tomato growing area, I really don't care. I'm more interested in getting it distributed anywhere on our property. Only our ponderosa pine is benefiting from this compost and it doesn't need the help.
It took two or three days to hand turn the approximately 10 x 13 area. Because I left this dirt in place I only went down a few inches -- say 4 to 6 inches -- versus the other digging where I made a large dirt pile to the side -- going down 6 to 12 inches or more. There were sprinkler pipes criss-crossing the remaing area so I didn't feel comfortable using the Mantis. I applied a liberal amount of compost over this area on Wednesday night and turned the dirt a second time on Thursday.
Overall I pulled out about two gallons of rock and asphalt and about one gallon of roots...not much at all in the grand scheme of things. As noted previously, I didn't dig as deep as other areas. However, I did find three full bricks about one inch under the ground laid end to end. What's surprising about this is that I didn't find these bricks earlier through the years while planting seedlings.
This still left a significant amount of compost. I put a small cart full of compost into one of the raised beds and another cartful onto the "South Garden". I put out another dozen or so cartfuls of compost all over the back yard growing area. After some point I was able to move the compost pile off of the south side over toward the center of the growing area by pulling the bottom tarp. We have been covering the compost with tarp, but this last time the pile got small enough that we laid down one of the tarps on the ground, placed the compost on top, covered the compost with the rest of the tarps and anchored it with bricks and cinder blocks.
I evened out the compost piles using the bow rake, then watered it down. For all practical purposes, I am done with this project!!
There still are other offshoots planned. My wife wants me to turn the "South Garden" so sooner or later I'll get around to that. I need to move a hay bale and the wood pile sitting on top of it (This pile got moved around just like the compost pile) back to east of the lemon tree.
The other item I have relevant to tomato growing is to process our own passive compost pile. We have a huge pile of decaying organic matter in a roughly seven foot in diameter chicken wire fence. My goal is to pull all of it out and make three piles. The piles are (1) Matter that still needs to decompose (2) Matter that shouldn't be in there (think pine needles from our ponderosa pine) and at the bottom (3) Good self-made compost!
While I'd like this good compost to be on the tomato growing area, I really don't care. I'm more interested in getting it distributed anywhere on our property. Only our ponderosa pine is benefiting from this compost and it doesn't need the help.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Finished Preparing the "Middle East"
I made more progress on the back yard, just not the expected progress.
Monday I went out to pull some grass from the 9 x 9 area turned last year. But it was mud. The sprinklers went off that morning and rewatered the whole area. The sprinklers went off on Thursday as well. It rained Thursday and we didn't turn off the sprinklers in time. On Saturday I finally shut off the sprinkler head within this 9 x 9 patch of dirt. Now this area might dry out but it still looks like soup...
So instead of pulling out this grass, I started on a rectangular area just west of the "Far East", an area we've dubbed the "Middle East". I finished turning a roughly 3 x 6 foot area on Wednesday, my wife added soil amendments, I added compost and used the Mantis to turn it in.
Tuesday I did some shovel work for my wife, turning a raised bed and adding holes to "Alongi Row" for some ficus nitidas.
As mentioned, it rained on Thursday. It was too wet to dig on Friday so I pulled out some grass that had started to encroach on our tomato growing area. This is different than the 9 x 9 patch of grass that we hope to clear out for an additional growing area. The patch of grass I removed on Friday is easier to handle. I pulled out about half of the encroaching grass.
On Sunday we completely processed a 3 x 8 area to the south of the area completed on Wednesday. This patch of dirt was relatively easy to turn.
I pulled out four or five gallons of rocks and asphalt over the week in the "Middle East".
I'm happy that the "Middle East" and the "Far East" are completed. I think these are the two hardest growing areas. I had become somewhat disenchanted with my slow progress so far but the relatively fast Sunday work renewed my spirits.
The next patch of dirt to turn will be the southern area of the back yard growing area not previously turned. This was an excellent suggestion from my wife. I was going to move the compost pile somewhere else, but my wife suggested I can do this area without moving much of the compost pile. She's right.
But first I need to complete pulling out the encroached grass in the southwest area of our back yard tomato growing area.
Monday I went out to pull some grass from the 9 x 9 area turned last year. But it was mud. The sprinklers went off that morning and rewatered the whole area. The sprinklers went off on Thursday as well. It rained Thursday and we didn't turn off the sprinklers in time. On Saturday I finally shut off the sprinkler head within this 9 x 9 patch of dirt. Now this area might dry out but it still looks like soup...
So instead of pulling out this grass, I started on a rectangular area just west of the "Far East", an area we've dubbed the "Middle East". I finished turning a roughly 3 x 6 foot area on Wednesday, my wife added soil amendments, I added compost and used the Mantis to turn it in.
Tuesday I did some shovel work for my wife, turning a raised bed and adding holes to "Alongi Row" for some ficus nitidas.
As mentioned, it rained on Thursday. It was too wet to dig on Friday so I pulled out some grass that had started to encroach on our tomato growing area. This is different than the 9 x 9 patch of grass that we hope to clear out for an additional growing area. The patch of grass I removed on Friday is easier to handle. I pulled out about half of the encroaching grass.
On Sunday we completely processed a 3 x 8 area to the south of the area completed on Wednesday. This patch of dirt was relatively easy to turn.
I pulled out four or five gallons of rocks and asphalt over the week in the "Middle East".
I'm happy that the "Middle East" and the "Far East" are completed. I think these are the two hardest growing areas. I had become somewhat disenchanted with my slow progress so far but the relatively fast Sunday work renewed my spirits.
The next patch of dirt to turn will be the southern area of the back yard growing area not previously turned. This was an excellent suggestion from my wife. I was going to move the compost pile somewhere else, but my wife suggested I can do this area without moving much of the compost pile. She's right.
But first I need to complete pulling out the encroached grass in the southwest area of our back yard tomato growing area.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Finished Prepping the Easy Area In The Back Yard
I finished turning the area underneath and east of our back yard lemon tree. I'd estimate it's about a 20 foot by 6 foot rectangle, plus a jagged area directly under the lemon tree.
It took parts of three days to complete. I turned most of the dirt by hand on Friday. Yesterday I finished turning it by hand. Today my wife laid down gypsum and amendments while I added compost. I used the Mantis to turn the materials into the dirt. Then I put on another layer of our organic compost and used the Mantis again.
I used about a quarter of the remaining compost.
I pulled out a few rocks in this area but it was no big deal at all. Overall the rock pile could fit into a one gallon plant container. For those unfamiliar with that reference, don't think one gallon of water. The one gallon plant container size about the same size as a normal half gallon milk carton. So this is a much cleaner area that what I had first turned.
Also note that a plantable area shouldn't be completely rock free. But just out of force of habit I always take them out. The back yard is too rocky, so I toss 'em if I see 'em.
The trouble was it took five or six days before I started digging. It was rainy, it was quite cold and I had a bad cold during this period. So we lost some time.
Next item to be done: Manually pulling the grass out of the recently turned 9 foot by 9 foot area. This will be tedious.
It took parts of three days to complete. I turned most of the dirt by hand on Friday. Yesterday I finished turning it by hand. Today my wife laid down gypsum and amendments while I added compost. I used the Mantis to turn the materials into the dirt. Then I put on another layer of our organic compost and used the Mantis again.
I used about a quarter of the remaining compost.
I pulled out a few rocks in this area but it was no big deal at all. Overall the rock pile could fit into a one gallon plant container. For those unfamiliar with that reference, don't think one gallon of water. The one gallon plant container size about the same size as a normal half gallon milk carton. So this is a much cleaner area that what I had first turned.
Also note that a plantable area shouldn't be completely rock free. But just out of force of habit I always take them out. The back yard is too rocky, so I toss 'em if I see 'em.
The trouble was it took five or six days before I started digging. It was rainy, it was quite cold and I had a bad cold during this period. So we lost some time.
Next item to be done: Manually pulling the grass out of the recently turned 9 foot by 9 foot area. This will be tedious.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Finished Turning The "Far East"
Wednesday we put the finishing touches on the soil in the "Far East" in the back yard. It took about a week to prepare about a 5 foot by 15 foot section of the back yard.
That's slow progress, too slow if it remained that consistent. But the "Far East" was the worst area for rocks and asphalt. I do not expect such slow progress in the future.
I didn't find as much asphalt as I had expected. That's great news. It shows that all the hard work digging out the asphalt and stuff was providing dividends. I did empty out the one gallon bin used for plants six or seven times. Also I dug out one complete red brick, two half bricks and the broken pieces of the two half bricks. I also found two large round decorative stones with these bricks.
Here's a picture of my wife using the Mantis on the "Far East"...
The blue tarp covers the remaining compost.
On Thursday I turned an area of about 9 feet by 9 feet filled with grass. I had turned this area last year and the grass was plucked out of it. After that, nothing happened except the grass came back. So we're starting over with this new plantable area once my wife picks out the grass.
I moved some materials (wood, a hay bale and such) that were east of the lemon tree to the recently turned "Far East". This will be the next area I turn. This area does have a few rocks but not nearly as much as the "Far East" had. While we didn't plant in this area last year I still don't think turning it will be too bad.
I added a small wheelbarrow full of compost to the "South Garden". I didn't turn it, I just laid it on top.
Nothing was done with the back yard today.
That's slow progress, too slow if it remained that consistent. But the "Far East" was the worst area for rocks and asphalt. I do not expect such slow progress in the future.
I didn't find as much asphalt as I had expected. That's great news. It shows that all the hard work digging out the asphalt and stuff was providing dividends. I did empty out the one gallon bin used for plants six or seven times. Also I dug out one complete red brick, two half bricks and the broken pieces of the two half bricks. I also found two large round decorative stones with these bricks.
Here's a picture of my wife using the Mantis on the "Far East"...
The blue tarp covers the remaining compost.
On Thursday I turned an area of about 9 feet by 9 feet filled with grass. I had turned this area last year and the grass was plucked out of it. After that, nothing happened except the grass came back. So we're starting over with this new plantable area once my wife picks out the grass.
I moved some materials (wood, a hay bale and such) that were east of the lemon tree to the recently turned "Far East". This will be the next area I turn. This area does have a few rocks but not nearly as much as the "Far East" had. While we didn't plant in this area last year I still don't think turning it will be too bad.
I added a small wheelbarrow full of compost to the "South Garden". I didn't turn it, I just laid it on top.
Nothing was done with the back yard today.
Monday, February 20, 2012
We're Sore From Hauling Dirt
The weekend prior, my wife started several different tomato varieties from seed. To date, we haven't seen any sprout, so we're a bit worried about it...
Last weekend we had some compostible dirt trucked in on Saturday morning. We spent about six hours on Saturday and five plus hours on Sunday spreading it around everywhere in the front and back yards. You can see what we started with on Saturday morning and what's remaining as of Sunday evening.
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