Settle a gardening "argument"?

[auntdot]

We now live in clay soil country and so basically tilling is not an option, it is a necessity. Our small garden is made from railroad ties and is about three feet tall. And it is only two and a half feet deep. Great for the back when tilling and doing the other chores, such as weeding. But the area is so small we must limit the plants we can put in by a lot, rats.

Anyway we manually till, add sand - it always needs some more - and usually some manure. Have occasionally added peat moss and it adds organic matter and makes the soil more porous.

Without tilling, doubt baby plants would grow very well. Although the herb garden just keeps coming up year after year.

 

[Leolady]

I always used raised beds and kept plenty of organic mulch over the beds during winter.

In the spring, the soil was always soft when the mulch was pulled back and I never had to till.

When the plants came up, I mulched them deeply with hay, leaves, grass clippings, and augmented the mulch throughout the summer.

The foot or more thick mulch kept the soil moist and soft except for the worst droughts.

Edited to say: the soil was mostly clay when I started this, but over the course of the years it became extremely rich without tilling.

 

[suziquzie]

We now live in clay soil country and so basically tilling is not an option, it is a necessity. Our small garden is made from railroad ties and is about three feet tall. And it is only two and a half feet deep. Great for the back when tilling and doing the other chores, such as weeding. But the area is so small we must limit the plants we can put in by a lot, rats.

Anyway we manually till, add sand - it always needs some more - and usually some manure. Have occasionally added peat moss and it adds organic matter and makes the soil more porous.

Without tilling, doubt baby plants would grow very well. Although the herb garden just keeps coming up year after year.

How 'bout if I dig up a yard or 4 of my sandy crud and trade you for a yard or 4 of clay.... mix and we'll both be perfect!!!

My mom lives just 40 miles south of me and has clay.... i think about 3 miles north it is too. Somehow there's a huge sugar sand vein right where I am.

Yay!! lucky me.........

 

[expatgirl]

sure, Suzie, when and where do we make the trade off---I'll give you all the gumbo clay you want in exchange for your lovely sand

 

[suziquzie]

ha! where the heck is halfway? In the midde of the atlantic somewhere?
A cruise! Alright!!!!

 

[Maverick2272]

I think that would be either Africa if you go one way, or the middle of the Pacific if you go the other way, say Hawaii or Guam or somewhere in there....

 

[suziquzie]

oooooo I'll go with Hawaii!!! How 'bout you expat?

 

[Maverick2272]

I would be torn between the beauty, splendor, and magnificent ocean of Hawaii, not to mention cool volcanoes and exotic stuff; and an African safari snapping picture after picture of all kinds of neat stuff on the Savanah. And visiting with tribes, and exploring its history.
This would settle it for me: Which one has more and deadlier snakes???

 

[buckytom]

mav, how about going to ireland? visit with the tribes (over a pint), explore it's history, and there's a particular lack of snakes.

 

[Katie H]

mav, how about going to ireland? visit with the tribes (over a pint), explore it's history, and there's a particular lack of snakes.

Good point, bucky. My younger sister, Margaret O'Neill, just returned from Ireland. No snakes, for sure. Beeautiffffffullll. She sent over 100 pics. Waaaaa! I wanna go!

 

[expatgirl]

oooooo I'll go with Hawaii!!! How 'bout you expat?

Sure when is the next departure going????

 

[buckytom]

Good point, bucky. My younger sister, Margaret O'Neill, just returned from Ireland. No snakes, for sure. Beeautiffffffullll. She sent over 100 pics. Waaaaa! I wanna go!

i'm sure maggie had a grand time, k.t.e.. where did she go?

 

[Katie H]

Oh, bucky! She went everywhere. Enjoyed St. Patrick's Day in Blarney. She's a photographer and took some of the most beautiful pictures. What a beautiful place!!!

P.S. How'd you know we call her "Maggie?"

 

[buckytom]

lol, i've told ya, i know everything there is to know about bein' irish.

the northwest, from mayo and sligo up to donegal is the most beautiful of the entire island. i can't wait to go back.

to get this thread back on track, the next time that i go to ireland, i'm going back to my grandfather's house and am going to ask the owner if i could take a cutting of the rhubarb that grows in the back of the property, on the banks of the shannon. the owner (a very nice gentleman who gave me a tour of the house and property when he found out the grandson of the house's builder was in town) says that the rhubarb has been there since the previous owners, a couple of old spinsters, and thinks that they could not have planted it. so it probably was planted by my grandfather. my dad was amazed when he saw my videos of it, and is also sure that it was grandfather's.

so, hopefully i'll be growing irish rhubarb in my garden someday.

 

[Maverick2272]

No snakes??!!??!! Count me in!!! Besides I could use a pint or two!

 

[Dina]

DH (who's also my gardener) tills the soil to combine it with good gardening soil. Of course, he has the green thumb not me. He says it helps makes plants healthier and grow beautifully. I just sit and enjoy the garden.

 

[expatgirl]

Oh, bucky! She went everywhere. Enjoyed St. Patrick's Day in Blarney. She's a photographer and took some of the most beautiful pictures. What a beautiful place!!!

P.S. How'd you know we call her "Maggie?"

isn't that "Dame Margaret Thatcher's" nickname besides "Iron Maiden"