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Devv's Dirt Grow-Almost done..

Weekend March 2-3:
I’ve been working on the garden for years; it was dormant for a few years (like 10) while I changed careers. The base soil if you want to call it that is sand. I added heavy black dirt to the upper 2/3 years ago; I’ve since added heavy red dirt (clay ) to half of the lower 1/3. For two years straight I’ve added 4”s of compost to the upper 2/3 and this year 4”s to the bottom 1/3. I clean horse pens for the free manure; kitchen waste is added to the compost. Our property is on a slope and heavy rains cause erosion problems. Above the garden the land is heavily terraced to divert water runoff.
Finished concreting the base of the fence, used 22 80lb bags, the Waskily Wabbits should be done, until they find another way in. They have been a real menace! I tried a hot wire system, it was not too effective and killed birds and squirrels; I didn’t like that.

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Planted the Onions January 15th, Garlic was planted September 15th. They took a beating with the 30mph winds, 55 mph gusts last Monday.

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Tilled and my wife planted corn, cukes, watermelons, bush beans and cantelope.

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Bush Beans above

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Cukes, and Melons behind the Rosemary above.

Corn below.

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I started these the first week of January; I think I got carried away.


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The Potatoes, planted February 15th are coming up. I planted then 8”s deep and I keep covering them up, and will do so until the ground is level where planted.

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Never ending mulch pile.

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Hmmm.. too many images...
 
annie57 said:
Dang, Scott. Words cannot express the admiration I have for your efforts, and the obvious pay-off, of working what many would  consider non-arable land. Geez. Wow. And . . . it worked! Rain didn't flood it out!! :clap: I know you're working hard--that heat and humidity is something one just has to experience to believe . . . and ya working smart too. Thank you for the inspiration!
 
P.S. nice chop on the rattlesnake
Thanks Annie,
 
As you know the work never stops when improvement is needed. God willing I'll still be out there for another 25 years, maybe at 80 I'll slow down. You know the Petty lyrics "you never slow down, you never grow old", giving it a whirl!
The heat as you know one gets conditioned to ;)
Yeah, danged rattle snakes, my fault I gave 'em a place to hide...
 
Sanarda said:
WOOWWWW!!!!! Those are beautiful shots of the garden.  Plants look like they are trees.  Well done my friend.  Getting ready for next year is an all year job eh?!?!?!?!!   :dance:  :dance:
Thanks Pia!
It IS an all year job here, trying to make the soil better is work every year. I have 2 or 3 yds of compost going and close to 4 yds of mulch, gonna get some more this next weekend. It's free so why not?
It's also good for the brain for me to get out there and do labor, beats the desk I sit at all day!

WalkGood said:
Smart planning Scott railroad ties would certainly do the trick and only you would know best, great job mon!!!
 Thanks Ramon!
 
I still need to till things in more deeply, but need more moisture. Waiting to see of Ma Nature is going to give me some more. Next is to plant the cover crop for the winter. I like to keep the nutes near the top :party:

I also wanted to mention Charles (Spicegeist) sent me some seeds he harvested from his now famous crosses. Unfortunately I left them at work, so pics tomorrow. The end of the day was crazy with a surveillance server acting out. Hopefully it's attitude adjustment will make for a smooth Tuesday...yeah right :crazy:
 
Nice photos of your shaded containers from different angles. I like your idea of the retaining wall. Stone would be great, but the ties serve the purpose for a reasonable cost.

I lose soil through the drain holes in the containers. Normally layered burlap with land scaping fabric is on the bottoms. This year I had a load of mushroom compound dropped off. That stuff is light and fluffy. I mixed that into my normal peat/loam container mix....dang I forgot to fill the containers half way and wet it down before adding the rest of the mix and plant(s). My mix shrunk down about 3" from the initial top soil/rim of the containers. I guess I was too busy wheel barreling the 3 yds of stuff from the front to the back...and excited about sticking the plants in it. Next year the containers will get a good shower of water before the planting...
 
PIC 1 said:
Nice photos of your shaded containers from different angles. I like your idea of the retaining wall. Stone would be great, but the ties serve the purpose for a reasonable cost.

I lose soil through the drain holes in the containers. Normally layered burlap with land scaping fabric is on the bottoms. This year I had a load of mushroom compound dropped off. That stuff is light and fluffy. I mixed that into my normal peat/loam container mix....dang I forgot to fill the containers half way and wet it down before adding the rest of the mix and plant(s). My mix shrunk down about 3" from the initial top soil/rim of the containers. I guess I was too busy wheel barreling the 3 yds of stuff from the front to the back...and excited about sticking the plants in it. Next year the containers will get a good shower of water before the planting...
Thanks Greg,
 
I had the railroad ties, which makes it even easier. Some day, I'll make a nice wall...
When I re-potted the plants into the bags I set them really high for just that reason. And it's time to top a few off now.
 
The mushroom compound sounds good. I wonder if I could get any around here? I still have access to cleaning horse pens, just no time....
 
Well here's the pic I should have posted yesterday.
 
Charles (Spicegeist) was kind enough to send me some of his fantastic crosses. I can't wait to grow these!
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1.  Choco Bhut x Douglah F2
2. [Bhut x Y7] x [Choco Bhut x Douglah]
3. [Douglah x Butch T] x Superhot (probably TS Morouga Blend or a TSMB x Bhut)
4. Bhut x Y7 F2
5. TS Moruga Blend x Bhut
 
Thanks again!
 
Scott great score from Spicegeist and nice job Charles spreading da pepper love \o/
 
Yea if you already have the ties that’s the way to go, cement has really gone up in price down here :/ I picked up a lot of huge landscaping rocks (coral & Cocina) when they do road work near interstate roads. I saw a pile of huge rocks next to the roadside asked the workers and they said take all you need, we just throw them away. So over a 2 week period I’d take as many as I could carry every day while passing by that area, eventually I had enough to use around my deck and one side of our pool outlining the landscaping.
 
Greg, where did you get the shrooms mon? I have them pop up in all my containers after rain, not sure if it’s right but I pluck them, crush dem up and mix in with the soil. Lately they’re even growing out of the drain holes, lol.
 
Gentlemen pepper farmers I wish you all an awesome week :)
 
Ramon Charles did me right, I now have a ton of new seeds this year to plant....thinking corn is off for next year!
 
Rocks I have here, the southeast 5 acres has an 80' slope...plenty of rocks on it. I just need to find the time. Once it cools some I'll be in the wood shop to finish the kitchen pieces. After that I may have the time, but I fear it will be a lumpy wall...never have done this type of work....yet :D
 
If it was up to me the garden would have an 8 foot wall around it....dang wind can get crazy around here...
 
Have a great week!
 
Stefan_W said:
Those crosses sound great. Number 3 [Douglah x Butch T] x Superhot (probably TS Morouga Blend or a TSMB x Bhut) sounds especially painful. 
 
WalkGood said:
Scott lives for dat pain burn ;)
 
 
You know I've actually started using the supers for pain relief. If I get a headache, eat some of a super. I'm looking forward to trying all these next season....which starts in 1.5 months!
 
MGOLD86 said:
Lookin really great Scott!  Nice score from Charles.  He has some great lookin crosses.
Thanks Matt!
 
Can't wait to start next season!
 
Bodeen said:
Can't wait to see you grow some of these!!!
Thanks Jeff!
 
I have quite a few new varieties to choose from next year thanks to the generosity of THP!
 
Worked quite a bit in the garden the last two days, deeply tilled in the top soil and set the railroad ties in their permanent location.
 
This morning I decided to thin out the jungle some, I pulled 4 plants to give to the Ag dept. for propagation experiments. Transplanted another 8 to open things up so I can get in there and pick AND not get snake bit!
 
Picked a good day to do it too, rain forecast for the next 7 days and overcast. They show some signs of shock but have already perked up some, I did my best to get all of the roots. I decided to leave the sunshade on another week until they settle in a little.
 
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After shot. I can walk in there now :drooling:
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Reapers, hopefully ready to rumble, they have a lot of flowers.
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Loaded up Funky Reaper. As for the supers this one stands out, great production!
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Today's pick.
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Also got another 1.5 yds of mulch. They need to get busy, we've cleaned them out :D
 
Another weekend shot to heck, enjoy what's left!
 
Great looking harvest Scott!  Thinning looks good.  Hopefully your plants are less attractive to those slithering beasts!   Ag project sounds interesting.  I love your shade screens and your charcoal making device too.  It's just the kind of thing I need to make some day.  Thanks for posting the link for those plans early in your grow log.
 
Enjoy the rest of the weekend and hopefully the rain this week.  Cool front later on, excellant!
 
Mike
 
Thanks Mike!
 
Without a sunshade I would have given up. Going to try and add to that system this winter if I can afford it...
 
Funny story about the charcoal kiln, it stopped drafting, I had to cut it apart to see why. Seems my G-kids filled the chimney with dirt, and when it got hot it turned into a brick like material. While I had it apart I made clearance adjustments and put a larger chimney on it. Works much better now.
 
Cool front, really? When? I'm so ready! Still below 90 here and overcast...come on rain!
 
I've just started giving your glog the attention it deserves Scott. Wow...yet another great grow and amazing read! Thank you in advance for the couple more hours I'm going to enjoy getting through this from page 1. Staying on top of all the great glogs on THP is becoming a full time gig!
 
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