Greatings

mystry_tour · Post by **mystry_tour** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:49 am

Hi Guys. I am soooooooooooo long been here. I haven't been much of anywhere. I have been trying to get the gardening thing started, still remodeling, doing composting talkes through UT for master gardeners. But I am back hope many are still here
Tour

crzypete · Post by **crzypete** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:37 am

Hey Reg, Welocme back. We are all still here.

I don't know what your gardening project is, but I know of a couple of avid gardeners who are machinejunkies- including myself. Would love to hear what you are doing with it.

Hopefully the winter will bring you a lot of shop time and a little machinejunkie time. How is your shop? how about some pics?

Pete

nektai · Post by **nektai** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:28 am

Welcome back tour.

I am one of those gardening junkies. Now I know where to get answers to my other incredibly stupid questions.

mystry_tour · Post by **mystry_tour** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 11:02 am

Hi Guys,
I love to garden. I do raised bed gardening. I build 4X8 beds useing 2X6,8,s and 10,. I use no dirt. I use 100% compost composted from horse manure and sawdust. Let it get wet and cover for about 2 months. It heats up around 160-180 dgs. Then its in the raised bed. I grow pretty much anything but try to do herloom stuff. I had to add a pantry to the kitchen for the stuff the wife canned this year.
Machines.....well I pretty much have the same things....well maybe added a Porter joner and an Oliver 270.
Nektai I have lots of info at my fingertips from the UT class. It was so nice and met lots of great gardeners. I swap seeds with lots of folks and get some really great things that you don't find much any more. One of my favorits is a canalope. It was given to me called an Old Time Tennessee Canalope. This thing is the best tasteing canalope I ever tasted. You can smell then when they get ripe on the vine and it doesn't grow round, more like a football shape. I get some pics this summer of them
Reg

blackcreek · Post by **blackcreek** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 1:22 pm

I too am one of those gardeners though perhaps not a junkie. Nothing beats picking your dinner though... This was the first year I tried raised beds with a mix of compost, peat moss and vermiculite...worked better than in past years with the crappy soil we have in our area. About you compost mix what is the ratio of manure to sawdust? I have quite a bit of the later but not much of the former. And does the species of dust make a difference? I use a lot of walnut and certainly know that it is deadly bedding for animals.

Of course this is all off point for the machine junkie but what the ...

Welcome back

Tom

mystry_tour · Post by **mystry_tour** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 4:50 pm

Hi Tom,
Walnut

......never use it in your garden. It has a natural herbacide in the wood. Ever notice nothing grows un der a walnut tree. This is the reason.
Oak is acedic. It will work good for some plants ....not good with others. I use coffee grounds for compost around my blueberry bhshes. They love the acid. not good around potatoes.
The ratio of horse poop to dust...what ever in in the horse stables. I have a friend thqt has a bording stable. I go over with a dump truck load it up haul it away. let it rain on it and cover it for 2 mts. It will heat up. In the heating process it kills all the weed seeds, fungi ect. After two months use it
NAAAAAAAAA not off point Tom....this is the "general" section.....
Man haas to BS too ya know

crzypete · Post by **crzypete** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:51 pm

Hey tour I have been using manure as well, but not doing such a hands on composting job, I will have to experiment next year. Lots of horse farms up this way.

I am unclear as to whether you are adding more saw dust to the mix or using a similar mix to what I got this past year which had the woodchips already mixed in? Ok, on rereading your post I think you are just using what they give you from the stable.

Raised beds here too. Our soil is actually quite rich- I think we own an old cow field. I have to say though we do well, but there are some things which really lean towards nektai's sand infused soil- of course his much expanded growing season and green thumb doesn't hurt. Nektai, you should really wash that thumb though.

pete

mystry_tour · Post by **mystry_tour** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 12:02 am

Hi Pete.
Yes I use what they give me. It is black gold. I actually have to add sand to the mix so the water can soak in when it rains. I Mix about 50/50 sand in the mix. The process of the composting for the two months is to kill the weed seads and let the thermafiles burn of all the nitrogen so it doesn't burn up the plants.
I can weed my raised beds, about 25 so far, in about 20 min. They allow me an earlyer start of crops and can extend the growing season. I have cabbage turnips and broccli ready to harvest now. I start corn in Feb. I get 24 plants per bed. I grow corn all summer. Letting each succesion get about 6 inches high and start another bed. I have fresh corn all summer.
Potatos are sooooooo tasty in the compost misture. They have a not so starchie taste. If you ant new potatos just reach under and have a few.....very easy to gravel.
I love it and the food is so much better. This past year I started grinding my own grain for bread. Spelt is my favorite. A little like wheat but much better tasteing. The plan for this summer is to build an outdoor oven to bake it along with pizza.......

Tour