Grubs, earthworms, etc.
Motion-activated sprinklers and security lights scare them away.
2 Likes
I encourage my chickens to scratch and poop underneath my fruit trees by throwing fruit peels and veggie rinds under them, which also attracts more grubs. The trees get lots of nitrogen and phosphorus, I don’t have to get under them to remove weeds.
That sure looks like the work of hogs.
1 Like
My first thoughts were truffles.
This thread continues to be fascinating.
My wife thinks we should section off part of the back yard, till it add soil and plant directly into the ground. Yeah right, she says she will help now but I get the feeling it would end up on me. I am still tempted to use vegetable planters especially as this is all new to me.
1 Like
I am a big fan of her method.
It depends on your yard, and the look you want, but my favorite garden type is
- 2’ x 8’ raised beds,
- mix added soil, compost etc. in with the existing soil
- over the years as the added soils build up, line each plot with lumber
- simple back plastic garden edging is sufficient for the 1 year.
- sometimes I’d add in a couple 4’x4’ squares for pumpkins, watermelons and other spacehogs.
- to reduce weeding I mulch with newspaper and cover it with some sort of fine mulch (like cocoa shells or lawn clippings) that I can mix into the soil the next year.
4 Likes
If you build your boxes 4ft tall, the first 2ft can be stuffed with logs and stumps, housing mycorrhiza for years to come (if you’re not planning on killing all the microbes with chemical fertilizers that is).
These internet pictures bring back memories.
This one worked out alright.
The grass is still growing between the beds,
you can work or walk in your garden any time.
.
.
.
Too often, a person can wind up with mud in the middle.
Then either, every little walk in the garden is a muddy mess or
you have to mulch the pathways.
I seriously prefer it when ya can take kids and grandmas in the garden,
when you don’t have to change your shoes just to go out and pick some basil for dinner etc.
2 Likes
All my life I’ve been an in-the-ground gardener. When I start a garden, I do so a year ahead of time. I mix manure 50-50 with the existing soil, and then no matter how crappy the native soil was, the result is great for growing veggies. If I can stick my pitchfork 6 inches into the soil, then I start off the area with 6 inches of added manure.
And then year over year, every year after that, I add more organics to the soil by mulching deeply around the growing plants with layers of fresh grass clippings and compost. In the fall, all that gets turned under. Repeat, forever. You’ll “grow” soil so rich that your only limitation is your growing zone for what you can put there.
You will also discover that over time the depth of your soil will grow both upward and downward. The upward growth is from stuff you add. The downward growth is from worms mixing the underlying native soil with the healthy soil. Ditto roots from your veggie plants. (Yes, roots extend way farther then we think, including down into the lesser-soil layer.
6 Likes
I’ve seen his gardens. And his clover leaf lawn. Pay attention.
3 Likes
Sort of a modified hugelkultur bed. Yes. And as all that stuff decomposes, the soil drops down leaving room for mulch on the surface each year. Too often when people make raised beds, they fill them to the brim, leaving no room for adding mulch of any sort. Mulch seeps nutrients into the soil and helps the underlying soil keep an even moisture. Always a good practice.
1 Like
Even though I said I’m an in-the-ground gardener, as I get older it becomes harder and harder to do all the bending that is required. Raised beds would address this problem. I’ve even seen beds designed to let wheelchair gardeners keep at their gardening joys.
If someone makes raised beds like this, just be sure they’re not so wide that the center cannot be reached from outside the bed.
1 Like
I’ve got a back-40 regular garden, plus several box gardens. I’m not a gardener by nature because my wife used to be able to do the gardening, but I am getting some great gardening tips here. 
1 Like
