Erin Conte

Thanks a bunch!!

Tissue paper art

Great charcuterie and cheese boards!! Very nice!!

I just got a 1yr old M GP off CL. Other than not having any car riding experience, he shows the signs of being locked in a run for half his life. He’s getting neutered ASAP. We don’t have fenced property and he broke under the chain link kennel last night. But he came to the front gate. I locked him in the “animal free zone” front yard and he didn’t dig any of my plants. Rearranged some of my skulls and such I had around my gardens, but didn’t chew them up. He’s pretty stubborn but typical GP and a total sweetie.
His name was Maximo, but they called him Bro. We are calling him Oak.

We all have or have had a moment in life where there is a realization that the stack of plastic pots has overcome the potting shed. Maybe I’m making assumptions so I’ll say; I had a realization there were way too many plastic pots in my potting shed.
With moving in May, it was a race against the clock to get SOMETHING growing on our bare land.
I present to you, Lazy raised bed.
Our soil is hard clay, so amending it in time to grow this year wasn’t an option. I created a terrace, cut the bottom off a black plastic pot and added mulch and some potting soil. Topped it off with a Cinderella pumpkin seed. My hopes are to improve the soil by allowing the pumpkin to continue to tap down, while the mulch helps loosen up the clay. I planted 5 seeds and they all grew, but the ones in the ground are small with small pumpkins. Next year I plan on creating a patch of these raised pot beds. I’ve used plastic pots with bottoms cut in the past as protection to seedlings or thrown a piece of bird netting across tops to keep birds off.
I’m sure I didn’t discover some amazing thing, but I’m sure proud of my punkin
Happy growing

I have 2 Nubian weathered weed eaters. They are 6yrs old. We have always done the T-post with heavy chain method for ease of changing locations. They have outgrown my physical strengths, and the new house is pretty much all slope. Aside from being drug down hills then having to drag them back up, they’ve cleared everything in zones 1-3. The hubby and I have entertained invisible fences or running a couple strands of hot wire. We have an active cougar and keeping them on 8’ chains is semi reminiscent of the goat at the beginning of Jurrasic Park. That said, having seen them demolish woven fencing in seconds, I’m skeptical on single strands. As it is now, they every so often find a way to unclip their chains( and inevitably destroy anything they know I love). I feel they aren’t the brightest bulbs, and it could be cruel to put hot wire out. I foresee them getting zapped over and over and over, and over again.
The price of chargers rated for goats is a little out of our means currently, but the transistor style may be an option. Will they eventually learn? Will they just bullhead their way thru the zaps? Will the shock frighten them making them stand-offish and hand shy. We have a love hate relationship most days. Most days I dream of poking them over and over with a cattle prod(evil laughs included)
Thanks

Amy Gardener wrote:Maybe the verb for what the messy gardener actually does could be called, compulching:
"The intuitive and opportunistic practice of compulching helps build humus, conserve water, and supports plant health"

Hahaha LOVE this!

I guess I never thought about the where’s, why’s, and how’s, of smaller piles after time.
Thanks!

So when I take the goat, pig, and chicken manure and pile it up with browns and greens, keeping moist and flipping it now and again =compost.

Taking the goat beans and piggy booms and mixing it with browns and greens and using as a top dressing= mulch

You kinda lost me with the “losing to atmosphere”. You mean like the wind blows my pile or If chickens scratch my compost down to scattered, dried weeds and leaves. Spread over an area of the yard it wasn’t intended for?

My yard is too steep for a mower(I’ve started building terraces) and covered with dandelion and plantains. I’ve been “hand mowing” and just putting the greens around my pumpkins and tomatoes. Then I add a layer of woodchips. That’s mulching then, correct?

I’m in southern Oregon and just purchased property that is mostly clay. I’ve found when the ground is moist(not saturated, wet clay is IMPOSSIBLE), if I scrape the top layer a couple inches and then lay down woodchips mixed with newspaper that’s been through the chipper, water, lay whole newspapers over the spot, the moisture retention was surprisingly good. Compared to the areas that are just chips or just newspaper.
Sloooowwwwly building soil.