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Post by casimira on Aug 19, 2022 13:41:57 GMT
Believe me when I say that the thought has crossed my mind. The whole mess in having to deal with so many parties, agencies, etc. reinforces my notion of having to be one's own advocate. It reminds me of the "summer from hell" when my husband was in the hospital and all the red tape, angst and frustration with the system (if you can call it that as there was no system) and I had to stay on top of things lest something fell between the cracks.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 19, 2022 18:06:54 GMT
I have always wanted to use a machete but not in combat.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 20, 2022 12:35:40 GMT
I have always wanted to use a machete but not in combat. It gets boring real quick -
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Post by casimira on Aug 20, 2022 13:27:17 GMT
I love the wielding and whacking down of banana trees largely because it's so easy but the cleanup after is a bitch. I usually leave them for a day or so to leach out all the water they contain.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 20, 2022 14:00:29 GMT
In Mark's jungle, it is time to upgrade to a chain saw.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 20, 2022 14:53:27 GMT
Thought of that, but it's just something else that wouldn't work when you needed it. Humans tend to be fairly reliable, especially when there are a dozen of them with machetes. By myself, then I'd have one.
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Post by bjd on Sept 2, 2022 10:56:42 GMT
I bought a rosebush a few years ago. At first, there was a sucker on it that grew like mad and the bush itself didn't do much. I moved it and have been cutting off the sucker before it grows. Not many flowers on it but it's about 2 metres high! It is supposed to be a shrub rose that grows 80-100 cm. What can I do with it? Should I move it to where it gets more sun? At the moment it gets a few hours from late morning to mid-afternoon.
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Post by lugg on Sept 2, 2022 21:08:22 GMT
Well , not knowing the name of the rose ..my gardening philosophy would kick in here Bjd - prune it right back at the correct time for your region, give it a year... and see if it flourishes next year and if not move it .
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Post by bjd on Sept 3, 2022 4:33:21 GMT
Lugg, it's this one: evecotI started digging again yesterday, so might move it soon, depending on what else I decide to plant.
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Post by Kimby on Sept 3, 2022 4:45:38 GMT
I used to have Hollyhocks, Columbines (Aquilegia) and Fireweed (Epilobium) alongside the garage…
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Post by bjd on Sept 3, 2022 4:47:28 GMT
My first thought was that that is a donkey, but perhaps it's a young moose?
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Post by Kimby on Sept 3, 2022 4:48:26 GMT
It’s a mama moose. Big as a horse. She had twins with her.
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Post by bjd on Sept 3, 2022 5:12:50 GMT
Geez. Don't you have a fence around your place?
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Post by Kimby on Sept 3, 2022 12:14:40 GMT
Nope. Fences are prohibited to protect the wildlife.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 4, 2022 9:16:42 GMT
Hollyhocks are certainly delicious.
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Post by mickthecactus on Sept 4, 2022 12:34:22 GMT
That’s a great picture!
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 4, 2022 13:59:08 GMT
Kimby, is that the first time a moose has come so close to the house? That's pretty thrilling.
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Post by mickthecactus on Sept 4, 2022 18:43:32 GMT
Last year I tried an experiment to produce compost. We are short of space in our garden so I took a local authority refuse bin, cut a hole in the base and tucked it away in a corner. Filled it with veg waste, cuttings, grass from lawn, leaves etc. and basically left it to it’s own devices. It was jammed full but rotted down by half. Today we emptied it and it was perfect! All barrowed through to the veg garden.
Now we start all over again.
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Post by htmb on Sept 4, 2022 19:47:07 GMT
This sounds very clever. I assume you left the lid off, is that correct? Was the bin open to rainfall, and did the bottom touch the ground or was it elevated a bit? Did you add any soil or earth worms?
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Post by mickthecactus on Sept 4, 2022 20:22:41 GMT
No, the lid stayed on the whole time and I didn’t add earth or worms. I actually hoped the worms would find their way in through the hole I cut in the base but it didn’t happen. However there was a vast amount of tiny insects living in there although I’ve no idea where they came from.
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Post by mickthecactus on Sept 4, 2022 20:27:12 GMT
Now I think of it there was a little earth from dead pot plants that went in there.
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Post by Kimby on Sept 4, 2022 20:52:43 GMT
I don’t know if it is turning to compost or not, but for several years I have been dumping seaweed (lake weed, actually) from the beach and grass stems (I cut the seed heads off to keep the gopher population in check) into the scar left from culvert installation for the road/driveway into our cottage. (It’s the downstream end of the culvert, so not blocking water flow.)
Putting it in the hole/excavation hides it from view and keeps the wind from blowing it all over, and it never seems to fill up, so maybe it IS turning to compost. I should take a pitchfork to it and turn it now and then. Maybe I have compost I don’t know about.
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Post by bjd on Sept 5, 2022 8:27:37 GMT
I have been making compost for years -- not very seriously because I don't turn it over. The area we lived in beside Toulouse subsidized compost bins, and here I bought one at Lidl right when we arrived. I often leave the lid off, even though you are supposed to keep it on to create heat. I get nice black earth, along with stuff that doesn't decompose well: eggshells (you are supposed to crush them first), stones from peaches or plums. We also have big bin of leaf mulch which I added to the soil the other day.
There are loads of Youtube videos about making compost. You are supposed to add "brown" stuff too, along with the green from leaves, grass cuttings and vegetable peels. You can add dry leaves, shredded newspapers and brown paper bags. Just no cooked food or bread if you don't want to attract mice or rats.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Sept 5, 2022 18:29:47 GMT
Every blasted plant in the front garden pot is very dead. Yesterdaythey looked a bit straggly...but this morning they're kaput.
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Post by bjd on Sept 26, 2022 14:29:49 GMT
I bought a pomegranate tree this morning. The seller told me it would take about 3 years before I get any fruit. My neighbour has one in his garden, just over the fence from where I put mine and I saw that he has one pomegranate on it. They have really pretty flowers.
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Post by mich64 on Sept 26, 2022 15:07:09 GMT
My dad always said when he planted any fruit trees to always plant at least 2 of the same near each other, so you planting the same will probably help them both!
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Post by bjd on Sept 26, 2022 15:29:00 GMT
Mich, pomegranate trees are autofertile, so you only need one.
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Post by mich64 on Sept 26, 2022 18:05:32 GMT
Another good day! I enjoy learning new things about gardening, thank you bjd!
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Sept 28, 2022 22:45:33 GMT
Today I took out the tomato plants, they were in the greenhouse and we have suficient tomatoes...we have tomatoes in the freezer and I've made several jars of green tomato chutney. Incidentally this year was my best ever tomato harvest..just 2 varieties Moneymaker and Shirley one of each!
Then I swept out and washed the glass that I could reach. It's looking very clean and shiny.
Took some pelargonium cuttings. Just need some bubblewrap now to insulate the greenhouse ready to overwinter some of the tender plants.
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Post by bjd on Sept 29, 2022 6:09:29 GMT
I still have one cherry tomato bush in the ground -- still lots of small green tomatoes on it but they probably won't ripen. I have been moving a few things around, planted two pennisetums (decorative grasses) yesterday, moved some little roses and we finally took out the massive trumpetvine at the front of the garden. I'm sure bits will keep popping up for years.
I cut the top of the rosebush I mentioned in post 936, still have to think where to put it.
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