Garden 2021

[Boissal]

Any apiarists in here? For the first time in my expereince, it seems like we have a small honeybee colony in our compost bin. We have a couple of those conical composters, and I rotate them so that we start with an empty one in the late fall, and so there has been very little degradation of the material so far. Temps are now around 10C most afternoons, with mild freezing temps over night, and a few days ago I noticed the little ladies flying in and out of the composter. They seem to be coming out from under a few layers, and definitely are not flying from elsewhere to source out any fruit or cut flower remains that are in there. They are still pretty docile and not aggressive at all, and I hope they leave of their own accord, but it seems very early for such departure around here. Any thoughts? I'll be searching out a local apiarist in a couple weeks if they are still there and see if they can remove the swarm. Love the bees and certainly don't want to destroy them, but this location will need to be a temporary abode for sure.

Not a bee expert by any stretch but 2 of our neighbors have hives and we love it, the bees spent all day pollinating our garden. We had a swarm set shop underneath the chicken coop last year. I've seen them in the craziest places, a compost bin wouldn't surprise me one bit. And unless the place is ridiculously inhospitable in the summer (ours is black plastic and might get too hot for bees) they won't leave on their own if they've been there more than a week.

[stapes]

Boissal- thanks for the greenhouse info! Appreciate it.

Some of my onion seeds are sprouting. They were older seeds so wasn’t sure if they would or not.

Now all this snow needs to melt so I can get to work in the beds!

[gravitylover]

I can't seem to muster the desire to start things inside this year, it's probably borderline too late anyway. I cleaned out the existing beds and need to go get 20 or 30 more bags of soil to fill them out and extend two of them into sunnier areas. Big plans and no enthusiasm to get it done, last year I was all over it but not so much this year and I don't know why. I have a heckuva seed collection ready to go though...

[skaredshtles]

We are planning to have our retaining walls replaced this spring/summer, so no garden for us other than a few tomatoes in pots and probably some herbs.

[nickwm21]

You guys convinced me to attempt an early start in my laundry room window! All lettuce varieties...

What do you guys do with all the mystery seeds at the bottom of the box/bag where you store the seed pouches?




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[Thaleia]

Any soil experts?

I plan to have about 3 or 4 yards of dirts delivered. This will be primarily for growing vegetables; it will be going into a new raised bed and to top up and mix into existing veg gardens. Anything extra will be used repotting throughout the summer or possibly thrown onto the lawn.

My options:

Garden Soil $45/yard
Triple Mix $45/yard
50:50 Mix $30/yard
Compost Manure $23/yard
Organic Compost $31/yard

For what it's worth the garden center recommends straight Garden Soil, but curious if anyone has any input here. Like composts gotta be good right?

[climberevan]

I use the 50/50 mix from our local place with success. You don't want straight compost since it will have no structure.
The more expensive options might be better, but it really depends on where you're getting it and what they put in it.

[Flounder]

We’ve tried a variety of soil, sand, and compost mixes in our raised beds. Last year we filled the top 16” or so with Mels mix. Equal parts compost, vermiculite, and peat moss( or coconut coir). Never had plants grow so well.

https://squarefootgardening.org/2020...c-of-mels-mix/

[Skidog]

Well looks like the raised beds I built get filled this weekend with topsoil. Sucky part is I have my biggest box raised to about waist height and it's 100ft from the dirt pile, so, fill wheel barrow, hump to box and shovel out into box. Going to be a long weekend. 5cu yards

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[mud]

First harvest is coming in nicely.

[AK47bp]

First harvest is coming in nicely.

Oh my.

Can we be friends?


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[mud]

Good mushrooms makes everyone your friend.

[CovertM]

First harvest is coming in nicely.

The 55g was throwing me off, but realized that pre-drying. I was thinking those were some monster boomers!

Care to share your process?


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[gravitylover]

I couldn't find good garden soil anywhere local this year so I got 15 bags of potting soil and 5 bags of organic compost. I'm mostly using it to top dress last years beds and will mix it 75/25 in some new ones.

[Skidog]

I couldn't find good garden soil anywhere local this year so I got 15 bags of potting soil and 5 bags of organic compost. I'm mostly using it to top dress last years beds and will mix it 75/25 in some new ones.

One of the small joys of living in the "black dirt" region of upstate.

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[gravitylover]

^ Yeah I also line the bottom 1/3 of my beds with branches and brown material, Hugelkultur style. It's a good way to aerate the lower levels then as things rot and it compresses the worms and such have already created their channels so the bed maintains good airflow for a long time. That and it gets rid of a lot of the stuff that falls out of the trees into the yard every time the wind blows.

[Skidog]

^ Yeah I also line the bottom 1/3 of my beds with branches and brown material, Hugelkultur style. It's a good way to aerate the lower levels then as things rot and it compresses the worms and such have already created their channels so the bed maintains good airflow for a long time. That and it gets rid of a lot of the stuff that falls out of the trees into the yard every time the wind blows.

My beds are new so I let all the leaves from fall just stay there. Dirt on top.

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[Skidog]

Almost there. Another barrow full then compost and potting soil. Then planting.

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[gravitylover]

Let it settle for a week or two after you're done. It also looks like a few nights below freezing late next week, typical last freeze is still a month away but I think that happens early this year. I'm going to put some brassicas out though because they're pretty hardy.

[Skidog]

Let it settle for a week or two after you're done. It also looks like a few nights below freezing late next week, typical last freeze is still a month away but I think that happens early this year. I'm going to put some brassicas out though because they're pretty hardy.

Yeah I won't plant for another 2 weeks probably. Thanks for the tip though

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[mud]

Care to share your process?

First time so I just followed the directions found online. Probably going to use Uncle Ben’s tek next time.

[Woo-Dus]

First time so I just followed the directions found online. Probably going to use Uncle Ben’s tek next time.

What did you use for substrate?

Gathering supplies to start growing Lion’s Mane indoors and then maybe some kind of oyster mushroom outside. Mushrooms will be a nice addition to this season.

[mud]

I bought the kit from Midwest grow and it had these jars.

https://www.midwestgrowkits.com/substrate-jars.html

Out of the 18 jars I started with I ended up with 8 jars that actually grew mycelium. I think the Uncle Ben tek will eliminate the contamination and produce a bigger harvest plus it’s less expensive then using grain jars that have to be sterilized.

[thedude2340]

Beets, lettuce and onion went in the ground today. 5b

[John_B]

Beets, lettuce and onion went in the ground today. 5b

Zone 5b? When's your last frost date?