Scruffy's experiment

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Seems to be working okay.

Thanks Sanderson,  Now I am attempting to upload some pictures.  I will try one now using your suggestions.  Hold on, here it goes---

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If that code is a picture, than what you hopfully will be looking at will be one of the piles of the under brush I pulled from around the edge of the clearing wherein I plan to plant my garden.

Let's see if this works.  Oh, by the by, the brush pile is 35 feet long, 12 feet high and 17 feet deep.  Three request to the forrestry department for a burn permit were turned down until after a heavy rain and wind at less that 5 MPH.  There is no complaint here: I am impressed they took so much into consideration and made me wait until the conditions were optimal.

Wa-ah Hooo! it worked!  Oh Joy, Rapture!

scruffyfeathers wrote:Wa-ah Hooo! it worked!  Oh Joy, Rapture!

You go Scruffy!

I remember when I first was able to post pix.  I was 'over the moon' and eager to share.
Now you can start taking snapshots and keep us posted.

Grest, scruffy:  Just finished posting a welcome on your first thread so will not repeat it here.

That pile of brush is awesome. Is it possible to have it chipped and laid on top of your clay?  That way the nutrients will go back into the soil an encourage worms and all sorts of other little creatures to come and live with you as well as acting as a mulch and conserve water etc.

 Scruffy.  The adventure begins.


Kay

I foresee a rental chipper in your future! 1. Chip all of that up and use it in the isles between the sfg beds. (Roll out weed fabric first.) Even if it rains, you will be able to walk around the beds. Make a walkway from the house the same way. 2. Get loads of farm manure (I like horse poo with its hay ingredients) to spread under and out from a nice evening sitting tree for gazing at your future garden. Then top with those wood chips. In a year, with the sun and rain and worms, it should turn into a nice planting area for annuals and perennials. Gads, I'm excited looking at your blank canvas.

After chipping all that look into Back To Earth gardening. It will help your clay.
BTE and SFG have some nice synergy.

Turan, BTE Topic is limited to folks with a minimum number of posts. I was just trying to describe something similar. Audrey is building up a summer sitting area and flowers.

quiltbea wrote:I remember when I first was able to post pix.  I was 'over the moon' and eager to share.
Now you can start taking snapshots and keep us posted.

Once things calm down and the planting (I am still Planting stuff) finished we intend on taking many pictures and sharing our adventures with those that are interested.  Our project is a little larger than some we have viewed here.  I hope that is ok.

Scruffy.

Kelejan wrote:Grest, scruffy:  Just finished posting a welcome on your first thread so will not repeat it here.

That pile of brush is awesome. Is it possible to have it chipped and laid on top of your clay?  That way the nutrients will go back into the soil an encourage worms and all sorts of other little creatures to come and live with you as well as acting as a mulch and conserve water etc.

Yes, it could have been chipped but we are just a two man band and it would have been rather time consuming.  Pee Wee may operate the equipment with ease but he has a little difficulty with handling some of the larger branches. 

Anyway, there were actually two more piles just as large.  We invited the fire station staff to come out for hamburgers, hotdogs and soft drinks providing they would bring a fire truck with them.  They agreed but due to some regulation we were not able (allowed) to take any pictures of the equipment or staff.  We had a great time and met some really nice folks.

sanderson wrote:I foresee a rental chipper in your future!  1.  Chip all of that up and use it in the isles between the sfg beds.  (Roll out weed fabric first.)  Even if it rains, you will be able to walk around the beds.  Make a walkway from the house the same way.  2.  Get loads of farm manure (I like horse poo with its hay ingredients) to spread under and out from a nice evening sitting tree for gazing at your future garden.  Then top with those wood chips.  In a year, with the sun and rain and worms, it should turn into a nice planting area for annuals and perennials.  Gads, I'm excited looking at your blank canvas.

This is my first garden and is actually an experiment.  We have plenty of felled wood to chip for future needs.  Right now I want to see if I have a green thumb or not.  I will need help from most all of you to help me plan a garden and maintain it so it will be productive.

Turan wrote:After chipping all that look into Back To Earth gardening.  It will help your clay.
BTE and SFG have some nice synergy.

Thanks.  I am a compulsive reader and will definately look into the BTE gardening.  I have no intention of using chemicals so I need to learn to get as much as I can with the materials available to me.

walshevak wrote: Scruffy.  The adventure begins.


Kay

We are looking forward to it.  We like to write little stories to share about our adventures so be prepared!

35 x 12 x 17???  That's a LOT of mulch in the making...!  Woo-Hoo!!!!

Save the ashes.  They are an excellent source of nutrients for mixing with your planting mix.  It provides one of the P's, I can;t remember which one just off the top of my head right now.  That happens at 67 more often now  .

CWJ

AtlantaMarie wrote:35 x 12 x 17???  That's a LOT of mulch in the making...!  Woo-Hoo!!!!

  Yes, that is a lot of mulch but time was against me.  I had three piles about the same size ready to be chipped or burned.   I chose the "burn" because I have more than 18 acres to pull  more organic material from.  Time was the issue here.  The three piles of brush were sitting in the middle of the area I wished to create a garden.  To rent a chipper for at least a week to chip that much undergrowth would have been both cost prohibitive and time consuming. I am on a limited budget

I will post before and after pictures.  The red clay is now sandy and gray.  It perks well.  Before I started this project I had standing water and exceptionally soggy ground in that area.  Since then I have mixed sand, lumas and ash into the area.  I don't know how well it will produce, but I suspect it will do much better than had I merely tilled it under. 

Burning does seem to be a terrible waste  It was a judgement call and knowing I had a bunch to mulch in reserve I chose to burn.   

Scruffy.

I can certainly understand your judgement call 100%

Scruffy, I know nothing about adding wood ash to a garden spot but I have read many discussions of the pros and cons.  I would suggest a soil test be done this fall.  Univ of Ga extension offices do the test and have instructions and bags for collecting soil samples.  It does cost something, I think $9 per sample but I am not sure.  Apparently adding ash makes the soil more acidic or more alkaline (cant remember which).

yolos wrote:Scruffy, I know nothing about adding wood ash to a garden spot but I have read many discussions of the pros and cons.  I would suggest a soil test be done this fall.  Univ of Ga extension offices do the test and have instructions and bags for collecting soil samples.  It does cost something, I think $9 per sample but I am not sure.  Apparently adding ash makes the soil more acidic or more alkaline (cant remember which).

Thanks Yolos,

My father-in-law (81 and still going strong) has been pestering me about soil samples since we have moved in. He also advised me NOT to mix the ash into the soil until AFTER I got the results of the samples. He lives about 25 miles away so I visit him and his garden regularly.

Following his advice I pushed all the ash (now just charred bits and pieces) off to the side. Right, wrong or indifferent I held off on the soil samples this year. I want to see what the land will do on its own with just the "natural" amendments I have mixed in from the woods. I will do the soil samples before next years garden. By then I will have a definite plan of what I want to plant, where to plant, how much to plant and a schedule for planting.

I did do PH testing on my own of the woods and the clay that I dug up (tilled). My goal this year is to get my grading correct and to put an actual "planting Plan" together for next year. I am here at SFG to get as much assistance from you and other members before I launch my actual project.

There was an overwhelming amount of work to do just to get my first seeds in the ground this year on May 15th.

Rest assured I am taking notes. I am about to release some pictures on what I have done thus far and hope for more input from SFG members as I explain my plan.

Brenda is on the computer during the day and when I am not too tired I get on at night and post my efforts. I hope you will continue to monitor my efforts and continue to jump in with helpful tips and advice.

Thanks,

Scruffy

I can understand burning as well.  We have a burn pile, but haven't torched it yet.  I'll be using those ashes in the compost pile.

You know we're ALL here to help you & cheer you on!

Kelejan wrote:I can certainly understand your judgement call 100%

Thanks for the back up on my call!  By the by, when did you move to Castlegar?  In the 70's, as a truck driver, I hauled some lumber mill equipment up that way and I remember the name.  Small town back then, but I do remember it because of the rivers running through it.  I can't remember their names though.  Very beautiful.

AtlantaMarie wrote:I can understand burning as well.  We have a burn pile, but haven't torched it yet.  I'll be using those ashes in the compost pile.

You know we're ALL here to help you & cheer you on!

It did seem like such a waste but I did have Three huge piles. It was the size (volume) of the burn that concerned the forestry department. They actually suggested I contact the local RFD and offer a cook-out for placement of a firetruck on my property. While the local RFD did agree to par-take, absolutely no pictures of staff or equipment were allowed. It is a dang shame that CYA stifles some neighborly get-togethers. We had a wonderful time and all embers were accounted for by days end.





Using the front end loader of the backhoe I pushed the ashes and bits of coal to the side.  I will mix them in later after I do more research.

scruffyfeathers wrote:

Kelejan wrote:I can certainly understand your judgement call 100%

Thanks for the back up on my call!  By the by, when did you move to Castlegar?  In the 70's, as a truck driver, I hauled some lumber mill equipment up that way and I remember the name.  Small town back then, but I do remember it because of the rivers running through it.  I can't remember their names though.  Very beautiful.

I moved from England to Robson across the Columbia River  to Castlegar Christmas 1979 then Castlegar itself three years later.  Now I wish I had stayed in Robson as the growing season is two weeks longer at each end of the season.  We moved becasue of business to save crossing by the ferry each day.

It is still a small town, 6,500 population when we moved here and only about 8,000 now although the infrastructure has been built up and everything seems busier but I hope we never catch up with the Okanagan let alone Vancouver.  It suits me perfectly.

The city is at the conjunction of the Kootenay River and the Columbia, a wonderful golf course and and lovely scenery as you noted.  We are now getting to be a destination city due to six years of Sculpture Walks  and are getting known for that world wide. Every summer thousands of dollars worth of sculptures are on display through the Downtown throughout the summer, and are changed yearly and we get artists from all over the world now wanting to display their work.  I love talking to the visitors and they love talking to me. We also take part in "Cities in Bloom" and are gradually getting better and better at it.

The whole area is worth visiting if you like fishing, walking, trail biking, skiing etc.  OK, that's my bit for promoting tourism. One of our slogans was about discovering Castlegar, but to be honest, I hope we are never really "discovered".  Please excuse my dog in the manger attitude, I do like visitors but I do not want too much change.