Open Post and Garden/Cat Update, August 2022

[kimberlysteele]

Please feel free to comment on anything and everything but keep in mind I delete profanity worse than the b word.

Baby oak is getting larger!  I planted coneflowers and borage around him.

Rose of Sharon -- I pruned both of mine very hard this year and multiple times.  It has lots of buds.  Hopefully next month's photos will feature blooms.

Daylily garden with Russian sage in the background and a raspberry bush in the foreground.  Last year I made raspberry cordial -- raspberry juice boiled with sugar and vodka.  Probably will do the same this year.  It makes a great Christmas gift.


Tommy the neighborhood kitty.


This year's tomatoes, planted alongside calendula, parsley, and dill.


Borage trying to do a hostile takeover of the lettuce patch.



Hostas, fern, Eastern cedar, coneflower, ferns, catmint, and grasses.  


Shadow Shadilay.

Ashley Amore giving the Bette Davis eyes because he wants food.

Comments

Composting question

[(Anonymous)]

Hello, Kimberly and fellow readers. I am a new gardener and have a question about composting, inspired by a post from methylethyl over at Ecosophia. She talked about a method of planting melons (dig a hole, deposit something rich in nitrogen and probably gross, etc). I can't do regular composting where I live because it would draw bears, mice, and other critters. So I'm wondering if I could do a modified version of methylethyl's planting technique using things that won't be attractive to critters.

I'm thinking of digging into my raised garden beds and containers this fall and mixing in:
- Eggshells
- Coffee grounds
- Fallen tree leaves
- Maybe a little wood ash?

I don't know what the soil needs in particular. What do you guys think? Does anyone have experience with this kind of composting? So far this year my squash and cucumbers have done really well, scallions and lettuce are ok, tomatoes not very happy. Most of the herbs didn't survive at all. The wildflower seed I scattered around the edge of the lawn didn't take either.

Kimberly, congratulations on your baby oak : )

PJ Puca

Re: Composting question

[kimberlysteele]

Maybe just keep it to grass clippings for the green layer and leaves and wood chips for the brown. No food scraps in there. And dump pee on it.

Re: Composting question

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you : )

Re: Composting question

[randomactsofkarmasc]

Eggshells are good, if you are going to grow tomatoes. Tomatoes that don't get enough calcium get something called 'blossom end rot'. I crunch the shells up, so they are small pieces. (But I don't have bears near me, so I have no idea if crunched up shells would attract bears.)

I have not done it, but I have read about vermiculture (composting with worms). They said the worms like coffee grounds (but you have to feed them more than that). Worm casings are excellent for the soil.

Re: ash; Ash can change the pH of the soil. And plants definitely have a pH preference. So if you've checked your soil's pH and it is low (more acidic), then ash is good for raising the pH and adding calcium and potassium, both good for the soil.

Re: Composting question

[(Anonymous)]

Randomactsofkarmasc,
I've been washing the eggshells and crushing them into tiny pieces...the bears probably won't care about those. Bears are more interested in kitchen scraps. A friend of mine had his composter torn apart by a hungry bear.

Thank you for the ash and pH info. I need to figure out how to test the soil to see what it needs and what the pH is.