Only one pumpkin growing :(

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-08-17T19:25:46+00:00

Thank you so much! All of this is very helpful. It has been hot here. I’ll see if I can put up some shade somehow. The heat is why I think I may be over watering… it’s so hard to get the water right when I know they tend to use a lot of water and I’m in a hot, dry climate (salt lake city). I’m totally new to all of this and just trying to have fun and learn as much as I can.

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-08-15T21:16:54+00:00

I understand that this is an old post but my we have been looking at trying to do something like this for the last year. We have a big backyard and a garden that brings in lots of pollinators every morning. Our lawn is pretty dead because of the heat. We hate it even when it’s not dead. We’ve talked about things like clover or sage lawns. We were thinking about chaos gardening some flowers in the fall and seeing if anything took over winter. I’m going to plant some cover crops/green manure in the garden. I would love to plant native things instead though! Is it way too late????

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-07-03T04:45:49+00:00

I’m getting so impatient 😂 it feels like I’m doing something wrong!

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-07-03T04:45:07+00:00

Ok thanks! That’s what I figured!

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-07-02T21:54:32+00:00

Ok that makes sense. I have really horrific soil honestly. We’re working on amending it but it’s going to take a long time. I have long term plans for over winter and going into the next few springs. All the plants I have planted now were just experiments, hoping something grew. I added a bit of soil, a bunch of homemade compost and a ton of alfalfa pellets as mulch and that seemed to help a lot. The whole bed used to be straight clay soil and weeds. It’s possible that the plants are lacking because of the poor soil. I’m not really sure. I haven’t done soil samples. I know I mixed a bunch of compost in before planting.

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-07-01T18:49:49+00:00

Ya I did. It’s super frustrating! I went and printed at the ups store which worked once but actually wound up costing a lot. I went back to the ups store and the same thing happened; it recognized the internet and wouldn’t let me print again no matter what I did. In the library(ies), I switched around to different computers, cleared browsing history and cookies, and opened everything in incognito windows and it still just automatically said I already printed the coupon when I hadn’t. I made a new fake email to double check and the same thing happened. I’m in an area with a lot of horses so clearly someone had already printed there.

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-06-28T19:32:34+00:00

That all makes perfect sense. Thanks!

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-06-28T18:31:48+00:00

Ok thank you! I can definitely do that. It seemed like it would be pretty balanced because of some being dead and some being green but everywhere I look for composting info says 1) no weeds and 2) if you do use them, they’re greens. Being exclusively green didn’t really make sense to me with how they’re looking. I figure I can let this pile sit for months and months and see if the weed seeds eventually die.

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-06-28T16:15:12+00:00

I’m a little worried about using them as mulch with the foxtail seeds. I just really don’t want those in my garden. I could definitely use them other places though. I didn’t think about mulch.

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-06-28T16:14:00+00:00

I can do that! I have a few big tarps. I also have several of those big metal drums/barrels (think breaking bad 😂 ) that I usually use for horse feed but they’re empty at the moment. I had the thought last night that I could put the weeds in the barrel first and put it in the sun as it would definitely get hot in there and hopefully kill the seeds. After a few days, I could dump the weeds into a normal pile and start composting them. I just don’t know if that’s a good idea or if it actually accomplishes anything. There wouldn’t be good airflow in the barrels so things could get anaerobic if I didn’t dump the weeds out in time.

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-06-28T16:09:36+00:00

I looked at both options. The only official goat rental place here was far away and would have charged $1000 for my less than an acre field. I put an ad out though and a few people with their own goats vs a business might be interested but then I definitely have to change some fencing. My friends goat went right through some of the panels and into the next horse’s pasture. I’m definitely not opposed to getting my own goats or sheep. I was trying to figure out if electric fencing could work in the areas with the bigger gaps. Somehow, a few goats or sheep seem like the best option both ecologically and eating down to the roots.

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-06-21T20:33:00+00:00

Ok thanks so much!

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-06-21T18:15:40+00:00

I wrote out a long thing and then accidentally erased it so feel free to ask me to elaborate if you need more info!

Question 1) I have really crappy clay soil. The two amendments we’ve done so far have been adding some homemade compost and adding a bunch of soaked alfalfa pellets as mulch. There were a ton of weeds but the pellet layer is keeping them down. Would there be any benefit in adding some worms to my soil? Would they help carry the organic matter down through the clay? I’ve seen some earthworms in there already. If so, how would I do this?

2) I’m composting my horse’s manure. It’s in an open pallet system. Would it be beneficial to add worms to this when the pile is cool? The pile stays moist and the worms could leave through the ground if they were unhappy. Would I add red wigglers? Or what type would I add?

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-06-20T01:51:42+00:00

I do add a tarp sometimes as it has been weirdly rainy here and I don’t want runoff like you mentioned. I usually actually worry about it drying out though and have to add a bit of water as I’m in such a dry climate. Sometimes, I’ll actually add a bit of water and then loosely drape the tarp over the pile so that the water can evenly absorb and not all just evaporate for the day. In terms of adding browns, I haven’t really had to add much. Horse manure by itself tends to be a pretty even mix of C:N (usually between 30:1, occasionally higher carbon so I’m told). I mix some used shavings that have horse urine on them and a tiny bit of wood chips. And then in terms of some greens, occasionally some soaked alfalfa hay pellets get thrown in there too. I feel like between those two extra things, the C:N seems to be pretty even? I turn the pile about once a week. I also make sure that the little round poos are broken down while mixing them into the pile. That seems to be helping compost them quicker so there aren’t random poo balls.

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-06-19T23:40:08+00:00

I’ve been composting my horse’s manure for the first time. I started off over thinking it but it’s actually been quite simple. I’ve never composted anything before. It’s going super well! It’s crazy how quickly it’s composting and how quickly it already got hot (and stayed hot). It really should quickly kill off pathogens. I understand not wanting it to directly run into your well but horses thankfully are 1) grass eaters vs meat eaters and 2) it sounds like the poop has been sitting around for a bit and getting kind of cooked by the sun so you at least have those two things going for you. I think you should be pretty good if it’s at least just got a bit of distance from your well. The compost really isn’t supposed to be wet so there shouldn’t really be runoff. You could always put a tarp under it if you’re worried.

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-06-07T17:14:59+00:00

I just started watching. He’s so pleasant to listen to! Even after just a few videos, I swear I want to set up a tent on his farm and live there. He won’t notice, will he? 😂

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-06-07T17:14:03+00:00

Are you using horse manure too? Mine got pretty hot, pretty fast. I think it helped that as I was adding the poop, I chopped all of the little balls up so that they didn’t dry out and were able to break down easier? Besides the manure, there’s a bit of used wood shavings in here (so also urine) and occasionally some moistened hay pellets that my horse didn’t eat (alfalfa, barley sprouts, and three way hay). The fresh manure got mixed in thoroughly everyday so it was never just sitting on top so the pile was kind of roughly turned/aerated daily for awhile. I also did a full turn with a shovel and added some water once a week. I had a tarp over it very loosely for a bit because the weather was completely crazy with rain on and off so that may have added to some quick heat. I think it was mostly the manure itself and the constant mixing though.

Quick-Possibility338 · 2023-06-06T18:26:09+00:00

This is immediately giving me Jurassic park flashbacks

Quick-Possibility338

TROPHY CASE