Starting from scratch!-Now I'm Excited!

[TheMartianChick]

We could use some nice wood floors in the bedrooms![/b]

Oooooh...that sounds like a great use for the wood!

 

[Marianne]

We have two woodburners here. I burn both hard woods and some softer woods like elm and some pine. We're very faithful about burning correctly and cleaning chimney pipes every year. Very little creosote buildup. I agree with martianchick, absolutely.

We don't have groundhogs, but had moles, voles and gophers. Ever since we have been here, I have been dumping used litter from the cat's boxes in the holes. That really cut back on the number of little varmints we had. The year we had a vole get in the garden, I started putting used cat litter around the perimeter of the garden, too.

The addition of the ferral cat that moved in plus resulting litters of kittens that we have NOT been able to give away...well, the cats earn their keep. No varmints this past year. We have yet to trap the momma cat, so eventually we might be run over with cats instead of the other varmints.

 

[mrbstephens]

We have two woodburners here. I burn both hard woods and some softer woods like elm and some pine. We're very faithful about burning correctly and cleaning chimney pipes every year. Very little creosote buildup. I agree with martianchick, absolutely.

We don't have groundhogs, but had moles, voles and gophers. Ever since we have been here, I have been dumping used litter from the cat's boxes in the holes. That really cut back on the number of little varmints we had. The year we had a vole get in the garden, I started putting used cat litter around the perimeter of the garden, too.

The addition of the ferral cat that moved in plus resulting litters of kittens that we have NOT been able to give away...well, the cats earn their keep. No varmints this past year. We have yet to trap the momma cat, so eventually we might be run over with cats instead of the other varmints.

What a great tip! I use that recycled paper in the litter box and have been dumping it behind the chicken coop. I'll just move it next to where the garden will be.

 

[Denim Deb]

Maybe I need to start using the cat litter in the various holes I find UNDER my garden. I know we have both moles and voles that tunnel underneath it. Don't know how many times I'll go to plant something and realize that I go down a few inches, and there's nothing under there!

 

[Dawn419]

I spoke with my father in law about irrigation. We have a pump for well water that was turned off and right now the house is connected to city water. I'd like to irrigate with the well water so we'll have to see if the pump still works, then run a line out to the garden area.

What irrigation system do you all like? I'm thinking drip irrigation. Not sure if it's expensive or hard to set up.

We're using the flat soaker hoses (from Wal-Mart) in our gardens, at this time but are hoping to get a drip irrigation system set up in the future.

We've checked out several places to get the system from and like DripWorks the best. They have several different "how-to" videos on their webpage.

 

[mrbstephens]

I spoke with my father in law about irrigation. We have a pump for well water that was turned off and right now the house is connected to city water. I'd like to irrigate with the well water so we'll have to see if the pump still works, then run a line out to the garden area.

What irrigation system do you all like? I'm thinking drip irrigation. Not sure if it's expensive or hard to set up.

We're using the flat soaker hoses (from Wal-Mart) in our gardens, at this time but are hoping to get a drip irrigation system set up in the future.

We've checked out several places to get the system from and like DripWorks the best. They have several different "how-to" videos on their webpage.

Cool! I'll have to check out that website. Thanks!

 

[mrbstephens]

We had a warm day today so I decided to mark the trees that will be removed. I hate doing that. Feel bad for the trees and wildlife. My son got mad at me and refused to help.

Our neighbor's house is fairly close to the back of our property line. I though I'd leave about a 30 food buffer between the property line and the garden, but I don't want to mess up and wind up with too much shade on the garden. So, is there a formula I can use to figure out how much shade will cast onto the garden by a 50 to 60 foot tall pine tree that is on the south, south-east, or south/west of where the proposed garden will be? These are pitch pines. There trunks are mostly bare and the needles are mostly on the top, sort of like a palm tree.

 

[Denim Deb]

Found this for ya.

http://www.findmyshadow.com/

 

[mrbstephens]

Found this for ya.

http://www.findmyshadow.com/

That is one cool website! I had a lot of fun with it and now figured out that the property is actually facing a bit south/east. I'll be taking out more trees on the west side than I originally planned and less on the eastern side. Thanks again!

 

[Denim Deb]

You're quite welcome.