which one of you poisoned your garden?

wyoDreamer

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@Britesea I was just going to post about the Black Walnut leaves being toxic.

This is a good reminder for me - DH and I are discussing what trees we want to buy for planting in the old, worn-out pasture area. We would like to turn it into a deer/wildlife haven. I was talking Black Walnuts so I could harvest nuts for baking. Maybe plant those somewhere else ...
 

CrealCritter

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Wow. Never heard of tree leaves being an issue. But... I suppose any thing is possible. It gives me cause for concern when I open up a bag of leaves (I pick them up in a near by town) and find it laced with grass clippings. I always source my hay from a neighbor farmer who assures me that the fields he hays are herbicide free. I don't know what I'll do when he retires. The biggest reason why I have chickens is for the MANURE. Eggs are a wonderful side benefit. I would like to turn 1/4 acre into a "hay field" which I would harvest with a scythe. 3 cuttings/season would provide all the hay I need.

fall applications of "Weed and feed" is what I suspected, but of course I can't prove it.
 

CrealCritter

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@Britesea I was just going to post about the Black Walnut leaves being toxic.

This is a good reminder for me - DH and I are discussing what trees we want to buy for planting in the old, worn-out pasture area. We would like to turn it into a deer/wildlife haven. I was talking Black Walnuts so I could harvest nuts for baking. Maybe plant those somewhere else ...

I have several black walnut trees around my property. And no other tree growing around them but eastern red cedars. It seems they like each other.

If you want to harvest black walnuts you need to be quick about it because the squirrels snatch them up right quick.

We have a gravel driveway. I lay out black walnuts right after they fall and while they still have green outter coating on them. It only takes a couple of times running over them with the truck and a couple of dry hot days before all the green falls off easy. Then your left with just the nut to crack and shell.

Mmmmm good!

Here's what I mean about ERC and BW loving on each other. I wouldn't hesitate at all about planting black walnut trees. It's not like they are the black plaque or something.
IMG_20200304_163419.jpg
 
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Britesea

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Black walnuts are a wonderful tree, but they do exude juglone, which is particularly toxic to solanaceous plants (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, potatoes) and a little less so to other plants. Juglone is present in all parts of the tree (bark, leaves) but especially in the roots. Your photo shows that there are always exceptions though, lol.

I'm not saying that is what killed the garden, just throwing it out as another possibility.
 

Chic Rustler

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I don't even take advantage of all the free horse manure available because of all the wormers and other stuff.
I would think hot composting would get rid of most of that stuff
 

Lazy Gardener

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"They say" that hot composting does break it down. When I was a kid, we lived on an 80 acre farm at southern part of the state. We had 2 black walnut trees at the edge of the lawn. As soon as the nuts started dropping, I'd grab a hammer and sit on the old granite well curb and smash those nuts. My hands were always stained through "nut" season. Oh how I loved walnuts!
 

YourRabbitGirl

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If the leaves were from Black Walnuts, that would kill the garden even if it was 100% organic
poisoning the garden?, Hot composting? I'm lost. :(. This will be great if someone can tell me everything about this. can this really help me to better my garden?
 

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