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Episode-374- Time to Plan the Spring Garden — 9 Comments

  1. I just wanted to amuse myself and be the first person to post. It’s the little things in life that you have to celebrate…

  2. It’s hard to think about planting seeds/plants when we have 24″ of snow here in NE Pa (Bradford county.) I have seen the stores do have their seeds out already so it helps to think of Spring coming soon.

  3. I agree with Foxy Huntress. I was listening to this Podcast while driving to work in blinding snow with 6″ on the roadways.

    But it was a good wakeup to realize there are some things I need to start planning for spring.

  4. Jack,

    I always here you saying “mulch the hell out of it”…sometimes in reference to protecting from cold, sometimes to prep poor soil, etc. What exactly does this mean. My understanding of mulch is like wood chips that people throw around trees, usually a horrendous red color. Is this what you are talking about?

  5. Jack,

    I heard in this podcast you were having trouble with your peach trees having inconsistent production. I had peach trees. Your problem probably has to do with pruning and thinning the trees.

    stinger570,

    Mulch could be red bark or grass clipping or shreaded newspaper or leafs or hay. In this context, mulch the hell could be some rotten hay, it’s perfect for that purpose.

  6. Hi Jack,

    Great motivational podcast. I plant about 15 trees a month ago and now have 4 4×4 raised square foot garden beds.

    I have a request. Do a show on the evil deer as a pest. I know in Northern California where I live, many people won\’t bother with a garden because it will be consumed by deer. Short of a major deer-proof fence, the garden WILL be consumed by deer. Yes, I know, deer are tasty biltong!

    Interested in your thoughts.

  7. Hey everyone,
    I have been wandering the halls of Home Depot a lot lately trying to open my eyes to what can be done with things outside of their intended use. I noticed the other day that they sell cull (left over) lumber in a bin outside near the contractor entrance. Might be a good place to keep an eye out for cheap wood from time to time for small projects. Of course it might also be good to make sure it wouldn’t be cheaper just to buy a big piece of wood and cut it down!

  8. Jack – thanks for all of your practical advice. Great tip about the vines not requiring full sun. We’ve had rogue squash vines in the *full shade* at the back of our house the last two years. I cut down a large thorn bush at the corner of the house last year, and plan on planting my crookneck squash in this space this year. We still have a stump with thick branches remaining, and I’m curious to see how the vine covers this space.

    Also love the tip about planting strawberries in flower beds. I’m going to use your idea. I’ll be taking some of the runners my main strawberry bed and plant them closer to the house this year. Love it!

    @Jon – we have serious problems with deer here in southeast PA. We had great success last year with the most simple solution…we put temporary posts around our garden, ran twine between them, and hung cheap foil pie pans, empty dog food cans, and plastic grocery bags on them. It was like night and day! Prior to the “fence” installation, the deer were destroying our strawberry patch. After the installation, we had no problems with deer…even in our bean patch (and they love beans).

  9. Also, I would like to add that for a mini-greenhouse. You could roast your own organic coffee beans and store them inside the greenhouse.
    Note on this: http://hackaday.com/2010/01/22/hack-together-a-coffee-roaster/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_roasting_coffee Roasting coffee beans produces a significant amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas; this CO2 preserves freshness to the extent that it excludes atmospheric oxygen.
    Also, fermentation produces CO2 as well. *cough*moonshine*cough* And so does making your own bear. With storing the heating unit and needing to keep the fermentation process at a lovely 70some degrees it also helps keep the greenhouse warm at night.