My helper is in Mexico, because his Mother died, so do not know when he will be back. Tired of looking at some tired looking Cosmos plants, so pulled out the 100 foot row. Glad that is all there was, as i could not have pulled another 100 feet for sure. I want as much seed as possible from them, so i will let them lay there for a few days and dry out before i pick them up.
Yesterday & today I am spraying a 5% concentration of 'Round Up' around the home site, garden & roads to kill everything that is growing where it doesn't belong (I will spray the new area of the garden a second time in a week or so prior to starting the back-fill).
Sprayed the new area of the garden a second time yesterday. Today I'm going to start the border around the asparagus bed area (sides only) to use up the remaining sacks of concrete before they go bad.
Burning out the last 2 sides today. First two sides smouldered through the night & were 98% gone by the time I woke up this morning. I have 12 T-posts to put in (supports for the 'bull panel' trellises) & then I'll start the dirt work... inching this project along.
Each is slated to be 47' in length and there are 2 of them still to be installed. One will be split between cucumbers & spaghetti squash. The other will be split for Roma & Kentucky Wonders green beans.
The 2 small sections (15') already installed up front, on either side of the greenhouse, are for melons (honeydews & cantaloupe/Persians).
I have laid enough brick and block to really appreciate all the effort and hard work that took. Something you can be proud of and enjoy for the rest of your life.
Thanks Ernie. The garden alone took 1440 blocks & 160 bags of concrete, thus far. I estimate the wall weight to be just shy of 23 tons. My back is still somewhat tired.
Sam,
Projects like that eventually turn out to be monuments to when we were younger and stronger. So much of what we do disappears as time passes, so those things that do endure become more important.
Ernie
Cut the grass & trimmed the runners of the 'spider plants' yesterday. Today I will clean our redneck swimming pool & put it away (pretty sure it won't be 100+ degrees in the coming weeks), then I'm picking up all the rebar/spikes from the old garden area. Tomorrow & will set the T-posts...
After starting the T-post, I decided to decrease their spacing & an now short 3, so I will need to pick them up. Got 9 of the 14 installed today & will probably finish them on Friday as I have other stuff to do tomorrow.
Mr. Ranch, what is the reason for cutting the T-posts off? I am pretty sure you want them all the same height to look nice, but I'm wondering if rocky ground prevents you from driving them all to the same depth?
You are correct, whistech... part of the reason is the overall appearance. The addition reason is that the bottom of irrigation heads rest on the top of the T-posts ensuring an unobstructed arc of water (I'll get a picture of the front section that has already been completed to help clarify my setup when it stops raining).
The ground is not rocky & each T-post was driven at least 2.5' deep (before the back-fill). I am also building this garden on somewhat uneven terrain.
OK, here is a closeup of the panel at the very front of the garden (where I'll grow the cantaloupe & honeydew). I start with a standard bull panel (5' X 16'), which is made out of 1 gauge galvanized wire & has a 6” x 6” spacing. At the very top & bottom of each panel, I weld a section of #5 rebar to prevent any sagging/flexing. These panels then rest on top of the T-posts and are welded in place also. When the panels are all installed, I then install the insulated risers & sprinkler heads as pictured. This will allow for an unobstructed arc of water... and as you can see, each section is perfectly level & straight... which is aesthetically pleasing as the garden is the first thing one sees upon arrival at the house.
While this may seem like overkill to some, I know that this setup will stand up to it being fully loaded with vegetation & any strong winds that may be encounter during the growing season down here.
Mr. Ranch, thanks for the picture. No doubt your trellis system is first class just like everything else in your garden. It's a beautiful set-up you have.
Cleaned the greenhouse out in preparation for the cold weather & did some minor modifications to the irrigation system in the garden prior to starting the back-fill. Also did a few other things that weren't garden related...
Frost is starting to hit around here. Today I hacked out all ten tomato plants (3 at my community garden and 7 at home) and the pepper plants I had . These went into yard waste bags not my compost pile. I didn't have any problems with tomato wilt or other fungi this year but I don't like to risk keeping diseases over the winter that may remain "alive" in non-composted material.
The weather is starting to turn a bit chilly here too and being things are coming to a close here I need to get my rain barrel emptied and ready for winter.