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Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2020 7:49 am
by GoDawgs
Nan6b wrote: Sat Feb 08, 2020 4:55 pm I do sun-studies every so often.
1. Make a map of an area (1 square=1 of my feet, since that's the measurement I can always use.)
2. Measure out blocks 2'x2' on the map, so you don't go nuts trying to do every square foot.
3. Get up at sunrise on a clear day.
4. Go outside every hour. Put a tick mark in every 2'x2' square that has sun that hour. (sun covering over half of the block)
5. Get up and go outside over the next few days to get the hours you missed due to cloud cover or emergencies.
6. Count up your tick marks to see how many hours of sun each block gets.

Best to do these when trees are leafed out. Ideally, do it on June 21, longest day of year. But if you do it end of May, that's the same sun positioning as beginning of July, e.g. I have my garden mapped this way. No area of it gets more than 7 or less than 3 hours of sun. (I wish my neighbors would trim their trees back!)
This is a most excellent method! I love the use of your feet for measuring.

Question: Do you use a separate sheet for each measuring day?

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2020 7:51 am
by GoDawgs
Bower wrote: Sat Feb 08, 2020 4:16 pm Spreadsheet and computer calendar envy, here! Love your sunmapping plan too - I need to do something like that as well. Spent a lot of time just looking for the shadows all season long but did not write down or take a pic of the data! The trouble here we have so many cloudy days there's no way to map your shade unless the sun cooperates.
BTW your tip about watering the rosemary was duly noted last week, and lo behold she is flowering again!
Bower, I'm so glad your rosemary is doing better. They sure are thirsty plants. I probably need to repot mine to a larger pot as it's probably rootbound. It's hard to keep them watered when that happens. However the step after that will have to be planting it outside. This rosemary was started with cuttings taken from a declining old rosemary planted out back. I'm glad I did since the old plant died not too long after.

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2020 8:03 am
by GoDawgs
2016 was the year I started carrying a little notebook in my pocket when in the garden. It's perfect for recording stuff for later transference to the spreadsheets, things like first bloom of something, first picking etc. It's also handy for notes to myself about tasks that need to be done. Those are the things that you swear you'll remember but never do. "Next year do not plant anything in that lowest bed early in the season." "Straighten and reset the side board in that bed." It's easy to check off chores and see what's left to do. Notebook, camera, pocket knife... the three things I always have with me in the garden.

When I get to the last page I flip the notebook around and start writing on the backs of the pages. Pickles found the perfect little pencils that fit perfectly into the coils at the top of the notebooks. They're little pencils for writing scores on golf cards, of all things! She found them at Office Depot and gave me a box for Christmas two years ago. Now I have a lifetime supply. LOL!

This is a pic I posted on another site last year on January 1, wondering what successes or failures the new notebook would be filled with.

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Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2020 9:25 am
by MissS
You are full of wonderful ideas to keep gardening records. I do have spreadsheets and I love the idea of having a notebook on hand. So many times I think that I should make note of something when I go in and after a few hours in the garden I have forgotten all about it. A notebook on hand would solve that problem. Thanks!

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2020 11:42 am
by Nan6b
GoDawgs wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 7:49 am
Nan6b wrote: Sat Feb 08, 2020 4:55 pm I do sun-studies every so often.
1. Make a map of an area (1 square=1 of my feet, since that's the measurement I can always use.)
2. Measure out blocks 2'x2' on the map, so you don't go nuts trying to do every square foot.
3. Get up at sunrise on a clear day.
4. Go outside every hour. Put a tick mark in every 2'x2' square that has sun that hour. (sun covering over half of the block)
5. Get up and go outside over the next few days to get the hours you missed due to cloud cover or emergencies.
6. Count up your tick marks to see how many hours of sun each block gets.

Best to do these when trees are leafed out. Ideally, do it on June 21, longest day of year. But if you do it end of May, that's the same sun positioning as beginning of July, e.g. I have my garden mapped this way. No area of it gets more than 7 or less than 3 hours of sun. (I wish my neighbors would trim their trees back!)
This is a most excellent method! I love the use of your feet for measuring.

Question: Do you use a separate sheet for each measuring day?
No. What I'm trying to do is get a complete set of sun data. If it clouds up at noon, for example, on the first day, then I don't put any marks anywhere at noon, and note that I couldn't get a noon reading. The next clear day I have to do the noon reading. If you do it all within the space of a few days, the sun measurements won't differ by too much.

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2020 12:25 pm
by GoDawgs
Nan6b wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 11:42 am
GoDawgs wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 7:49 am
Nan6b wrote: Sat Feb 08, 2020 4:55 pm I do sun-studies every so often.
1. Make a map of an area (1 square=1 of my feet, since that's the measurement I can always use.)
2. Measure out blocks 2'x2' on the map, so you don't go nuts trying to do every square foot.
3. Get up at sunrise on a clear day.
4. Go outside every hour. Put a tick mark in every 2'x2' square that has sun that hour. (sun covering over half of the block)
5. Get up and go outside over the next few days to get the hours you missed due to cloud cover or emergencies.
6. Count up your tick marks to see how many hours of sun each block gets.

Best to do these when trees are leafed out. Ideally, do it on June 21, longest day of year. But if you do it end of May, that's the same sun positioning as beginning of July, e.g. I have my garden mapped this way. No area of it gets more than 7 or less than 3 hours of sun. (I wish my neighbors would trim their trees back!)
This is a most excellent method! I love the use of your feet for measuring.

Question: Do you use a separate sheet for each measuring day?
No. What I'm trying to do is get a complete set of sun data. If it clouds up at noon, for example, on the first day, then I don't put any marks anywhere at noon, and note that I couldn't get a noon reading. The next clear day I have to do the noon reading. If you do it all within the space of a few days, the sun measurements won't differ by too much.
Good deal. I was initially thinking of doing it quarterly but then, because I grow something all year round I pretty much have decided to do it monthly. That way I can do fall stuff like brassicas, etc in areas that are sunny after leaves fall. I have a good general idea about the middle and lower half of the garden and what is sunny and when but I need to pay better attention to that top corner where tomato buckets will be going this summer.

My sister ran across this the other day. You plug in your location and when you dive down near ground level you can see the sun's transit over your property any time of year. You can also drag the map around to move the point to any part of your garden. Still playing with it as I'm trying to figure out the best use of it. https://www.suncalc.org

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2020 6:27 pm
by Nan6b
You might not have to do every month. The way the sun moves gives you two months for one, if your leaves are the same. Example: If you do a sun study one month prior to Dec. 21 (shortest day) it's the same sun position as one month after Dec. 21. This works if both months either have leaves on the trees or both months have leaves off the trees. A sun study done one month before June 21 is equal to a sun study done a month after June 21, if there are leaves on the trees both months. Where I live, March & September would not be equal because March has no leaves & September does. Did I say that clearly?

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2020 7:04 am
by GoDawgs
You did and thank you! Maybe I'll just do it on the solstices and equinoxes, just for grins and giggles. :D

Adding reminders for those days to my computer calendar now. ;)

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2020 3:50 pm
by GoDawgs
This summer I want to put the tomato buckets at the top of the garden in a bed that gets some afternoon shade. They'll be on pallets that will sit across the bed, not on the soil so as to keep fire ants out. Then if this experiment doesn't work out, the pallets will go somewhere else and the bed can revert to being a regular bed again, just more narrow.

The pallets are 4' wide and so is the outside diameter of the bed so there's just a small edge for the pallets to sit on. Not enough. I decided to make the bed more narrow so that wooden pallets will sit firmly across the side boards with some overhang.

This morning I dug out a 1' strip down one side of the bed and then moved the two side boards in so now the bed is 3' across.

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Digging, leveling and setting the two boards took at least an hour and a half. Adjust this, level that, measure across, peg the boards in place...lots of fiddling. But it's done other than cutting the end boards to size.

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I decided to place a pallet on the bed to see how it fit. The first one didn’t because it had cut outs on the cross pieces to allow lifting forks to slide through. The cut outs were spaced so that if one side of the pallet rested on one of the bed's side boards, the other side board “fell in the hole” of the other cutout so the pallet tilted. A pallet with no cutouts fit perfectly.

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I forgot that not all pallets are 4x4. The first one I tried wasn't so I couldn't just turn it. I now know I need to pay attention when selecting pallets that the 4’ side has no cut outs. There's always a lesson to be learned. :roll:

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2020 6:27 pm
by Nan6b
Dawgs- equinoxes & solstices sound good.

Do pallets come in 5'x5'?

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 8:43 am
by GoDawgs
Nan6b wrote: Mon Feb 10, 2020 6:27 pm Dawgs- equinoxes & solstices sound good.

Do pallets come in 5'x5'?
I don't think so but you can ask Worth. He'd probably know. My guess is that pallets are 4' wide because the inside width of semi trailers is 8' and you could sit two side by side inside the trailers. Some of the pallets I have are 4x4 but some are 4x 30-something.

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 8:45 am
by GoDawgs
It's a gloomy day out there with on and off mist. More rain is coming, probably tomorrow if not a few sprinkles today.

I just came up from the garden as I wanted to get the pea beds prepped for planting this afternoon and get them in ahead of the rain. I pulled the leaf mulch back, scattered the fertilizer and started to turn that under. But after two shovels full it was evident that I'd go no farther today. The soil was really mucky and to turn it over now would really harm the soil structure as it would dry in hard clumps.With rain coming in It now looks like a ten day wait.

The first asparagus seeds are poking up in their cell packs. Progress. Meanwhile the kale and collards and the first round of broccoli and cabbage plants are about ready to start hardening off outside on the porch. They'll get a few hours today.

Re: Some hardening off

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 12:46 pm
by GoDawgs
We had another inch of rain two days ago so we'll try pea planting on the 18th after several days of sun. However the forecast is for possible showers tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Planting will happen when it happens.

Meanwhile the first round of three broccolis and one of three kales are now hardening off on the porch. I swear that in their first two days outside they doubled in size! They can go to the garden as soon as I can safely prep planting holes. I also put the mint back outside. In the window boxes are parsley on the left and arugula (which I've been adding to salads) on the right.

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On one light shelf I have a dwarf tomato (Red Robin), some thyme, a pot of just-seeded scallions (2nd round) and a basil plant in the front. There are also five small pots of soil warming up so I can transplant some small pepper and dwarf tomato seedlings. The potting soil was outside and super cold. Behind them are asparagus seedlings.

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This shelf has the 2nd round of three broccoli plants, three collards, the other two kales and first round of scallions. They will all go out to the porch for their first several hours of hardening this afternoon. In the back are the just-sprouted last three broccolis and on the right the little peppers and tomatoes that I'll pot up this afternoon.

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Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 3:41 pm
by MissS
Yes the sun really does perk things up. Everything looks very happy.

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:16 pm
by Texgal
GoDawgs wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:15 am
The wild daffs in the yard don't seem to mind. There's even one blooming down in the front left corner and lots of buds.

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My grandmother had lots of daffodils in her yard when I was growing up. They were a always lovely part of Spring.
Nice job on the garden.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:51 am
by GoDawgs
Thanks, Texgal. Like everybody else's, it's always a work in progress.

After just a few days of drying out, it's rain today through Thursday. The purported heat tolerance of the Wando peas will be tested this year as they're going to get sown probably the latest they've ever been sown. The beds were just starting to dry out and now more rain.

Yesterday I put tunnels over the two pea beds and the one potato bed just to keep the rain out and help them dry! When I grabbed a handful of soil, the top 2-3" seemed ok to plant in but below that it was muddy. and when this bout of rain finally stops, I'm going to go ahead and plant in that top 2". If their roots go down into the mud and they drown later I have plenty of seed for replanting.

Now the turnip and carrot sowing scheduled for today has been cancelled until further notice. I have no idea what this year's garden will finally look like. I just know that when it's finally ok to plant it's going to be an avalanche of tasks to do at once. Oh well, been there and done that before and it will all get done sooner or later. Hopefully not later. It's always a race to get stuff up and running before the heat comes calling.

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 4:50 pm
by worth1
More is on the way.

Re: The Dawg Swamp

Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 1:14 pm
by GoDawgs
Well, we ended up with 3" yesterday. I guess the three tunnels did their job as all that water is now lying between the beds. The bottom areas of the garden are totally swamped again.

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You know the phrase about hindsight being 20/20. As we were looking at the mess, Pickles offered that perhaps we didn't need to set up the tunnels but just lay the plastic over the bed. Well, that would have created a plastic lined swimming pool. BUT... I could have just put some overturned 3 gallon buckets down the middle of each bed, laid the plastic down over the beds, anchoring the plastic hanging over the edge in several spots on the ground with a few bricks. There would have been enough slant to make all the rain run off and not collect on collapsed spots between hoops. Water is heavy!

More tinkering is in order. Too much water is a situation we don't run into very often!

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 3:12 pm
by Nan6b
Dawgs, give it up and grow rice! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Rainy Day Tomato Putters

Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2020 10:16 am
by GoDawgs
Rainy day (again) indoor putters! The tomatoes won't be started until later but I had to scratch the seed starting itch so that happened with dwarf tomatoes and basil. They can live on a table inside or outdoors on the porch, temps permitting.

Both of these tomatoes are new to me. The first is 'Red Robin' which supposedly will get just 9-12" tall and make 1.5" cherry tomatoes. This is one stocky plant! It was seeded on 1/9 and yesterday I put it in a 2 gallon pot which will be its final home. It already has the first flower buds on top!

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The other one is Dreikäsehoch, a cherry tomato also known as Whipper Snapper and the seed came from Farmer Shawn's Carolyn collection. It is supposed to be a 1' plant with a trailing habit. Waaaay different from Red Robin! I wonder when it will start trailing. It was started 1/26 and I put it in a larger pot this morning. It's sitting next to the Kentucky Colonel mint.

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Seeds 'n' Such gave out a freebie packet of 'Newton' basil with orders this year and I started one on 1/9. The leaves aren't as bumpy on top (bullate) as some basils. I haven't tried it yet but this is what it looks like now.

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I want to start more herbs today but need to figure out how much space will be available under the lights once they germinate. There's one more light shelf left at the bottom of the rack but right now there are seed starting supplies living there. Hmmm, time to think on this.... unused space around the house is limited!