by Stan Logan | Oct 11, 2020 | Safe Gardening
Have you recently been frustrated by having more garden refuse than your bin can hold? This has been my case in recent weeks as fall approaches and I have increasing amount of debris to get rid of. I have found that by climbing into my bin, and jumping up and down, I can compress the plant material into a much smaller volume. Now although this activity is a lot of fun, there are several dangers of which you must be aware. The plant material itself can be a threat if there are sharp pokey things that might penetrate your legs. Then too, the act of climbing into or out of a bin creates the possibility of a tumble. Then too, if you compress the plant material too low, you may not be able to escape. But I guess that’s OK since it’s an organic bin, and you are definitely organic. Sounds like a gruesome episode you might watch on TV about a missing person. Yuck.
I hope that you don’t have to face the weekly volume problem of garden refuse like I do. The City of Davis doesn’t do street pickups for 6 straight months! In any case, perhaps you should leave dumpster stomping to a local neighborhood child. They would probably love it.
Stan, The Tool Man
Polypropylene Dolly
by Stan Logan | Oct 10, 2020 | Safe Gardening
Have you recently been frustrated by having more garden refuse than your bin can hold? This has been my case in recent weeks as fall approaches and I have increasing amount of debris to get rid of. I have found that by climbing into my bin, and jumping up and down, I can compress the plant material into a much smaller volume. Now although this activity is a lot of fun, there are several dangers of which you must be aware. The plant material itself can be a threat if there are sharp pokey things that might penetrate your legs. Then too, the act of climbing into or out of a bin creates the possibility of a tumble. Then too, if you compress the plant material too low, you may not be able to escape. But I guess that’s OK since it’s an organic bin, and you are definitely organic. Sounds like a gruesome episode you might watch on TV about a missing person. Yuck.
I hope that you don’t have to face the weekly volume problem of garden refuse like I do. The City of Davis doesn’t do street pickups for 6 straight months! In any case, perhaps you should leave dumpster stomping to a local neighborhood child. They would probably love it.
Stan, The Tool Man
by Stan Logan | Oct 5, 2020 | Garden tools
How is organic dumpster diving different from ordinary dumpster diving? Well, ordinary dumpster diving has been around for decades—ever since dumpsters have been created to store discarded items. Organic dumpster diving is a more recent activity allowed by the recent effort to keep organic materials out of the landfill. Now, searching through the contents of your organic bin may seem somewhat unpleasant, if not downright disgusting. However, sometime a dive seems imperative. Have you ever been working with a favorite tool, and after depositing plant clipping or weeds into your organic bin, that beloved tool has disappeared? After endless searches has revealed no misplaced tool, the fear slowly arises that you have thrown away your tool. This happened to me several days ago when my hand rake suddenly disappeared. So, I pulled the garden refuse out of my bin. No tool. Then I went over to my neighbor’s bin, to which I had added my excess, and pulled all the plant material out and into a garbage can. No tool. Now I must admit that most organic dumpster dives are unsuccessful. I figure the success rate is about 20%. And sure enough, I later found the hand rake lying on the back of the Prius in the driveway. I continues to amaze me how I will have absolutely no recollection of where I put something down.
So, I guess I’d have to say that organic dumpster diving is not something I think you’ll enjoy, but it is the only way that you can be assured that your treasured tool is not gone forever.
Happy diving (?)
Stan, The Tool Man
by Stan Logan | Sep 1, 2020 | Garden tools
LaVille and I were poking in 36” fencing around a Rudbeckia that had grown crazy tall and threatened to bend over into a mess. Beneath that fencing was another grouping of 18” fence sections that were no longer effective. I was reminded of how often we have used the short fence sections. Here are several reasons you may want to consider a purchase. Frequently one plant will outgrow an adjacent one and shade it out. A single fence section can be placed between them to separate the foliage. Simply propping up a plant that is unable to support itself is useful. Plants can be held away from your lawn to prevent interference with mowing. You can create a safety barrier to protect plants when you drag a hose around the garden. Finally you can make a reminder barrier to stop human traffic. I can’t tell you how many mini sprayers I broke off by stepping across a planted area. A single section of fence stopped that. You might even want to spray paint a traffic stopper white to make it more noticeable.
If you purchase sturdy fencing, it will last a lifetime. I would suggest you avoid “wire” fencing as it may not have the strength or durability you require. Also pick a style that has a loop attached to one side. This is for joining sections together as you will slide the stake at the unlooped end of a second section though that loop. This means of attachment makes all kinds of articulation possible. The fact that sections can be separated make storage easier, and they can be stored out in the weather.
“So . . . Why the weird title,” you ask. Well, I just couldn’t resist. You see, if you were my age, that sentence would have more meaning. But then even if you are old, you may never have played cowboy and Indians, which of course would be completely unacceptable in current times. Still confused? Google “Don’t fence me in”, and you will be able to listen to a song of that title. Then you may ask LaVille who she sat next to on a fire engine in a parade when she was seven. You see, her dad had a lot of pull those days in Imperial Valley.
A lot of fencing examples can be found on Amazon—just google “garden fencing”. I think 18” by 18” panels are the most practical size.
Hope to hear you singing those familiar lyrics the next time I see you.
Stan, The Singing Cowboy (I wish)
Wire Fencing
by Stan Logan | Sep 1, 2020 | Garden pests, Garden tools
Thankfully, gophers are not a problem for me. But since several of my gardening friends are constantly fighting against these little demons, I thought I would spread what I have learned from others. Gopher killing products are found in nurseries, big box stores, and hardware stores. The most common product is poison bait. The use of bait is discouraged because the secondary poisoning effect. If another animal eats the killed gopher, the dog, coyote, owl, or whatever, will be likewise poisoned. Probably the preferred gopher killer is the Black Box trap by Victor. There is a very effective You Tube video produced by Dirt Farmer Jay who demonstrates how to use this trap. He will also show you how to use a flare device that emits poisonous smoke. Still another method is to use propane gas. Run a hose from a propane tank into a gopher run and that will poison the gophers. I have also heard that it is effective to attach a hose to the exhaust of a riding mower and lead that into a run. I’m not sure if these last two are legal. But whatever your technique, I have sympathy for anyone with a gopher problem. They can do a devastating job on a garden you have worked so hard to create. I have included a picture of the Black Box.
Stan
Gopher Trap
P.S. You know, if you are planning raised beds, you might want to lay down hardware cloth first. This is a layer of wire mesh that has ½ in holes in it. That would at least keep gophers out of your box.
