Lori Haga

I have planted cucumber & bean seeds 4 times this year with no success. I thought I had a groundhog, rabbit, chipmunk, bird issue eating my seeds and seedlings. Then after see slugs all over my peppers in a different bed, it dawned on me that it could be slugs. I have put out Sluggo 2 times now. Seems to be helping, but then again I read they disappear in the summer??

I have been reading online and on here, permies.com and I think I see what I did to kill all my cucumbers and bean plantings. After the very 1st planting I used a layer of year old wood chips on top of landscaping material around where I planted my cucumber & bean seeds to keep the weeds down. BUT in fact I unknowingly put the slugs right in with my seeds and seedlings. Now learning that the slugs like wood chips and like to hide in them. So it all makes perfect sense what happened. And now realizing that I just kept feeding them when I planted cucumbers and bean seeds 3 more times.  Now that it is summer, I understand they go down in the ground and out of the heat, only to be back in the fall.

I have been reading info on the University of Oregon website about their research on slugs. I also found an email address.  I’m going to reach out to them and see if they respond with anything or new info.

Thanks,
Lori

I have been reading and researching using Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita nematode to get rid of slugs. I’m not seeing anything new in 2 years.  Is there any new information on where I can buy this species of nematode in the USA?

Every year, I seem to go through the same thing. Looking for a way to organize all my ideas. Daily To-do lists. Projects. And to have a current weather temp. Then I get sidetracked by everything and never find what I need.

I have a growing homestead with chickens, goats and a donkey. I’m learning to grow a garden.

Does anyone have a way to stay organized with all the projects they are working on? I would like an app that also records the current outside temperature. Something to record my animals too?

Thanks!

Stacy Witscher wrote:I do a similar thing but I don't ever use it elsewhere. I just then grow in the piles and move onto new piles elsewhere. My property is all sloped so I create piles where I would like to increase the height of the ground and move around like that.

Thank you for that idea. I too live on a somewhat slopped hill. And so rocky. This has me thinking now, how this could help in other areas of the property that I’d not considered before.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I only use a tarp because I'm in a dry climate, so holding moisture in the pile is difficult. I don't think I would use galvanized tin, since there are better uses for that.

You may find that some of the enriched soil under your compost is worth digging out and using elsewhere.

What is the top of the pile good for? If all the really good dirt is under my pile.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:It's a balancing act.

Compost needs some moisture to work properly, otherwise it will just be a moldy mess. If it's too wet, it will be a stinky anaerobic soup, which is not ideal either.

In any case, rainfall will leach nutrients into the soil below. I have used old tarps to hold moisture, but it also helps hold nutrients at the bottom of the pile.

I discovered accidentally that the best location for a composter, fast or slow, is over top of soil that you intend to plant a year or two from now. That weird leached compost liquor is stinky gold.

I have raised beds, about 2 feet above
ground so we don’t have to bend over as we age. I do use hugekultur method in the raised beds.  The compost I plan to use is to help the soil at the beginning of the growing season. I like the idea of putting the compost pile where I’d plan to plant.
Could I use galvanized tin under the compost pile instead of a tarp?

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Slow composting works just fine. That's how nature does it.

With the mix you have, the stuff at the bottom should be beautiful. And the half-done stuff will be perfect for squash piles.

.  

Should I cover my compost area to keep out of the weather?

Compost / Premies Group

I have a question.  I have a compost area that I have never taken care of.  Just to many things going on in life and have not delt with it that until now.
My compost area is divided into 2 sections.  I just dump everything from one year in the first section. Chicken poop from the coops, goat poop from the barns. Old hay. Very little food scraps..as our animals get them. And we just leave it.
Then the next year we do the same thing in the 2nd section. We dump everything from the 2nd year in the second pile. We don’t touch pile 1 till middle of 2nd year.
There is no cover over the compost area, so it gets all weather that comes through the homestead.
My question is, is my compost still viable and usable? Is it still good rich soil? Thank you for your help in advance.

John C Daley—
Interesting! Sounds exactly like what I had. My temp is usually 96-97’s, but during all that it was around 98. Still normal but not usually for me.

Briella Ac —
I will look into that.

Heather Sharpe—
Thank you for the suggestions. Definitely going to change some things for the better.

Hi,
I love learning from this site.
Over 4th of July weekend, my husband and I where digging up a mulch pile & adding it to the raised beds.
This mulch pile was about 1 - 1. 1/2 yrs old. Full load dropped off by the Asplundh tree people. I believe most of the shaving were cedar. Pile had Lots of black ants in there too.
My husband shoveled into 5 gal buckets and brought them to me where I filled each raised bed. I was more hands on with the mulch the hubby.  We dug at this pile till it was gone.
Monday morning I overslept, was tired, thinking it was from the busy weekend. I had a headache and seems like my allergies where bothering me. Made it to work all day but feeling congested, throat felling sore, coughing some. I mentioned to my boss what a busy weekend we had and how my allergies are bothering me. He said I think it’s mold from the mulch pile.
Tuesday to this last Sunday, I felt like crap. During that time my symptoms where like cold & flu, no fever. Lots of coughing, throat stayed sore cause of coughing. Sleeping a lot. Then after blowing my nose and coughing up stuff turned colored. Along with my left eye looking like I had pink eye. Got an antibiotic and medicated eye drops from my doc.
Today first day feeling better and was able to work.
Could this have been from mold in the mulch pile?
It blows me away thinking this (mold) knocked me out like this for a week.
Have any of you ever been through this before? With so many permies on here I would think I’m not the only one this has happened too.
I have another mulch pile that we need to use up, same age, not sure if any cedar in it.
I definitely know I’ll be wearing a N95 mask if I am getting close to the mulch piles.
Is there a better time of year that I don’t have to worry about mold?
Any suggestions or helpful hints?
Thank you so much in advance!