John Alabarr

Cut them in 3 foot sections and place them around your fruit and nut trees.

Eric

Eric that is great that you can put all that paper to use. This year we have been buying rolls of the brown construction paper from lowes. It is not super cheap but I value my time and laying this is fast and if it keep the weeds at bay for a year or 2 it will be worth it. I have seen those hoes before. I need to see if I can find/make one of those. Thanks for the reminder.



If you have a newspaper where they do the actual printing in your town, go there and ask if they have any "end rolls."  When they are printing the newspaper and the roll of paper gets low, they change it out rather than letting it run out.  Often times they will give these end rolls away.  Some charge, but its not very much.  This paper has a lot of uses.  You can use it in the garden.  You can cover your shop bench with it and change it when it gets dirty.  You can let your kids use it for painting and drawing.  When I was in a college drawing class the instructor gave us this tip.  I was able to get several end rolls from the local newspaper for free.

Mary Christine Nestor wrote:My husband in his helpfulness put about a foot or more of hardwood wood chip mulch around my fig trees last fall when I wasn't looking. When I started moving some of it out of the way, the figs had put out roots trying to get closer to the surface. Many trees have shallow roots that feed on nutrients closer to the surface and need oxygen as well. A tree can be smothered if too much is piled on. I've shared in an earlier post that my problem with the wood chip approach is it's appeal to carpenter ants. Between firewood and wood chips we have been inundated with the little buggers.

Termites eat wood, but Carpenter ants don't.  Carpenter ants tunnel through wood to make a nest.  Carpenter ants will eat honeydew produced by aphids and other homopterans in the tops of trees.  They tend to take advantage of wood that's already water damaged.  Termites are everywhere so you should make sure that your home termite treatments are up to date anyhow.

Firewood,
leaf mulch,
Nuts/seeds,
Sap sugar,
Carving wood (baseball bats, hammer handles)

What I do is buy those Japanese beetle traps and take the beetle lure out and put them in my chicken cage.  The beetles are attracted to the lure in the chicken cages and then get eaten by the chickens.

I get mine from a local college's cafeteria.  They were actually happy to do it so that they could brag about being green and sending less stuff to the landfill.  That's where I get coffee grounds also.  About a 5 gallon bucket full every other day.  Surprisingly, my bantam chickens looooooove the red onions in the vegetable waste taken off the salad bar.  They go nuts over them and will fight for them.

Suzy, you just described what's happening at my place in GA to a tee.  I have tried the Back to Eden gardening method and it does seem to help, but stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs have really done a number on my tomatoes and any type of squash I try growing.

David, let us know if you will be in Georgia anytime soon.  I would love to hear your ideas on dealing with heavy clay, high temps and high humidity when gardening.  

Julie, I am having the same problems you are having, lots of insect damage, diseased fruit. I don't use insecticides, fungicides, or fertilizers either.

I posted this in another fire blight thread:

"I talked to a Horticulturist one time and he recommenced pouring milk on the infected tree. I did it and it helped. Something to do with the lactobacteria."