Sea Skinley

Sanna Heijnis wrote:

Lauren Ritz wrote:
[...] garlic puts out sulfur through its roots. [...]

This is interesting! Would this also mean that it might not be a good idea to plant beans where garlic was (garlic came out in June so beans could go right in after)? Or would the excess sulfur disappear as soon as the garlic does?

Can't answer about beans, and not sure sulfur is the only thing going on there. What I can attest is that garlic's unfriendly effect definitely can last at least six months, apparently longer for some 'followers'.

Source: Accidental experiment when I put garlic into a spare space in my main garden one fall, and tried easily a half-dozen things in that space mid-late summer after harvest. Dill died, cucumbers died, squash died, and I think I tried some flowers also. It's in kind of a bridge place between two sections, and this season I've lost a tomato there and a couple of peanuts. So, not an experiment I'll try again any time soon.

Thanks so much, Mark and Douglas. Exactly the kinds of info I was hoping to learn. My thought on 'friendly neighbors' was that less-deep-rooted plants would be better able to get along with it (a la strawberries, squash), if it's not truly allelopathic. We have lots of black walnut so I'm familiar. I love my garlic but other things I grow love it much less, so I was hoping if horseradish and garlic could get along...

A second thought is that trees with a far deeper taproot, even if they also have roots closer to the surface, could get along, but I'm not sure I want to risk any of my intentional trees to an experiment like that. And no doubt timing is everything, how well established the trees are. I might try a horseradish root on the edge of some scrubland we have out front, see how that does.

Thanks again!

Two questions for you experienced types:

1. How deep would a root barrier around a horseradish area need to be? More than 12"? More than 24"?

2. Does spreading kill other plants (what does it *not* kill?) or is it more of an annoyance, popping up where you don't want it (for whatever reason)?

For context, I have red clay and rock soil, so it sounds like aggressive spreading will be somewhat retarded by conditions. I planted some a few years ago in buried (large water bottle sized) containers and nothing came back the 2nd year. Now I have two in grow bags doing all right this year, and one in the ground that has kind-of died back in our driest weeks but seems to be surviving now.

We have several areas that we call "rock planters", where we build up on a slope for this or that. I'm thinking of creating something like that with root barrier, and using it for horseradish and whatever else. Can garlic grow with horseradish, for example?

More than 2 questions, really, but primarily interested in more specifics on requirements to contain it (to the extent feasible) and experience with plants it kills by proximity (if relevant).

Andrés Bernal wrote:Buy access to this content

1. Is access time-limited or permanent?

2. Are there options to download? (I like to listen as I work outside, not sit staring at a screen.)

Thanks in advance for clarifications! (or a pointer to further details)

Ricardo Mack wrote:I like to solo travel, and, sometime during the conversation, I like to ask folks :  "How did you end up here in (name of place/city)?  You can find out a lot about them.  Don't know why it wouldn't work for any other initial encounters, including dating.

I love this approach, not just for travel, definitely not just for dating - any small-talk getting-to-know-you situation. "How did you end up here?" could be a question in a lot of circumstances, and what could be interesting would be the direction or interpretation the person takes. Is s/he kind of a literal person and what does that tell you (took the bus, drove from the next town, walked three days from my commune), versus self-absorbed (I was born in a small log cabin and from there ...), philosophical (who knows where we all are in the grand scheme of the universe), etc. etc. but at any rate, should give a good idea of whether or not s/he is interested in conversing more with you, and vice versa.

And I also agree that slight variations on the "what do you do" approach can work across a wide variety of situations, and not just with Americans. You can always leave it open and the person can answer however they want. Add 'for work' or 'for fun' if you only want those answers. If you're somewhere new, 'What do you do for [coffee, fresh bread, garden supplies, finding a plumber, etc.] around here' could go a long way.

Is deer scat good for anything? Coyote?
Those are the two we see the most, and I don't mind relocating small piles if there's any value to it. I do hate the deer (we shoot them, but when they're along the 'deer highway' transversing the land near our house, where fruit and other plantings suffer their attentions, there's no good backstop from most angles) so a reason to feel they're adding value somehow would be great.

Thanks in advance for any relevant info.

Thekla McDaniels wrote:
...Good to know about the dragon flies and muscovy ducks, as I am in the establishing systems phase.

Breeding habitat for dragonflies is what?  A pond or a creek?  If a pond is what they need, what’s mosquito prevention?...

I can't really answer your questions except to say: 1. We encourage dragonflies to eat mosquito larvae so there ya go. 2. I did not realize they eat flies too.

I saw a provocative video (some gardener) showing that high poles and wire give dragonflies somewhere to sit and watch for other bugs to eat. I have only put up a few in the backyard, which is where we have a skeeter annoyance, and definitely see them sitting on them, but now I'll want to multiply and also extend elsewhere.

Also looking forward to the breeding habitat answers!

PS Pretty sure this is the video I saw before, at any rate same system:

We have a large utility room that has a concrete floor, mostly covered in light throw rugs and rug scraps. We use it for storage, appliances, various hobbies, and an extra TV room. (Way back when, our house was a bachelor's apartment above a garage that was meant to be a mechanic shop - now our utility room with the house expanded around it.)
Anyway, lying on cool concrete, which pulls heat out of the whole body, is a great option for cooling core body heat.

Also concur with the points about drinking or eating bananas *before* hot weather exertions, and listening to your body. Having few processed foods in daily/weekly diets means being more conscious about sometimes needing salt!

I'm certainly happy to find this thread. For no real reason, I wanted to grow bronze fennel -- perhaps originally to draw pests and generally as a perennial. Somewhere I got the idea it was a decorative variety, inedible if not poisonous as commented above. Because my first casual efforts failed, I had to work very hard to get anythng going, and when I finally got one in the ground, it got eaten to pieces and definitely looked dead.

Last year it came back, and I ignored it for other priorities. This year it's gigantic and has multiple stalks. I never noticed flowers this year, but walked down to check it after reading this thread -- the top leaves have been thoroughly defeathered but the lower ones are still fennel-ish; there are yellow flower umbrels in full bloom and others just starting, and a number of volunteers on the slope continuing down into the bull pasture. Very exciting!

I definitely have to move the volunteers because the big daddy was unfortunately placed where we have a thistle problem, and I already have some ideas for those. Any tips on transplanting bronze fennel? I will poke around on the internet of course, but experience-based wisdom here is much preferred. (Ever notice how most of the info 'out there' is word for word copying each other?)

I'll recommend forsythia and brideswreath spirea, since we have several clumps of these that are simply full of birds. We also regularly have nests here and there in rose bushes, and I expect when my hardy oranges get bigger, they'll have inhabitants.

We originally (10-12 years ago) put out bird feeders to encourage anything that would eat any bugs, as we were reclaiming a very neglected portion of the farm that included woods encroaching almost to the house, chiggers everywhere, and constantly having to check for ticks after every step outside. Happy to say it worked like a charm, maybe too well now that I am fighting the flocks for our share of berries, fruits, pecans, and veg! We still occasionally put out some seed or cakes for the woodpeckers, but not as faithfully.

Years ago I noticed that the catbirds (also good tick-eaters) would follow behind the lawnmower to get fat on the disturbed bugs. That was somewhere else; we don't have so many catbirds here.

We still feed the hummingbirds (skeeter-eaters) because we like to draw them into our line of sight and enjoy the aerial combat.