RE: [CH] coffee grounds and *#@!!hogs
Tantrika (hummer13@earthlink.net)
Wed, 23 Jun 1999 10:33:11 -0700
an expensive lesson, but I feel for you! Next time you might look into how
we do our garden all over our ranch here. The community has lost many a
plant or bush or tree to those voracious rascals, I've even seen a plant be
pulled INTO the ground from below....that's quite a sight!
Unless you know they are not tasty to ground hogs the trick is to either
make raised beds with chicken wire on the ground and put the dirt on top,
or make as Sharon said, dig down a bit and lay down chicken wire, but you
have to make sure the chicken wire comes up the sides of your holes as well.
For plants that are larger that you want to put in the ground, a chicken
wire pocket (they have them in our garden stores here in California, also
works!)
An advantage to raised beds, is that it doesn't require a great deal of
digging, other than leveling the spot, and if you make them high enough you
don't have to bend down a lot so it's easier on the back, (mine are 18"
high) weed and pest control is easier, and you can plant more densely
because you have more depth of soil for the roots to put down
(bio-intensive methods) rather than in shallower soil where the roots grow
out, watering is easier, and drainage is better especially if you use a
good soil mix.
Of course it's initially an expense, but if you plan on gardening there a
long time, it's worth it!
I just cleared out the last of our raised beds, the one I'd neglected until
I heard that the bed is in the warmest spot on the ranch....I have quite a
few wounds from blackberry bushes :{, my body is sore from pitchforking the
dirt (it hadn't been messed with in since we moved here) but it's a nice
feeling of accomplishment! The soil is rich and black, and I'm gonna get a
container of worms to put in it.... (it hasn't been watered in a while so
there aren't many). Weird thing, i was digging back toward the horse
radish plant.... (speaking of same anyone have any recipes with horseradish
root or know what to do with the leaves? it's hot!) and I turned what I at
first thought was a gourd and discovered was a SKULL! on closer
examination I realized it was a herbivore (the teeth are distinctive) I
discovered it was a deer skull after going to a mammalian skull index on
the internet and then talking to a woman who lived here earlier. gonna
clean it up. You really never know WHAT you are going to discover when you
garden!
I just measured the spot and came up with 94 feet there.... YES!