Re: [gardeners] Pinetree

Jane Burdekin (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Fri, 30 Jan 1998 13:33:35 -0600 

>At 08:51 AM 1/30/98 -0700, you wrote:
>>At 08:46 AM 1/30/98, George Shirley wrote:
>>>Pinetree must have recovered from the freeze in Maine, got my catalog order
>>>yesterday and a 1998 catalog. Found a source for Golden Queen tomatoes in
>>>that new catalog so guess I'll have to get another order off to them. <VBG>
>>>
>>>Currently have two 36 pot flats going under the lights and over the heat
>>>and have two more like that plus a flat of 3" pots sanitizing in the bleach
>>>mix right now. Does anyone have some garden space I can borrow? It's either
>>>that or dig up some more backyard. Hope Miz Anne's back can stand up to it.
>>>
>>>We've been having a lot of sunshine and 70F days here with nighttime temps
>>>down into the high thirties. Beautiful SPRING weather in SW Louisiana.
>>>Thank you El Nino!
>>>
>>>George
>>>
>>George, during the time I was on OGL, there was a lot of talk about no-till
>>gardening.  What they were advocating was covering the lawn with cardboard
>>(some said spray Roundup first, others said don't worry, it'll die), tack
>>it down, and cover it with 4 to 6 inches of compost.  Let it sit, water it,
>>etc., then reach in and plant.  Now you may be in a hurry to plant, so that
>>might present problems.  But it is easier than digging up the lawn.
>>Margaret
>>
>I've never had much luck with no-till gardening here, I think it may be to
>wet. We average 65 inches of rainfall per annum and some times we get 6 or
>8 inches all at once. We experimented with no-till a number of years ago
>and got bumper crops of snails, slugs, pill bugs, earwigs, and lots of mold
>and mildew. Even on an average sunny day we will have 96% humidity. We do
>mulch in the summer but not deeply. I'm solarizing the new patch along the
>fence with polyethylene film weighted with brick bats and then will turn
>under the dead grass and weeds. Still contemplating getting a Mantis tiller
>as I have trouble using a shovel anymore.
>
>George


Out of curiousity what is a brick bat?  I have hear the expression "hard as
a brick bat" all my life and never knew what it was for sure.    Also I
love my mantis tiller FWIW, we got ours about 12 years ago, and it is still
running with very little maintenance.  Jane