Baymule's 2019 Garden

[Lazy Gardener]

No definite answer re: time, @baymule . It all depends on ambient temps, and what you got cooking.

The water will turn black, the weeds will get slimy, and there may be a film of oil on the top. If you stir it, you will release a cess pool stench! For heaven's sake, don't put your nose over it! Just decant some water off the top, dilute it with more water if you want, and water your plants with it.

One good thing about this method: it rots the weeds before they can take root and start growing again. You can really start using it any time the water darkens up. You either need to keep it covered, or dump and start over to keep mosquitoes from breeding in it.

Some people brew this mess in a 55 gal drum, and keep adding weeds, and topping off with water. They may even have a spigot in the barrel to make it easier to "harvest" the juice.

I'm not so sophisticated. I just toss the weeds into a bucket, and if the rain doesn't fill it, the hose does. I let it brew for a while, then... if mosquito larvae get started, I dump the bucket and start over. I imagine one could even put a mosquito dunk in their bucket or barrel.

 

[baymule]

The sheep have cleaned the clover and fescue from pasture #2 I'm about to pull them and mow it so the Bermuda can come on up. I have lambs quarters about 3 feet tall in the garden, thinking about cutting it with hedge clippers and feeding them to the sheep. They love that stuff. There will still be plenty to make weed tea, LOL.

I've been watching weeds, bugs don't eat a lot of them. Would the weed tea persuade the bugs to bite, chew and suck juices elsewhere? I've been thinking about juicing some to make a spray, but the weed tea might work just as well. Hmmm......

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Interesting thought process. We are inundated with creeping charlie here. Bugs won't touch that. It has a strong minty/musky smell. I bet that might confuse the bugs.

 

[baymule]

Interesting thought process. We are inundated with creeping charlie here. Bugs won't touch that. It has a strong minty/musky smell. I bet that might confuse the bugs.

Why don't we both try making bug spray and compare notes?

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I will after the garden is up and running. Why don't you start a thread in the gardening section "Natural insect control". And we can post our results there. I'm running to and fro this time of the year, chasing my tail, and trying to get everything done in a timely order to get the garden up and running.

 

[baymule]

I'll have plenty of "natural" material available, mmy garden looks like a jungle.

 

[CrealCritter]

Don't gag on that weed tea. I made some by mistake once. Pulling weeds and placing into a 5 gallon buck to toss out of the garden. I mistakenly left a buck full of weeds, then it rained. It was a good week by the time it dried out enough to get the bucket. Talking about something nasty...

 

[baymule]

Don't gag on that weed tea. I made some by mistake once. Pulling weeds and placing into a 5 gallon buck to toss out of the garden. I mistakenly left a buck full of weeds, then it rained. It was a good week by the time it dried out enough to get the bucket. Talking about something nasty...

Worse than wet chicken/pig poop?

 

[CrealCritter]

Worse than wet chicken/pig poop?

I believe so, yes.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Yes, it's worse than wet manure. It is absolutely... gag a maggot... DISGUSTING! But... it's fertilizer, it turns the weeds into a useful end product instead of letting them take root after being pulled... or go to seed after being pulled!