the little wild kingdom

flowerbug

Sustainability Master
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
6,992
Reaction score
13,797
Points
307
Location
mid-Michigan, USoA
still have some weeding and squash planting to get done in the North Garden but overall things are still going ok.

days start early to avoid the heat.

well guy said he would stop by sometime, no charge. i'm planning on trying to tip him anyways (and give him some Purple Dove bean seeds :) - even if he passes them on to someone else that is fine with me). he got a good laugh when i told him i was so glad he would come out because at least i knew he was competent.

existing plantings are doing ok so far, have to make sure each day that they all get some water to make sure the seedlings don't fry or the starts don't exhaust their root systems and suffer vascular collapse.

started restarting the worm buckets (i know that sounds strange, but that's how it goes since i don't have time to do the whole task at once so it has to be done in stages as i get time).

first i start with cleaning the buckets out so they aren't spreading any fungus gnat eggs/larvae. then i put some dirt from a garden in the bottom (for the earthworm species) - not much, but something. then on top of that i put in some organic stuff or humus from any garden i can scrounge it up from, give them some water and put the covers on to make sure any bugs stay in or can't get in.

as i get time in the next week i'll add any food scraps and any other organic materials (shredded paper scraps) i can so the worms that will be added soon will have something to munch on. and then they'll be on their way again for the coming year. it's a nice system, but it does take some efforts. in the end though some 140+ lbs of worms and worm stuff and recharged garden soil are well worth the effort - plus in the middle of winter it is dirt therapy for me.
 
Last edited:

flowerbug

Sustainability Master
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
6,992
Reaction score
13,797
Points
307
Location
mid-Michigan, USoA
forecast high today is 77F !!!!! so hopefully i can get two of the three remaining gardens inside the fence planted and finish the other tomorrow.

only chance of rain in the forecast is next Saturday. :( ditch out back is flowing really slow and not much. i don't think i've ever seen it completely dry, but it will be getting close if we don't see some rains soon. thank goodness we have a deep well with cold and clean water, but i do not have any idea of how much long term capacity it might have if we have an extended drought. i mentioned to Mom that perhaps we need to take it easy on the well for a while until we get some rains again. one reason for that is that i do not want to pull water from the septic drain field area (which is sited down flow also from the well) towards it.

watering as little as possible too, but have to keep the sprouts alive.
 

flowerbug

Sustainability Master
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
6,992
Reaction score
13,797
Points
307
Location
mid-Michigan, USoA
Yay! Hope you get a good soaking. We've been getting tiny little showers. I'm not going to complain.

:) we're in a gap for the moment, not really much rain total so far, but every little bit helps and then there is chances for more later. i hope we get a better soaker.
 

flowerbug

Sustainability Master
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
6,992
Reaction score
13,797
Points
307
Location
mid-Michigan, USoA
a few pics...

where the two large drains/ditches meet.

DSC_20230609_094056-0400_1996_Twogether_thm.jpg


to give a reference to scale the right smaller flowing branch the water is about a foot across and a few inches deep. together the two branches are flowing at a few gallons a second. by the bare ground you can see the normal water level. each branch of the drains looks like they cover about a square mile.
 
Top