guildfordcycads

I’m trying to cultivate various leafy greens (Lettuce, Napa cabbage, Malabar Spinach, and Arugula). Has anyone used the seed ball technique with these seeds? I know the technique has traditionally been done with wild flowers and rice. Anyone try this method with other seeds. I live in the Bay Area in California. Things grow pretty well here (zone 9).

Hello everyone, I’m in a bit of an idea pickle here. So I’m starting terraced beds on top of a limestone mesa in the high desert of SE colorado. The idea is start rain catchment at the top with swales and reverse wells and zuni bowls/and sunken beds, so the little precipitation i get seeps in and falls down each limestone layer into the alluvial plains below. However I’ve hit some limestone slab that is nearly impenetrable. I know soil builds up but the roots have about 2-6 inches of “top soil” (top soil is close to just being zone b). Because sunken beds and bowls are a big part of high desert ag to block wind and pull condensation from the air in unforgiving climates, I’m flirting with buying a jackhammer to make wells and let roots access moisture below as well as give access to deep root miners…or should I just build the soil up? None of the existing juniper and piñon pine roots have made it through the slab either, they just run across the top.

I got a little… overzealous with the garden bed as this is the first year I have had total control at my house. I talked to fried who recommended cover crop in the early early spring + mulch. I added a bag of compost, put down some cover crop, and then mulched overtop. Fast forward and now I have starts in the bed with mulch and cover crop growing like crazy. I think I played myself!!! Now what??? How do I mitigate without causing too much harm to the soil? I’d like to practice no till here. I have a few other beds that I didn’t cover crop but mulched and they’re much more manageable.

Hello everyone,

The house I bought a few years ago is, to put it lightly, a nightmare. I have a large outbuilding/garage that was built directly on top of an old swimming pool. The previous owner appears to have converted this old pool into a cistern, which receives water from diverted gutters and some other mystery source! We tried to stop it filling with water (causing mold damage to building) and were unsuccessful.

As of right now it is full of garbage (drywall, wood, and the sheet metal that the previous owner used to line the walls??), but I’ll be pumping the water out this weekend to clean it out and then see what we’re working with.

Currently the water is smelly and stagnant, and I’d be very leery of watering a food garden with it. Once it’s been cleaned out, however, I’m wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and used a similar setup for watering their gardens. If so, I have a few questions.

1. How do you prevent the water from going stagnant?

2. How do you prevent mosquitos?

3. Are there any health concerns I should be aware of as long as the water is not getting stale/stagnant?

4. It is completely open topped – any suggestions for a cover that won’t break the bank? I have a really stupid dog and a six year old. Listed in order of concern.

I’ve been looking into potentially stocking it with fish to deal with mosquito larvae, but since it’s inside a barn I would have to install grow lights in order to have plant matter helping with water quality. It’s worth noting that this cistern has been in various stages of filled with water for three years and hasn’t developed its own ecosystem.

I would eventually like to have ducks on the property, but I am assuming the cistern will fluctuate in depth too much to be an adequate water source for them even if it is functional?

Thank you for your time in advance!

I’ve been trying to put an edible ground cover in my front garden. I tried miner’s lettuce last year but it didn’t take. A local suggested creeping thyme. I use thyme all the time in cooking, and thought that would be a good idea, but of course I want to make sure I get a variety that will taste alright. Finding flavor information on individual types of creeping thyme is near impossible, though.

What types of creeping thyme have you guys found that work out for flavoring dishes as well? Any tips on growing creeping thyme in general? I’m in zone 8, by the way. TIA