The battle with the dogs continues. They seem intent on destroying anything to do with the garden.
They have torn holes in the plastic sheeting of the solarium in several places. I patched that with old tarps. They tore down the tarps. I stapled up some poultry netting to the wood, then placed the tarps over that. They jumped on the netting, tearing that down along with the tarps. Now one of the tarps is too torn up to use and I don't have the money to buy another one.
I've placed plastic sheeting and tarps over the young broccoli plants outside. They drag the tarp and sometimes the sheeting off, causing damage and exposing the plants to cold. This afternoon, I placed two small bowls of water on top of the tarp, so when they dragged the tarp, they got drenched. I've already had to replant a number of seeds.
They still keep working their way under the gate, even with wood placed in front of the gate to the garden. So I also placed a small bucket of water on top of the gate. They move the gate and once again, they get drenched.
I'll keep trying that for now. If that doesn't work, I'll have to get a rheostat and place a couple of electrical leads to deter them. Just enough power to get their attention, not harm them.
If I don't control the dogs, I will not have a garden this year. Besides, in the places I plant flowers, I want to be able to smell flowers, not dog shit. I want to attract bees and butterflies, not flies and maggots.
Tried setting up the commercial shelves in the solarium today. With the current arrangement, the shelves are too big. I may be able to set the shelves up in another place and wrap them with plastic sheeting. Maybe with magnets to close it up. Or bungee cords.
Almost all the sheetrock is dissolved and broken into small pieces now. I won't be doing that again. Too much time, too much work and too much space. Besides, it was quite ugly. I'll stick with buying bags of gypsum pellets.
I still have iron sulfate left from last year. That takes care of the iron and some sulfur.
The gypsum (and gypsum board) is calcium sulfate. That's calcium and more sulfur.
I'm still applying sulfuric acid, which adds more sulfur.
The soil tests high in potassium already.
The well water is high in nitrates. If I need more nitrogen, ammonia will work.
For basic needs, that just leaves phosphorous. Found a 5 lb bag of high phosphorous fertilizer (0-46-0) on Amazon for a good price.
Between those things, compost and leaves tilled in, that should be a good start for the garden this year. Now I just have to control the dogs.
They have torn holes in the plastic sheeting of the solarium in several places. I patched that with old tarps. They tore down the tarps. I stapled up some poultry netting to the wood, then placed the tarps over that. They jumped on the netting, tearing that down along with the tarps. Now one of the tarps is too torn up to use and I don't have the money to buy another one.
I've placed plastic sheeting and tarps over the young broccoli plants outside. They drag the tarp and sometimes the sheeting off, causing damage and exposing the plants to cold. This afternoon, I placed two small bowls of water on top of the tarp, so when they dragged the tarp, they got drenched. I've already had to replant a number of seeds.
They still keep working their way under the gate, even with wood placed in front of the gate to the garden. So I also placed a small bucket of water on top of the gate. They move the gate and once again, they get drenched.
I'll keep trying that for now. If that doesn't work, I'll have to get a rheostat and place a couple of electrical leads to deter them. Just enough power to get their attention, not harm them.
If I don't control the dogs, I will not have a garden this year. Besides, in the places I plant flowers, I want to be able to smell flowers, not dog shit. I want to attract bees and butterflies, not flies and maggots.
Tried setting up the commercial shelves in the solarium today. With the current arrangement, the shelves are too big. I may be able to set the shelves up in another place and wrap them with plastic sheeting. Maybe with magnets to close it up. Or bungee cords.
Almost all the sheetrock is dissolved and broken into small pieces now. I won't be doing that again. Too much time, too much work and too much space. Besides, it was quite ugly. I'll stick with buying bags of gypsum pellets.
I still have iron sulfate left from last year. That takes care of the iron and some sulfur.
The gypsum (and gypsum board) is calcium sulfate. That's calcium and more sulfur.
I'm still applying sulfuric acid, which adds more sulfur.
The soil tests high in potassium already.
The well water is high in nitrates. If I need more nitrogen, ammonia will work.
For basic needs, that just leaves phosphorous. Found a 5 lb bag of high phosphorous fertilizer (0-46-0) on Amazon for a good price.
Between those things, compost and leaves tilled in, that should be a good start for the garden this year. Now I just have to control the dogs.
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