I ordered some water retaining crystals for the garden. They're sodium polyacrylate and are the same thing used as instant snow around Christmas. Found a decent deal for them on Amazon, at about $20 for 3 lbs. Doesn't sound like a lot but they seem like they will go quite a way. Plus, they last up to 5 years in the soil.
Tried testing to see how much water they hold and how much they expand. Very cool! I placed maybe a teaspoon of them in a coffee cup, then added water. Then added more water. Then added more water! They eventually expanded to fill the entire cup to the rim! They may expand more than that but I stopped there, since I was out of room in the cup. (Used those to plant with some flowers I transplanted out.)
Unfortunately, these crystals are not cheap. Wish I could buy them by the truckload. As it is, I will use most of them to mix in the soil as I plant out items which have been started before planting.
Been making sure the compost remains damp most of the time. It lacked Nitrogen, so I added some ammonia to the pile this evening, then wet it more. Hope it's ready to use by the time I plant the tomatoes out.
Still haven't gotten the well working. The acid seems to be doing some level of good. Filled the well to the top a few days ago. Where the water level previously remained static, it is now dropping when I fill the well. This morning, I filled the well to the top and added one more gallon of acid. Try pumping it out tomorrow. See how that works. If that doesn't do it, I'll have to get the galvanized pipe soon and try to increase the depth that way. If that doesn't work, I'll have to drive another well. Not fond of that idea.
I finally have rows of lettuce, broccoli, onions and possibly spinach coming up! Also seeing random corn stalks just peeking through and the beginnings of some pumpkin plants.
Now have lots of tiny tomato plants started. Quite small at the moment but I was able to move some outside to the mini greenhouses, now sans plastic covers. Been there a few days and getting larger. Once they have more leaves, I'll move them into the garden.
Still not having any luck with strawberries or blueberries. Only one blueberry plant looks like it's still alive. Maybe 4-5 strawberry plants, still quite small. It's still early in the season, though. Not much is actually green yet but getting there.
The soil is still not great in many places. I water extensively, then check to see how deep it got. Still much of the problem I had before. Surface is moist, several inches down is moist but in between is completely dry. Unfortunately, it is dry in the most common root zone for any small, developing or shallow-rooted plants. Some areas are getting better, though. Need to finish chipping the rest of the branches and mix the chips into the soil in some spots. That seemed to help the north side of the garden immensely, where the corn and pumpkins are now starting to grow. Soil there appears to be maintaining moisture fairly well.
After next Tues night, I have a week off. Major priority is going to be getting the rabbit hutch together and moving the rabbits outside. These two are getting on my nerves. Pooping all over the big living room. Snorting. And the smell is awful. I think the female is in heat, which is the main part of the smell. Could be wrong on that but don't think so.
Getting to bed. Not much sleep today.
Tried testing to see how much water they hold and how much they expand. Very cool! I placed maybe a teaspoon of them in a coffee cup, then added water. Then added more water. Then added more water! They eventually expanded to fill the entire cup to the rim! They may expand more than that but I stopped there, since I was out of room in the cup. (Used those to plant with some flowers I transplanted out.)
Unfortunately, these crystals are not cheap. Wish I could buy them by the truckload. As it is, I will use most of them to mix in the soil as I plant out items which have been started before planting.
Been making sure the compost remains damp most of the time. It lacked Nitrogen, so I added some ammonia to the pile this evening, then wet it more. Hope it's ready to use by the time I plant the tomatoes out.
Still haven't gotten the well working. The acid seems to be doing some level of good. Filled the well to the top a few days ago. Where the water level previously remained static, it is now dropping when I fill the well. This morning, I filled the well to the top and added one more gallon of acid. Try pumping it out tomorrow. See how that works. If that doesn't do it, I'll have to get the galvanized pipe soon and try to increase the depth that way. If that doesn't work, I'll have to drive another well. Not fond of that idea.
I finally have rows of lettuce, broccoli, onions and possibly spinach coming up! Also seeing random corn stalks just peeking through and the beginnings of some pumpkin plants.
Now have lots of tiny tomato plants started. Quite small at the moment but I was able to move some outside to the mini greenhouses, now sans plastic covers. Been there a few days and getting larger. Once they have more leaves, I'll move them into the garden.
Still not having any luck with strawberries or blueberries. Only one blueberry plant looks like it's still alive. Maybe 4-5 strawberry plants, still quite small. It's still early in the season, though. Not much is actually green yet but getting there.
The soil is still not great in many places. I water extensively, then check to see how deep it got. Still much of the problem I had before. Surface is moist, several inches down is moist but in between is completely dry. Unfortunately, it is dry in the most common root zone for any small, developing or shallow-rooted plants. Some areas are getting better, though. Need to finish chipping the rest of the branches and mix the chips into the soil in some spots. That seemed to help the north side of the garden immensely, where the corn and pumpkins are now starting to grow. Soil there appears to be maintaining moisture fairly well.
After next Tues night, I have a week off. Major priority is going to be getting the rabbit hutch together and moving the rabbits outside. These two are getting on my nerves. Pooping all over the big living room. Snorting. And the smell is awful. I think the female is in heat, which is the main part of the smell. Could be wrong on that but don't think so.
Getting to bed. Not much sleep today.
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