Kathy547's blog: Taming the neglected garden spot

I posted this in the Vegetables & Fruit forum but am posting here as well. This way I can hopefully track what progress I make & what worked or didn't work.
🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜
For years we had a vegetable garden. At the time, we were both younger & healthier, & finding someone with a tractor to come bushhog, disk, & till was easier. Then it got harder to have time to work on the garden or harvest before vegetables rotted. It became harder to find people to come out with a tractor so we bought a tiller....Which broke down & we couldn't find anyone who would come pick it up, work on it, & then bring it back. My husband had back surgery & then had all sorts of health issues. He's now on oxygen so I do all the outside stuff. Until our riding mower broke down I could keep the 4 & 1/2 acres mowed. Like with the tiller, finding someone who could come pick the mower up proved to be really hard. So I had to switch to the push mower & since it took forever to get it done around my work schedule & the weather, sometimes I couldn't get the whole property. And then the push mower broke😭. I found someone who said they would come pick my mowers up & being them back once they were finished. But then they told me they couldn't after all. FINALLY, my uncle - 70 years old & in poor health - took them & worked on the push mower (still has the riding). During this time, the old garden area became horribly overgrown. There were trees that grew unnoticed for years, briars, weeds, & grass.

Thumb of 2022-02-11/Kathy547/7d0745

Thumb of 2022-02-11/Kathy547/5b21ee

I have been slowly reclaiming the garden area, cutting down the grass, cutting down the saplings & smaller trees.

Thumb of 2022-02-11/Kathy547/8f2fad
Thumb of 2022-02-11/Kathy547/1706db
Thumb of 2022-02-11/Kathy547/8d054e

It's hard to tell but there is barbed wire going around three sides. However, its sagged in most places & has decades worth of pine needles & leaves weighing it down in places. I am clearing from what was previously cleared to the fence, which is about 6 feet wide.

I've been making burn piles because that was the only clear place I had for all the limbs, cut grass, etc. I decided to make lots of small piles instead of 1 or 2 really big piles. I remember as a kid my grandparents burning off their garden & yard, & thought I could do that. By the time I mowed, the grass was so tall that I had to take what I could up & throw on a burn pile. But I left a lot Dow. Now that grass might be too hard on my push mower. So I decided to burn it. I only do a small area at a time, when there's no wind & as my schedule allows so it's taking some time.

Once I've burned a large enough area & allowed it to cool, I plan to lay cardboard down & wet the cardboard as in lasagna method. From what I've read, I will then need to add things like chopped leaves, grass clippings, & compost on top of the cardboard. Can I plant seeds on top of this, maybe sprinkle soil over the seeds? Or will this be too soon & the cardboard stop roots?

I would love to salvage the barbed wire & use it along with new fencing but I'm not sure I can. As I said, it's weighed down & hard to handle. There is a better fence on the 4th side but something's dug a place under it & it looks like deer can easily jump it. Years ago we had the stuff for an electric fence but we no longer have electricity at the old shed nearby.

For now, my plans are to keep the deer & rabbits away as I can until I can get someone to help me with a fence (which will most likely be another year). I've been researching methods when you don't have a fence. I like the idea of a living fence of something like cactus (husband says no) or pampas grass but since it's a wooded area all around I'm not sure anything would grow. The idea is to plant things critters won't walk through Or can't see over.

I've got 2 dogs that have to be tethered if they're outside plus 2 more that can roam around because they don't chase cars. I've been tying them out at the edge & sometimes inside the area so they can mark their territory. My neighbor down the road swore by the tuna cans she placed throughout her intended garden. They were beer drinkers & the rule was any visitor had to go do their business in those tuna cans. They always had guys over drinking beer so.....

I know some people swear by things like soap & some people say it doesn't work. I'm going to try it anyway. I've read it has to be Irish Springs & I've read it can only be Ivory. So I'm getting one of each & putting them at opposite corners. I've also heard to tie plastic grocery bags or aluminum pie pans. I think because they will move unexpectedly & make a slight noise & it startled deer. I've also read to use things like wind socks, spinners, & cheap Windchimes. I think I will use all of these things at the outer edges. I'm also thinking about getting a cheap beach ball & putting reflectors on it to look like eyes so critters think it's a predator. I've also read to use Milorganite in the garden to deter deer. I had some years ago but don't remember if deer stayed away from it or not.

I have seen several YouTube videos using fishing line & will also be using that.

I am hoping these help until I can redo the fence.

( No account? Join now! )