More on a Garden for Surly ......
As promised, I'm gonna do a bit more on helping, Surly get going with a garden.

I'll give ya the standard disclaimer again - This is what has worked for me. There are as many ways to garden as there are Gardeners. Do what works for you and be happy.

I received an indignant email about my advice that one could use a little 10-10-10 fertilizer on a new garden of crappy soil to get a jump start on things.

This person thought I was all about being "Totally Organic". All things being equal, I go the basic organic route when I can. I don't have any problem with adding some non-organic fertilizer. Nitrogen is Nitrogen. If it uses a bit of petrol to make - Oh well.

I take the practical view that if it takes a bit of that to get you going and keep you in the game, so be it.

A 5 pound box of Miracle Grow will last you darn near forever if you just have a small place getting started and you can use the balance on your houseplants.

There is the option of making an organic tea type fertilizer. This works and works well. But for someone just getting started it may be a bit to much like work.

This is supposed to fun, remember?

When it comes to bugs in the garden I try to use the least toxic thing. Seven Dust is about it.

I have a recipe or 2 for making your own non-toxic bug spray, but I've never tried them yet. I'll try it if needed.

I honestly don't know a lot about most Chemical Bug Sprays because I don't use them. Never have.

I do know that a lot of insecticides are only a few basic molecules away from Nerve Gas and that's always kept me from wanting to keep that crap around the house.

I honestly don't know enough about this type of thing to give you an informed opinion.

I do know that I've never needed to find out.

Other than one year when I had Potato Beetles so bad I thought I was gonna go nuts, I don't generally lose enough to worry about it.

I'm not selling anything so I don't have to worry about there being a few spots on things or a worm in an apple or Peach.

We just cut out any bad parts and use things as they are. Most of the time it's not a problem

As I've mentioned here before, I like Roundup and consider it my friend. It's a great labor saving thing and I don't have any problem with using it.

I don't use it on beds in the garden & I don't grow Roundup ready Beans. I use it to keep fence rows clear and neaten up the place.
That's it. So I'm not a strict organic guy.

I think that if you continue to improve your soil by adding Humus and compost it'll get better and the plants will do better overall so you won't need most anything else.

I am trying to learn about Fruit Tree management in a spray free manner. I know that dormant oil spray & sticky traps work and so does Tanglefoot spread around the trunk of the tree.

I really need to get more involved with this stuff as some of my trees have taken it in the shorts from various Borers and other wormy little shit bugs.
I've been increasing the size of the Orchard and need to get ahead of the curve on how to keep the trees healthy without spraying the shit out of things.


That's what's nice about gardening. You can't stop learning. There is just to much to know and to many ways of doing things.

The web is a wonderful resource. There are a million places with info out there.
Take advantage of it.

These garden posts for Surly have been very superficial. Just enough to get started. There's just to much for me to write about in detail.

I am always available to answer questions if needed. Hell, if you have enough money, I'll even make house calls. It'll take a lot of money. Just so you know.

So unless I hear otherwise from Surly, that's about it on this topic.
I'll still bore the hell out of you with pictures of my cheesy ass projects and what not.

Speaking of -
The older Guinea Hens have begun to lay eggs.That's 3 Chicken eggs and the 2 in front are Guinea eggs.






Here's another shot of the Peony bush.









That's it for today, kids!