From the archives
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Planted by: Jennifer Tidwell
Date: Wednesday February 18, 2009
Planted in: Memory Lane
I dug back through some of my old files and found posts from the previous incarnation of this site. It’s unfortunate that I let the old domain go. I had several hundred subscribers and was even syndicated to a really popular gardening site. Memories…. I also wish I’d saved more of my posts. I have several months from 2005, which is when I started the site. I hope you enjoy!
July 9, 2005 Vinegar as Herbicide?
I’ve been doing a lot of reading about vinegar as a weed control, and most of the info says 5% isn’t enough to effectively kill grass/weeds.
I decided to get a gallon and test it out. I mixed 1 gal. 5% vinegar with 1 TBS of orange essential oil and 1 TBS of Dawn dish liquid. I sprayed it on an area of grass I wanted to get rid of to make a flower bed. I used a standard 1 gallon garden sprayer set on coarse spray.
I did this during the hottest part of the day so the sun would burn the grass once the cuticle was removed by the vinegar. Within 2 hours the areas I sprayed wilted and turned brown. I suspect that when the sun hits it again tomorrow it will be damaged even further.
I got one of the long handled cultivators today and hope to be able to scrape the grass back and start mulching the beds. This is preparation for next spring, but I wanted to get a head start. My yard has Bermuda and crab grass, which are about the only types that will grow in this yard.
This is good news for me because vinegar is much cheaper than toxic weed killer and is organically sound.
As it turns out there is an “agricultural” strength vinegar that is 20% concentration, but it’s a little harder to get. The vinegar only stunted the grass.
July 18, 2005 Puttering around the garden
We got just under ¼” of rain last night according to my rain gauge at noon today. My rain barrel was full until I watered the cukes. The temperature was unbearably hot, and I couldn’t stay outside long. Being a night owl has its disadvantages, one being not getting up early enough to take advantage of the cool morning weather.
On a happier note, I ordered some supplies from Lowe’s to build a hoop house! I also have plans for a 2′ x 8′ potting table made from pvc pipe and a plastic lattice fence panel. I hope it looks as good and works as well as it does on paper. I can expand it later to include an irrigation system and an area to hang baskets by adding an “upper level” and some irrigation fittings.
Right now it’s still in the planning stages until the materials come in and I actually get the thing built. I’m hoping to “steal” some bags of rock from my dad for the floor, which will have a black plastic underlayment.
My next big expense will be seedling flats and plug trays. For now I plan to use egg cartons and any reused flats and packs I can save or beg from others. Plastic meat trays work well too.
The compost pile looks good, and I fed it potato peelings, coffee grounds and some tea bags today. I need a load of sawdust and found some (a huge pile!) that is moldering in the sun. Not sure if I can get my hands on it or not, but I really want to! That would really kick the decomposition into high gear. A load of horse poop would be a big help too. Luckily, I KNOW where I can get as much of that as I need free.
That hoop house was really good to me until Hurricane Katrina came blowing into town. It was never the same after that, and the slightest breeze always wreaked havoc.
July 20, 2005 Passive Heating Methods?
I don’t have the money or the desire to heat a greenhouse in the dead of winter, so I’ve been researching methods of storing solar energy during the day that will be released all night to keep the inside warm. My research findings indicate that water is the most efficient method of storing and releasing solar energy. So now, how to do it?
I save rainwater anyway, so my thinking is to store it in the greenhouse in gallon jugs for watering/heating. The floor of the greenhouse will (I hope) be covered in white rock that will help absorb and retain some heat from the day. I am also looking for a solar-powered submersible water pump that I can use to pump water from my rain barrel to the greenhouse.
Some people have had great results with a solar swimming pool cover. Now THERE’S an idea! A clear 12′ x 24′ Magni-ClearTM pool cover runs about $75. A solar pool cover is basically a huge sheet of thick bubble wrap that concentrates and insulates solar energy. If it can heat a pool, it can heat a greenhouse.
The combination of stored water, rocks and a solar blanket SHOULD keep the greenhouse warm enough to support plants and seedlings all winter, but we shall see.
I ended up running an electric space heater out there, which helped tremendously. That was such a nice place to be on the cold and rainy days.
I’ll be back with more from the archives soon.
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