BYC gardening thread!!

[politicalcenter]

I am jealous! Congrats

Thank you. It seems like we waited forever. She did everything on her own. The kids seem to be nursing well. Do you have goats?

 

[lazy gardener]

PC, congrats on the goats. I've always wanted to have a couple of goats.



As for the giant log: I have limited experience with HK. Is this log in a location where you wouldn't mind having a garden bed? Do you have access to lots of material to build a garden bed with? Could you use the log as one side of the bed, and build the bed in front of the log, then, allow vining crops to climb over the log? An other option might be to place an ad on Craigs list offering the log to anyone who would come and take it away. is the wood useable? Could it be milled for lumber? A sound log of that diameter is worth quite a lot, simply as lumber. If it's not that sound, there may be someone out there who would cut it up and use it for firewood. If you go that route, be sure you have the takers sign a liability waiver. Also, check your home owner's insurance to be sure you have your bases covered.

 

[Penny Hen]

I think it would work. You might check the orientation to the sun to see if you might need to scootch it a little this way or that (with the help of a rope and pick up truck) but I would just cover it in straw and then heap earth on it. Throw some kitchen waste into the straw to encourage worms to move in or go to a bait shop and buy a pint of worms to add. If you are in a cold region you could jumpstart the process by using fresh horse manure at the base underneath the edges of the log. The heat from it will start thing up yet be deep enough not to scorch plant roots. You might even be able to get an extra week or two of growing time because your soil will be warmer earlier.

 

[chickadoodles]

Congratulations Politialcenter! They are cute.

 

[politicalcenter]

Congratulations Politialcenter! They are cute.

Thank you.

 

[Finnie]

PC, congrats on the goats.  I've always wanted to have a couple of goats.  



As for the giant log:  I have limited experience with HK.  Is this log in a location where you wouldn't mind having a garden bed?  Do you have access to lots of material to build a garden bed with?  Could you use the log as one side of the bed, and build the bed in front of the log, then, allow vining crops to climb over the log?  An other option might be to place an ad on Craigs list offering the log to anyone who would come and take it away.  is the wood useable?  Could it be milled for lumber?  A sound log of that diameter is worth quite a lot, simply as lumber.  If it's not that sound, there may be someone out there who would cut it up and use it for firewood.  If you go that route, be sure you have the takers sign a liability waiver.  Also, check your home owner's insurance to be sure you have your bases covered.

I think it would work. You might check the orientation to the sun to see if you might need to scootch it a little this way or that (with the help of a rope and pick up truck) but I would just cover it in straw and then heap earth on it. Throw some kitchen waste into the straw to encourage worms to move in or go to a bait shop and buy a pint of worms to add. If you are in a cold region you could jumpstart the process by using fresh horse manure at the base underneath the edges of the log. The heat from it will start thing up yet be deep enough not to scorch plant roots. You might even be able to get an extra week or two of growing time because your soil will be warmer earlier.

Thank you both for the ideas and suggestions! I think by combining them, I can come up with a workable plan. It lays alongside our driveway, so I could use it as a sort of front-retaining-wall border and slope the rest of the HK mound behind it. I think some vinca vine planted along the top would drape down over the front nicely.

We have no shortage of brush and wood scraps and other HK type materials cluttered all over the place. That's one of the reasons that the HK link appealed to me and got me reading all morning yesterday. When I brought the subject up to DH last night, he said, so we're basically burying all our problems? Lol, I think that's what it amounts to!

I don't think the log is very sound. It's a white pine that got killed by pine borers. DH has/had plans to use it for a motorcycle jump. He asked the tree guys to leave him a 5 foot piece, and they just left the whole trunk.

He still thinks he's going to cut it up and move it, but I'm sure he never will. As soon as he gives the OK, I'll start burying it in organic matter!

 

[lizardandchicks]

Thank you. It seems like we waited forever. She did everything on her own. The kids seem to be nursing well. Do you have goats?

Yeah, I am on the goats thread too!

 

[politicalcenter]

Yeah, I am on the goats thread too!

That's great, then you won't mind two more pictures? They are dry now and dancing.

 

[politicalcenter]

This one won't stop moving . So it is kinda hard to get a good pic.

 

[lazy gardener]

We have no shortage of brush and wood scraps and other HK type materials cluttered all over the place. That's one of the reasons that the HK link appealed to me and got me reading all morning yesterday. When I brought the subject up to DH last night, he said, so we're basically burying all our problems? Lol, I think that's what it amounts to!

I don't think the log is very sound. It's a white pine that got killed by pine borers. DH has/had plans to use it for a motorcycle jump. He asked the tree guys to leave him a 5 foot piece, and they just left the whole trunk.

He still thinks he's going to cut it up and move it, but I'm sure he never will. As soon as he gives the OK, I'll start burying it in organic matter!

If you have plenty of HK material, you might find an other log and place it parallel to the big one, with about 5' of space between the two. You can then fill the void with your brush and smaller stuff. If you can, it would be helpful to excavate the soil from the middle, so you can then heap that soil on top of the completed mound. I had no soil available, built my HK, at least the completed end, into a bank left by an excavator, so it is somewhat mounded at the front, and it is 4' high at the back where the ground slopes away. The far end of my HK will be more level with existing terrain.