I got a couple of the old party buckets moved to the potato patch but one of the buckets has a huge crack in the lower part of the bucket so it is a no go for potatoes. One bucket is in great shape so I can plant a few more potatoes. I might have to buy a few of these large buckets at $10.00 to finish planting all of the potatoes. The nice thing about the broken party bucket is still holds soil. I can use that extra soil to mound up around the potato plants. I want to lay down some of the galvanized fencing over the potato rows as my pet seem to think the frost cover is a blanket for them to lay on.
The garden fencing over two of my raised beds is doing a great job so far keeping the critters out of the beds. I have bought more of this type of fencing for the rest of the garden but I’m paying about $9.00 per compared to $4.00 for the Miracle-Gro stuff I got from Grocery Outlet in late March early April. I would recommend getting this type of fencing/barrier if you have pets or to deal with small pets, squirrels and birds getting into your garden beds.
I moved a couple of the kiddie pool planters into the garden area. It is amazing just how much dirt is in a small pool and how heavy it can get. I’ll use the pools for leaf lettuce and spinach as those plants have shallow roots. I have seen gardeners add some low fencing around these kiddie pools and plant root crops by building up the depth of the soil. I have not tried that but it could be an option for a low cost bed. These kiddie pools are a great option for growing herbs as herbs like mint can spread if not contained.
It has been getting a little chilly at night. My temp. gauge registered 31 F. overnight and it looks like we might see 30-35 degrees F. until May 8th. I added some frost cloth over my Strawberries that are starting to blossom. I’m not sure if the blossoms are affect by frost but it is easy to drape the cloth just in case.
I have added fire wood as the house can get a little cold overnight. I just start a fire during the day and the house holds the heat for at least a day. This is Idaho and I have seen it snow as late as May 18th. Being prepped for cold weather is a year round thing.
I was having a heck of time keeping the chickens water food and water dishes clear of dirt/debris. I don’t mind cleaning/adding water a few times a day but the birds need access to clean food and water to stay healthy. Mom suggested putting the feed and waterers up on cinder blocks and by golly it worked. While there is some straw and a little bit of stuff in the waterer and feed it is easy to remove and does not clog/fill with dirt. I have added an extra bowl of oyster shell and grit so the birds can get what they want. This seems to work better than adding it to the regular feeder.
I did a bit more shopping and added another 15 bags of brown mulch from Lowes. This is much better bagged mulch that you can get from Home depot. You get 2 cubic feet compared to 1.5 and the quality is better in my opinion. I bought a few concrete blocks that are for making raise beds but I think the blocks might work for building a greenhouse foundation. I can play around with it and see what I can come up with on the job. I can see how these blocks would be great for a new gardener using raised beds. If you placed a bed in the wrong spot just move it and it costs nothing but a bit of work.
My Adventures in selfreliance 