Episode 174: Winter, time to plan this year's garden

Salty and Spice talk about starting to plan this year's garden and other improvements that need to be made around your place and ours. Go to Beans, Bullets, Bandages & You by clicking HERE!

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spk_0:   0:01
Hello, everybody.

spk_1:   0:03
Hello, everybody. And welcome to know Ah, so pig, It's the most important. And critically a podcast is recorded in our car. No, he's come to the volume. You can actually your ask me how I'm feeling. How are you feeling? Salty. Not feeling salty. I'm feeling rather seedy today.

spk_0:   0:31
See, that happens to me this time of year.

spk_1:   0:33
This time welcome to the show It is, But we're according to show. On January 1st New Year's Day, instead of sitting around watching football all day long, were actually out and doing something. We're on our way to Illinois, and we're going to do some things while we're there. So that's not what the podcast is about. Podcast about. It is January, which means it's time or even past time, if you will, to be thinking about spring and the gardening and tree planting and Steve's and getting the water system set up like we wanted tohave this year,

spk_0:   1:17
but not actually doing it yet,

spk_1:   1:19
but not actually doing it. But it does take quite a bit of planning to do it right, so we're getting ready to start having our spring planning sessions. We've already been read the seed catalogs are there either here or on their way.

spk_0:   1:33
You can't stop them once you buy see

spk_1:   1:35
bias by something you can never stop them. And so they're on their way. E. And I'm sitting here debating whether we should go back and pull that piece debris out of the room. But I don't think dangerous stuff toe

spk_0:   1:48
It didn't look like a crash hazard.

spk_1:   1:50
Sometimes we'll stop out here on a rural highway and pull debris off the road if it looks like it could be dangerous to somebody. Lots of times you'll see boards out here that have fallen off a truck. And sometimes I have nails and you see all kinds of stuff. So, anyhoo, planning

spk_0:   2:09
well, I have so far as in earlier this week, gotten last year's actually, year before last compost pile distributed on to the gardens so it can finish rotting out in place where it is on the garden plots for the rest of the winter. The compost bin I filled up last year gets to sit another year, turn into nice rich dirt so the ground will be ready to put stuff in. Actually will need more compost before planting.

spk_1:   2:40
So one of the things we've got a problem with of our compost is where it's located. My question is, is a time to instead of refilling the Ben, we already have maybe think about popping together another bin, maybe back behind the big long shed, where it will actually get rained on our sits under a tree, which turns out to be a rather bad place to put it. It's in the shade, and it doesn't get a lot of rain on.

spk_0:   3:08
Yeah, I did that to make it less visible to our neighbors, but it's an alley, and

spk_1:   3:13
I really care. Exactly. They don't

spk_0:   3:16
I didn't realize it would get state quite that dry.

spk_1:   3:20
So it makes me wonder if we want to move our compost like said back behind that shed, where there's nothing there. I mean, we've got a, uh, a tree or something planted there, but it's not going toe affect that pile. By the time it's used. It is not that big,

spk_0:   3:37
but we'll do that. Yeah, all I do is wired together together. Pallets to my compost bins.

spk_1:   3:42
Yeah, it's no big deal. You just unwired moving and wire him back together. again. Maybe pick up one for the other side. But, you know,

spk_0:   3:50
so the main thing for before we plant in the spring more compost cause the compost of two people is not enough to feed a whole garden. So I'll buy some compost to go on there.

spk_1:   4:02
We usually buy compost by the truckload or by the back.

spk_0:   4:05
Ah, we generally by one pic upload worth. We still have a pickup. If we still have

spk_1:   4:11
that where? That's hot course of debate in the salty and spice household. Well, that hot we

spk_0:   4:19
do at the farm truck?

spk_1:   4:20
Yeah. What to do? The farm truck. We take it out to the place and let it sit in and have typical the beagle sat for a while problems like we have right now, because with my broken leg, I was driving in and out of the matter is dead. Gotta gotta You don't need it? No. Or do we just get rid of it? Because it's a pretty good expense and work. My income is less than it used to be. My choice because I'm phasing out of the day job into another career. He's the producer. Been caused frankly and it is an old truck cause it gets eight miles a gallon.

spk_0:   4:53
We love that truck about four days a year, and the rest of the year it's like Justin expense,

spk_1:   4:59
and it's a pretty good expense. So anyway, that's something we have to decide because we do use it some, uh, but weaken do without queen. Three people, two vehicles,

spk_0:   5:12
two people, three vehicles.

spk_1:   5:14
I didn't say it, but I meant it. So back to back to planning. Um, we have some bigger projects that well, I don't know. Not really sure how we're going to get it. You need to put guttering up at the place to collect rainwater in our barrels of water are fruit trees. Do we go ahead and get a big tank? And if so, we need to do that without what? We still have the truck tow. Put it out there. The question. I think I know the answer, but I'm not sure I know the answer.

spk_0:   5:49
Do you think about soil prep? You think about how you're gonna water

spk_1:   5:53
waterings big if this is the time of year to plan your watering projects, if you're going to do it,

spk_0:   5:57
the reason I said. Don't set him up yet is because if we set up our watering systems now would have stuff freezing water inside our collection barrels and stuff, and that's not good for him. So I have them put up for the year.

spk_1:   6:10
When we have our it's all ready to go. It's just turned upside down and

spk_0:   6:14
turned upside down, dried out to sit through the winter. And they will be that way until I judge we're not gonna have another freeze hard, usually rather

spk_1:   6:22
April 15th year ish. But last year, trust after April 15 so you never know, and it takes a pretty hard for you to break out water barrel. But they do happen, and it can get cold quicker than you might think in the fall. Like on October 14th for example, you can have ice and fold out and break your leg

spk_0:   6:42
that he's bitter or not bitter. Anything

spk_1:   6:44
that's way too soon to have ice. Okay, next,

spk_0:   6:51
uh, supports for the plants are best put in before any planting gets done, right? And if you're gonna turn the soil, if I'm gonna turn the soil, I turn it As soon as it thaws out enough to do it, which is usually I can catch a week week in March where the soil sought out enough to do it. Not too soggy. Otherwise, it waits till April, but I leave it in condition in the fall so it doesn't. If I needed to just take a shovel out, put stuff in with a shovel. That's all it would take. So I plant a lot of peas and beans, things both because they store very well. I had some black eyed peas this morning. New Year's Eve tradition, right? Had some black eyed peas that I grew last summer. And to do that, somebody was done with their ah, dog enclosure. Outdoor dog enclosure.

spk_1:   7:42
Yeah, it was pretty much rusted. Not a very good talk enclosure anymore. But it works great for travels.

spk_0:   7:48
Yeah, turns out peace. Don't try and escape very much. Doll holes in the bottom. Don't bother it. So we picked that up for free, and I stuck it out in the garden and put it in a couple of sport post. Hold it up and they were my P trellis running down the middle of my garden, which was really nice, because that meant the north side of the patrols was shaded, and I got an extra two or three weeks with lettuce out of that side of the garden because I had some shade for. So that's the kind of planning we're talking about here. What sports do you need to put in what plants? So you're gonna put where? Because you have to kind of decide on the plants before you know about sports. Many things you have to move from place to place in the garden from year to year because they especially deplete the soil of one particular nutrient. Or they leave diseases and parasites of their own in the soil, and you get much less of a infection burden. If you move the plants somewhere else for the next year. And don't come back to that spot for three ish, here's your so

spk_1:   8:50
and that's that's something that she plans out very pretty carefully. We learned that last of moving rings around for parasitic purposes. It really is a big difference. Something,

spk_0:   9:01
Yeah, I started with the naive assumption of oh did great here last year. I'll put it back here next year. Wrong. Thank you for playing

spk_1:   9:08
some areas seem to say fairly parasite free for a long time. But no area will stay parasite free forever. And we are just not into putting poisons our food unless we absolutely have to. So we're pretty much as organic as you could be as we can be, which does limit the types of foods that we can grow.

spk_0:   9:27
Yeah, they're zucchini squash that everybody else grows like crazy. I actually grew some last year because it wasn't a bad year for it. I put some plants and hope for the best, and every now and then it works. But sooner or later, the squash bugs always get him because I'm unwilling to put seven on him.

spk_1:   9:43
Right? We actually had, uh, you had a commando plant out a gorilla plant. Yeah, I had a really fun place that got a couple.

spk_0:   9:52
Yeah, and I had some more this year, but when I got distracted and was away and I didn't get out there for a couple weeks, Yeah.

spk_1:   10:02
If you are not a gardener, you cannot believe how fast zucchini and cucumbers can get away from you. Especially zucchini.

spk_0:   10:11
You go out one day, wait

spk_1:   10:14
till tomorrow and pick that thing. It's just a little underwear I'd like to be come out tomorrow and it is the size of an aircraft carrier.

spk_0:   10:21
Well, you forget it one day, and it's the size of an aircraft carrier.

spk_1:   10:26
I mean, seriously, just they're they're putting the stripes on the thing, you know? They're they're building a control tower, you know, we're gonna leave the land in 7 40 sevens on this thing. Pretty soon

spk_0:   10:38
you go from good food to building material in about a day.

spk_1:   10:43
Right now we have a use for and we documented this in the in the other show we've documented. We have a use for big zucchini. As long as it's not Woody in the middle with Woody in the middle.

spk_0:   11:00
Yeah, when the skin gets woody and it starts to hollow out in the middle, that's too old, even for my zucchini chips.

spk_1:   11:06
But the key chips, you can use those really big logs as long as their outward in the middle.

spk_0:   11:11
What, you on the outside

spk_1:   11:14
and holiday? Yeah. Um I know. So, Yeah, it's a consideration. Certainly, Thio. Sorry I'm turning here. Sometimes you have to stop and drive. I apologize. about that. And we're driving through a little town in north Missouri, and I all around we could get all these houses and only just houses have garden spot in all the produce things provide. These little towns were safe and secure and know where I'm sitting. You're not gonna have a gang. Problem is you're not gonna have. Uh,

spk_0:   11:45
yeah, There's not a lot of crime. There's a lot

spk_1:   11:47
of crime. There's nothing, but there's no stealing, you know? It's gonna be me. There's just so much out here for preppers. I don't kit. Why? So

spk_0:   11:58
I perfectly get why Jobs? Yeah, but

spk_1:   12:01
jobs are one thing, but you think we're gonna come? I've got several things out there about this. I'm getting a little bit of aside because we're talking about planning. So this is just part of planning, Like planning for your future. The thing There are so many houses out here that cost the same amount of money as a dump vehicle will cost you. You can have a house out here in a town like the town we're driving through 100 miles away or 150 miles away from your city so you can get out there without a lot of trouble and have a safe place for your family to go. If the stuff hits the fan brother cost of a new truck, and yet people don't think about doing it. I just don't

spk_0:   12:51
They're not out here. They don't know anyway. Sorry. That's one thing we didn't until he brought up wth e bugging out of the city's thing. It didn't even occur to me to mention When you're planning, you might need to see what is legal to plant in your area.

spk_1:   13:09
That's true.

spk_0:   13:10
You might have a homeowners police to prevent you from planting food in the backyard or planting food that looks like a vegetable garden instead of looking like a decorative garden that happens to produce plants that you can eat.

spk_1:   13:25
Fortunately, there's a lot of plants that are very pretty that produce food, so you may have to do a little bit of tinkering and planning, but you use usually get away with it. A lot of fruit trees out there that are gorgeous, that flower people love them, um, and you and nobody's gonna complain about a fruit tree as long as you don't let your apples fall the ground, all right. You know, nobody will complain about it because it's pretty. It's pretty to see an apple tree, so

spk_0:   13:55
maybe that will be one of the experiments this year. I often do, 01 or two or maybe three. You little experiments and gardening. Every year I plant some stuff because I want to eat, and then I plant some stuff because I want to learn some things. I might try an ornamental edibles garden this year cause I've planted the occasional species before just because I wanted the food from him. But normally I don't care of my garden Looks like and nobody else does, either.

spk_1:   14:23
Well, one of our one of our definite needs this year is we're gonna have to plant leaving.

spk_0:   14:29
Yeah, we had a real job

spk_1:   14:31
last year. We'll have to plan a different kind than what was there

spk_0:   14:35
because the same kind died twice in that spot. So that's

spk_1:   14:39
this is a spot that has had a tree in it for all for forever. This is a good tree growing, Erin. We know it is. It's just that particular type of tree doesn't

spk_0:   14:49
and the tree 25 feet from it is thriving, but won't fruit. Well, it might treat this year because I've got another apple tree around the side. That's probably close enough.

spk_1:   14:58
Yeah, we may. We may have to do some. We have to do some pollinating. So you have this year's we're gonna have to do for us. We're gonna have a plan to put in an apple tree of a different variety, but one to still cross pollinates between all of our apple trees. Desires are not so pollinators. And, uh, that's another good thing. Thio. Consider when you're doing your garden planning is when you're planning your non feud growing garden, make sure that the that the flowers and the ornamentals you're doing are really, really pollinator friendly. You want things you want every be in the neighborhood, your yard. We want yours to be a B buffet because there's nothing that gets you good fruits and veggies like a bi fai. Get the little bees in there, let them do their little bee thing. But in B, we're gonna put in. I'm planning on putting in a be friendly structure in her backyard this year.

spk_0:   16:05
Yeah, it's a semi decorative collection of bamboo pipes. But the small little little bees that air great pollinators like to announce in them

spk_1:   16:15
non stinging love nest in him and nothing else will. They don't didn't attract lost training like that. Too small, so it was lust will actually politi Gloucester jerks.

spk_0:   16:31
Many wasps will not pollinated all because they're busy. However, some wasps do. Harrison ties caterpillars, and it's disgusting. And I'm not gonna describe it because it's gross. I want to do a biologist. It's gross, but they do hope. Control caterpillars. Some species do.

spk_1:   16:51
Remember that one tree you had the head that catapulted It was the size of a D six h literally

spk_0:   16:58
centimeter alone Caterpillar. I'm sure it was a luna moth caterpillar.

spk_1:   17:01
Yeah, but it's just eating your tree.

spk_0:   17:04
Yeah, that's single. Caterpillar had denuded 3/4 of a year old country of its lead. Fortunately, right at the end of the growing season on the tree survived, but I saw they're like, Ah, it's an alien had never seen a caterpillar of that species,

spk_1:   17:20
but she had a glove on, so at a global

spk_0:   17:24
I came to get a globe. I did not want to touch that thing with my bare hand

spk_1:   17:28
and she has a good throwing arm and we have a pond full of fish. It thought of sorry lieut him off,

spk_0:   17:34
squishing it to kill them off because it's obviously a caterpillar of a predatory on our tree species. So normally I would get rid of those. But then the thought of stepping on that giant thing was, Yeah,

spk_1:   17:46
And so that's when I came in, I bet efficient eating.

spk_0:   17:48
Yeah, if you do get fish.

spk_1:   17:54
And she threw that thing probably, 0 50 feet into the end of the pond and you could hear the curse Blue sh yeah, when it hit. That's how big this thing Waas Yeah, that's the kind of creepy.

spk_0:   18:10
So we got the soil ready. We thought about where we're gonna put the plants. That tells us where to put the sports. And then we think, where to put our water collection so that the places we want to water will be downhill of where water collection is. We think about what's not going to get us in trouble with the neighbors if that happens to be an issue. Fortunately over, a neighbor is good about pollinators.

spk_1:   18:37
Are neighbors cars that were good.

spk_0:   18:39
Gardening is not strange out here. Vegetable gardening is not

spk_1:   18:43
No. In fact, it works pretty well. We've got We've got a fence line where we put in a lot of our life. Uh,

spk_0:   18:50
perennial Berries,

spk_1:   18:51
Berries and stuff like that. You gotta deal with the neighbors. Pick what you want. Whatever comes on, your half defense is yours and half of it is on their abs offensives. There's

spk_0:   19:02
my neighbors have been very Our neighbors have been very friendly about it, even though they don't actually usually pick any sometimes, Um, I think it's, you know, them just not getting out there and doing it because they seem to appreciate this stuff. So sometimes I go out and pick an extra bucket and deliver it to them as a thank you for their tolerance of my over growing blackberries and raspberries.

spk_1:   19:27
Besides getting me, you gotta be out. That's not a very good fans know. We really probably should recite fence at some point,

spk_0:   19:33
but its its only purpose is to delineate one property from the next. There's no fence around the rest of our property. At this point in time, I keep hesitating to put in more perennials there because we keep thinking about replacing that fence.

spk_1:   19:47
One of these days, that fence is going to replace it. So is this gonna come?

spk_0:   19:51
Yeah, but by that time I've got so many blackberries out there, we'll have a hedge of black. We pretty much do have a hedge of blackberries and raspberries back there at the moment. So think about where you're gonna put your perennials. And if you keep those going long enough, they they will make amore dissuading barrier than almost any commercially made fence that is not electrified or has barbed wire because nobody wants to crawl through a bunch of perennial berry bushes that have been growing in a thicket for years. If you by the thorns varieties and even if you don't, they're really hard to get through so that that's actually an excellent intrusion barrier. If you've got a troublesome spot where people might otherwise try and climb a fence or or cross over the property line thickets of black Paris air really dissuading. So that's a nice element to think about, too. You want to put in the trees they're gonna put in. It's actually best to put him in before the trees really fully wake up for the spring. I often put my name in March because I often have a little time available in March to put him in. So as soon as the ground is thought enough that Aiken get the digging done. Historically salty has been more time constrained in his job minds A little more time. Flexible. So I've been the planter, but put him in in the spring before the trees really wake up is best. So you're thinking about those now thinking about where this item, Because ahead of time, you want to do the find out where all the underground stuff is on your property. Know where all the power lines in Missouri there's a 1 800 dig right number. You have to call and then come out number. And it always takes longer than the tell you it will. But they will come in spray paint where their stuff is in the vicinity that you have marked on your property.

spk_1:   21:51
And interestingly enough, we found CASS line. We did not know was there this last time we did this?

spk_0:   21:56
Yeah, running right through our I had intended to put a tree, so it's probably a good thing I actually called. I moved the tree over a couple of feet, too. Avoid going T o in

spk_1:   22:08
the state where the stakes were.

spk_0:   22:11
Yeah. Okay. I think I'll move the tree a couple of feet this way. So now's a good time of year to get them doing it because they're not hugely busy this time of year. Unless there's an ice storm and they'll get out there and get it done fairly quick.

spk_1:   22:25
The bad side is you're gonna have paint marks forever till spring. But, you know,

spk_0:   22:31
Yeah, and you're not supposed to do it too awfully long before you put this stuff in. But frankly, if I've got a bunch of grass growing out there, if somebody puts in a new line, I'm gonna know it. Not gonna be a mystery to me. So I didn't really worry about that aspect of it. I just had a

spk_1:   22:47
market. Here's another thing to you. Once you get this done, you document it, make yourself a little map. So you know where all the stuff is going across your property. He's kind of put that in your stuff. Put that in here? I've got a I got pictures of where these markings were, and I'm kind of put those in my picture storage and right where they are. So just so I know where the stuff is,

spk_0:   23:13
You know, if something comes up and you need to put some stuff in a hurry and you don't have time to make the calls, then you've got a map of where everything is on your property. Exactly. You know, we put stuff in,

spk_1:   23:24
you need five fresh graves. She's looking at me. Yeah, yeah. No shit here. I don't carry him on your own. Come on. Somebody else's G. I'm not right anyway, anyway.

spk_0:   23:40
Plan where the tree's gonna go. Make sure you it's a safe place to put him think about distances to other trees. And what what needs to pollinate? What?

spk_1:   23:48
Also another going back to the law thing. Make sure that you know the laws when it comes to collecting rainwater or some states. What's illegal, which is comment. I will stop and say some states it's illegal and not give any more thoughts as to what I think of that. But

spk_0:   24:10
because that would be political guests they're

spk_1:   24:12
not political on three b. Y, no matter how stupid the lives. We're not political

spk_0:   24:20
and don't buy too many seeds yet, guys, because they're not at their cheapest prices this time of year.

spk_1:   24:27
Unless there last year seats that blowing up the end. We bought some last week, but they were still. They were the 10 for a dollar kind of seeds, and I have a seat aholic in our car. I have a problem many, many, many, many, many vices when it comes to purchasing stuff. Uh, mostly photographic, your, but sometimes my things, too. But when it comes to seeds, we have a seat aholic.

spk_0:   24:55
It's really easy to overbuy seeds, and it's really easy for me to over plant my garden. I'll make a plan that makes perfect sense based on how much space I know everything needs. And then when I actually get out there, I'll put in that stuff and then I'll have a few plants left over. All have some seeds left over, and it looks so very bare because they're so far apart spaced when you first put him in.

spk_1:   25:20
Some are going to do that. Well, maybe sneak

spk_0:   25:22
in some and I'll pull out some pull out the worst doers later, she lied. That's pretty much it. Because I have trouble sacrificing plants that look decent. They'll look pretty good first. Oh, Then

spk_1:   25:38
it was two days.

spk_0:   25:40
He needed emotional sport casts

spk_1:   25:43
to pinch my seedlings. Some of them were easy because they were like one big, strong one and two just almost dead. But do you have five or six big strong ceilings in there and you need to pinch you just like I feel like a murderer. Yeah, but which one would make the best plan? Hey, we ate all summer on those plants

spk_0:   26:03
were still eating on those plants,

spk_1:   26:06
but I grew get I groom killing you. But we grew from See that weeks? There's some kind of fun growing something from a seed.

spk_0:   26:17
Yeah, I had some soup yesterday. That was 100% stuff from the garden from last year.

spk_1:   26:23
No, that's good. So I think we're getting the point where a rambling is what's gonna hang this one up for a while forever? This particular I guess so. Any last words for this, but gas not like ever

spk_0:   26:36
start thinking about it, but too early to go crazy.

spk_1:   26:38
All right, later. But