Does anyone know about growing figs?

[Hopalong]

RAIN BARRELS!
I'm going to a rainbarrel workshop next month at a local brewery. $35 gets us a 55-gal. barrel and all the fittings.
I am very excited about that.

Car washing in drought? No guilt!

Best one I've seen is www.aquabarrel.com. I think I'll order those parts instead of using the usual kit with screen.

I love the idea of kids swiping your blueberries. What a lovely notion. What a gift to them.
I'm glad I'll be planting mine by the street. High school kids from the school across the park wander this way sometimes.

xxxxxxxxxoooooooo
Hops

[Leah]

I have waterbarrels - my seedlings love the enriched water.

Did you know that you can grow Watercress (which I love with fish) on the top of your waterbarrel?

I only found out last year, and had a go - and it worked.

Just something that will suspend into the top of the water and fill it with compost (from composter of course!) and enjoy!

Love, Leah

[lighter]

My waterbarrels were real old whiskey barrels..... can't take the tops off.

Do your barrells have lids that come off, Leah?

Lighter

[Leah]

Oh, I did not think of that, Lighter

I have one that has no lid at all, because it is a re-used item - huge plastic cylindrical container (from a farm) and I painted it green. 

Then the other waterbarrel has a removable lid.

So, if you have sealed topped waterbarrels then you can't do Watercress in there, only option would be to catch rainwater in something else, open topped, if you would like to grow some Watercress.

I have seen beer barrels cut in half and used as flower planters, and they looked lovely.

Leah x

[lighter]

These barrells are lovely and actually came smelling of whiskey.....

so....

::expecting token pat on head from Hops for recycling::

I love watercress, btw.

Just couldn't picture it growing happily under water...... or out the tiny hole drilled in barrel for tubing.

Lighter

[lighter]

Happily taking my favorite shovel and pruning shears in truck..... they belonged to my Grandfather, who kept them oiled and in perfect maintenance.

 Must remember to take bag of soil enrichment. 

A handful of crystals that absorb water and keep roots wet during dry periods.

What else....

gloves and clothes to work in.

Yes. 

I'm going to lop off the top third of that bush and plant it in a new big deep hole, sans fertilizer.  Can't wait to see if it thrives in it's new sunny spot: )

Lighter

[Hopalong]

::patpatpatpatpat!::

Wot kind of bush??

 

'ops the gahdnah

[lighter]

Heh.... I forgot to mentoin that, didn't I?

It's the fig bush that started this thread..... my church friend's listless little, planted in the shade specimen.

Gonna see if I can't us a bunch of figs: )

Lighter

[lighter]

Missed Church but enjoyed a nice cup of tea at Auntie H's before I  dug up the fig tree.

Then I dug up an apple tree, replacing it with the fig.  There were 4 leaders and it looked healthy enough.  About 4 feet tall and the leaves were healthy and green.  She said she got 5 figs from it last year.

Lots of wonderful root breaking work involved and I adored every minute of it.

Hit a brick and thought I broke a small bone. 

Ouch. 

Didn't swell so took 2 tylenol and dug up 6! hosta's from the too sunny front yard. 

One lone little crocus had to go too and all ended up happily situation by a shaded lushly occupied fence in backyard. 

 Exactly as I'd planned it.

That took about 4 hours of digging, dragging, mixing, watering and...

 OH! OH!

One of the very best things about my day.

Right behind the fig tree was this lovely Rose bush... the medium sized pink blossoms looked like peonies..... so beautiful.  They smelled like sweet old fashioned roses.... very very nice! 

My friend said she'd lopped it all back to the ground, thinking it was just a thorny weed.

What a lovely surprise and I got to take home a few vines... it's a climbing variety.... can't wait to find a place for it. 

We'll get a trellis for the one in her back yard then start moving all kinds of things about.  The yard is planted very spotty.... must group everything together so it makes sense.  Same with same and make sure their in the right sun/shade situation.

I feel so much better having dealt with the fig and getting the hosta squared away. 

What a wonderful day.  And my buddy was just so pleased..... wonderful day: )

Girls bathed and in bed..... had a lovely visit with their cousins.

::counting blessings::
Lighter

[teartracks]

Hi,

There is a woods behing my mom's house.  So of course that is where you'd find lots of leaf mulch.  I want to harvest some of the mulch to put around my fig tree which should be in the garden hospital. 

Question:  I have leaf mulch which is raw and I have leaf mulch which has been burnt to ash.  Is one preferable to the other?  I have plenty of either.

Burnt leaves - is the ash good in any specific ways for gardening that anyone knows about?

Thanks,

tt

[Hopalong]

Hmm, TT.
I think ash is good for certain soil PH so you'd want to google that...maybe do a soil test first?
(I've never done one but I keep reading gardeners who know what they're about do it...)

I used rotted leaves.

Are there rotted leaves you can dig down to?

We had a bunch left in bags in our back woods, and now they're perfect compost.

xo
Hops

[lighter]

::accepting token pat::

 

 Hops... the one thing I feel not so great about is that I didn't take out my Grandfather's tools, properly clean and oil them. 

I didn't put them back in their proper place, (they don't have one right now, frankly.)

I left them, dirty, in the back to the truck for use today. 

I'm trying to wrap my mind around putting off gratification of food to DO that part of the job.

Really.

 I was just famished and had only a bite that morning to carry me through the entire day, which is a good thing, don't get me wrong.

I could have packed raisins.

::tapping foot::

I could have stopped for a grilled chicken sandwich on the way home.

I could have brought or borrowed WD40 and finished the job on site. 

But back to the lovely day..... it was drizzly and cool and overcast and perfectly perfect for planting. 

What can I say?

I'll honor my Grandfather this morning.....

::putting guilt away::

TT.... I used leaves for mulc, once.  I think the do a fine job but.... they tend to blow around a bit.

::going to google info on burning leaves::

Oh Lordy, tt.... don't look.

If you mulch them up.... you'll have tons of lovely organic composte.

Apparently the burning takes away those nutrients and causes lots of smoke bc burn at a low temp.

Burned leaves do seem to add a bit to higher soil PH, for what that's worth.  Not much but.... if yours is low, and you have the ash?


Lighter

[Leah]

(((( Lighter ))))

So glad that you are enjoying your gardening.

May your labors produce much "fruit"!

Happy for you.

Love, Leah

[lighter]

I am enjoying it, Leah.

Thanks,

Lighter

[Leah]

Your Herb Garden sounds wonderful Amber,

all this sharing of our love and enjoyment of gardening, has brought back to me, some very happy memories of my dear Aunt, who had "green fingers" and I believe, she most likely was my inspiration.

Many happy days spent with my dear Aunt, in her greenhouse, and I most likely "watched and learned" at a young age.

Love, Leah