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Garden Gate:  Am I the only one who's thought of this?  |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 13 2006 : 11:35:03 AM
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Okay, so most of you know I have horses and just about live in the barn. I also have a garden this year for the first time in quite a few years. I was clearing out some new sod with my tiller, which will chop up all the sod but leaves little clumps in the seedbed. I used to either leave them or take them out by hand, which takes a long time and means a lot of bending. But I said to myself
(forgive me for this)
it sure seems like using a manure fork would make it like picking poop up out of shavings.
So I went to the barn and got my trusty manure fork. Took it back to the garden, took a big scoop and sifted. Voila, just clumps in the fork, and the soil stayed behind! Then I could just flip the sod chunks into my cart. Fast and easy, and no bending.
Just wondered if anybody else does this. I can promise you if I expand again next year, I'll have my manure fork ready and waiting!
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
Posted - Jul 13 2006 : 11:51:05 AM
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sounds like a good idea , whatever makes the job easier but gets it done..works for me.
~Seize the Day! Live, Love, Laugh~ |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Jul 13 2006 : 12:12:58 PM
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Excellent idea Mary Ann. I agree with Tina too...whatever gets the job done the easiest! I expanded my cut flower garden this spring. I turned over the sods and let the chickens loose on them. They were convinced there were earthworms on the underside and ripped those sods to shreds in no time. I also make the chickens work for their living (aside from egg laying) by turning them loose in the compost yard in the spring. Just take off the compost fencing and let 'em go...they'll turn over a compost in no time flat!
Di |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Jul 13 2006 : 4:25:14 PM
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That's a great idea. I only wish I had a sod busting tiller. I have to remove the sod before it can be tilled.
As far as chickens, they are some hard working girls. I've been sprinkling cracked corn on various lumps (ginormous ant hills, compost piles from 50 years ago, etc) I'd like to see disappear and that's exactly what's happened.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." -E. B. White
http://www.betweenthecities.com/blog/ljr/
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akcowgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
296 Posts
Valerie
Homer
Alaska
USA
296 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2006 : 9:49:00 PM
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Hey that is a great idea, and so much easier than picking it up by hand. i bet is would work on all this pesky rocks that get tilled up every spring too. i swear the best crop we grow is rocks because there is more that turn up every year after tilling at my dad's.
Valerie
Yes, I live in my own little world. But that's ok they know me here.
Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2006 : 7:26:00 PM
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Yeah, I've gotten out a bunch of fist sized rocks from along the side of the house this way, too. They have to go someplace other than the compost pile, though. But no bending! I just flip them in a tub and take them away.
Isn't it funny how rocks can keep coming up? |
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Garden Gate: Am I the only one who's thought of this? |
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Am I the only one who's thought of this?
