At Home In The Woods

[Obed]

My wife has planted the following in her garden:

Cabbage, 5 kinds of squash, broccoli, snap green beans, purple hull peas, crowder peas, lima beans, bell peppers, cantalope, watermelon, lettuce, tomatoes, okra, egg plant, cucumbers, potatoes, carrots, radishes.

I helped plant the potatoes, plowed and tilled the garden. My wife has done the rest.

 

[Obed]

I used my neighbor's disc to prep this area near the entrance. My wife planted wildflowers there.

 

[Obed]

We have started working on the back porch and deck - finally.



When we built the house, we had the framers frame up the floor joists and build the porch roof. We were going to have them install the decking and railing. However, we quickly saw the framers were not "detailed" enough to do the whole porch job. For example, we intend to put in removable screens so we asked the framers to space the porch columns equally. They did so - that the space between columns was equal "within an inch". Having up to an inch difference in each of the spaced where removable screens would be installed wouldn't have worked. So we just had the framers frame up the porch and deck flooring and build the roof. We are going to finish the decking, railing, and screens ourselves.

We will use Trex decking. We will do railing using horizontal wire "railing" similar to how MotorSeven built his porch in his log house thread. I'm very much looking forward to having a back porch and deck.

Some of the pressure treated floor joists have warped significantly. When we laid some decking boards across them it became apparent that the unevenness of the joist framing was a problem. My wife read that you should plan off the tops of the uneven joists before installing the decking. However, we don't have a planer. At first I decided to just replace one of the joists that was the most badly warped. However, trying to pull the nails out of the toe-nailed joist and joist hangers turned out to be too much work. I then marked a straight line on the joist with a chalk line. Next I put the circular saw sideways against the joist and ripped the joist right in place. That technique worked amazingly well and did not take that much time to do. I did the same thing to a second joist. We'll check the remaining joists and do the same thing to get the decking reasonably flat.

I added a new floor joist close to the rim joist and added some blocking in preparation for installing a picture frame around the decking.

I believe I'm going to enjoy the porch and deck project. I don't have any pressing deadlines so I can tinker with it on my own schedule.

 

[ruralruss]

My wife has planted the following in her garden:

Cabbage, 5 kinds of squash, broccoli, snap green beans, purple hull peas, crowder peas, lima beans, bell peppers, cantalope, watermelon, lettuce, tomatoes, okra, egg plant, cucumbers, potatoes, carrots, radishes.

I helped plant the potatoes, plowed and tilled the garden. My wife has done the rest.

Just a few years back here in NW Georgia we had 2 nights in a row of 22 F. Lost 70 tomato plants. It was mid May.

 

[jinman]

Obed, that's a nice garden spot. I think you may have to fence it to keep out some critters, but you may have some time before they discover it and drop in nightly for a midnight snack. Hopefully, your soil is rich and will grow a very nice garden. I think your tree lines are far enough away to allow enough sunlight for things like tomatoes that need over 8 hours of sunlight per day. I hope evereything turns out perfectly and we can seen some photos later as the garden comes along. I salute your wife because gardening is hard work, but home grown veggies make it all worth the effort. You won't save a nickel over the grocery store, but your stuff will taste 10 times better.:thumbsup:

 

[WBWI]

Obed, the novelty of the turkey will wear off. We've replaced screens on our sliding screen doors and one window due to aggressive turkeys. They seem to enjoy attacking their reflection in the windows.

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[PAGUY]

Obed and wife - The forest critters thank-you and can't wait to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

 

[brin]

Obed...enjoy your garden....and as others have said, unfortunately all the critters will too...We tried for years to have a nice garden...fences did not keep them out and what we got was great ..but like Jim said ...you will not save a penny compared to local farmers markets or the produce section of the store...but have fun...our first year or two it was not so bad but then it is like the word went out and the squirrels, deer, coons, crows etc. all got together and taught us a lesson...LOL

 

[PAGUY]

Personal experience - Last year I planted corn, cucumbers and tomato plants. I made my own electrical fence to try and discourage critters but the tomatoes were chewed on while still green. The cucumbers had bite marks on them. The corn stalks got knocked down and cobs eaten just before they were ready to be harvested. I know the fence worked for awhile but they were persistent in their pursuit of a free meal at my expense.

The outcome is no more garden. Deck planters will hopefully dicourage bandits and farmers market/wolesale produce store will be my source for fresh veggies from now on.

I didn't have this problem for years but did see a big old racoon and ground hogs in the backyard where garden was located. Also have squirrels, chipmunks, crows and skunks around. Tried using Hav-a-hart trap which resulted in catching a kitten one time and a skunk another time. Switched to leg hold trap and caught ground hog and a skunk. Best medicine in my younger days was the compound bow for ground hogs but they wised up and run for their lives when they see me now.

Critters win - I give up.

 

[Obed]

Yes, we realize critters are going to be a challenge. We might end up putting up a removable fence but are trying a couple easier things first.

I just ordered two of these motion activated alarms.



I'm also plan to order one of the these Scarecrow Motion Sprinklers.