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Green Dragon's 2022 Grow

skychaser

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Aug 30, 2012
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Location
NE Washington
Several years ago the county started a composting project near the landfill drop off site they had here to make compost from lawn clippings, wood and other organic things. The idea was to save space in the landfill and make something useful from the "clean green" as they called it. Sounded like a good idea. But the place caused a stench you could smell for a miles away. It was horrible! They got sued by several people who lived near it and ended up buying them out. After a couple years they started selling their compost for a dirt cheap price. (pun intended) My sister got a load for her garden. But there was a problem. All the herbicides people dump on their lawns didn't break down. And the people who put it on thier gardens watched everything die. It took another 2-3 years before she could grow anything. They ended up closing the whole facility after millions of our tax dollars were pissed away. Now they load it all onto trucks and haul it all to Oregon to a specially built landfill for semi hazardous materials.
 

GreenDragon

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Jan 18, 2018
Messages
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Location
Charlotte, NC
It is hot hot hot! I’m done with outdoor projects until the fall.

My two lone surviving tobacco plants. Pitiful.

Two trees I rescued from the flower bed. I think they will make cute Bonsai.

The cats have been using the garden as a litter box. The dogs have been digging it up hunting for kitty truffles. So I had to cover them with chicken wire. “See, this is why we can’t have nice things!”



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GreenDragon

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Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
1,966
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Location
Charlotte, NC
Man Down!

I woke up Thursday morning around 3:30 to screaming pain in my knee. You know how you know you're getting old? You wake up at 3:30 every morning because you have to pee, and discover yet another pain / injury you didn't know you had or have any idea how you got it! I have no idea what I did to my knee, but I could barely move it yesterday. Went to a doc-in-the-box and got an X-ray - no breaks or visible swellings. Sent me home with one of those compression sleeve things and told me to take Advil. Needless to say, I'm moving very slow, and stairs are an absolute misery.

On a happier note, my regime of tilling, fertilizing, and watering the garden beds to increase microbial activity (to speed up the degradation of herbicides in the soil) appears to be working. I actually was able to get some seeds to sprout and thrive in the beds this week. Also, the peaches are finally showing some color. Still rock hard though. Also had my son pick up a couple loads of compost to fill in the terraces on the hill behind the garden. I think we only need about 5-6 more loads :LOL: Thankfully you can get a pickup truckload of compost from the recycling center for $20, and mulch is free.

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GreenDragon

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Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
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Location
Charlotte, NC
My huge crop of tobacco. The Cuban has already given up. The blackberries seem to be "walking" away from their original planting location.
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Squash and Beans doing well
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Had a volunteer Mimosa tree come up in a flower pot. It outgrew it in about 3 weeks, so I popped it in a flower bed. Hopefully with shade the Hostas.
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Will have a mini crop of hops this year. Was not expecting any in the first year.
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Work continuing on the back deck. Built the base cabinet for a countertop over the weekend. Now I have to decide what to top it with.
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GreenDragon

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Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
1,966
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Location
Charlotte, NC
Breaking news!

I must make a confession. I have been lying to everyone for weeks now. It pains me greatly to say this, but I, GreenDragon (AKA Steve), have mis-identified a plant!
I usually have to endure the curse of never being wrong about anything; it's quite a burden by I struggle on. There was a horrible incident in 2017 when I thought I was wrong about something, but was mistaken. The less said the better.

How did this terrible state of events transpire? Hubris my friends: Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat (Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first deprives of reason). Being raised in the deep South of America and gardening most of my life, and being quite the Biology Nerd, I am able to identify many native and non-native plants in my area. So which specimen fooled me? A member of the family Fabaceae. Specifically, Sesbania gerbacea, otherwise know as coffeeweed, Colorado river hemp, and bigpod sesbania. This sneaky invader to my flower bed was masquerading as a Mimosa tree seedling for several months. I became suspicious when it suddenly grew 4 feet in less than a month. Mimosas just don't do that, so I waited patiently for the gold standard of plant identification - the flowers to appear. As soon as they popped up, I was able to unmask the perpetrator.

Not a Mimosa:

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I now return to my penitence. shame-gameofthrones.gif
 

GreenDragon

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Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
1,966
Points
113
Location
Charlotte, NC
It’s that time of year - cleared out the garden beds to get ready for fall/winter plantings.

Also harvested the hops today. I’m actually quite happy with the amount I got. This is all from one vine (leftmost in the picture. The other three didn’t produce this year - not unusual in my experience for the first year as they get established, especially here in the South.

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