Blue’s pad

[BLUE]

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[DRIVEN]

Awesome. I know threads like this are helpful to keep track of when and how things got done. I know my threads are mainly for my selfish purposes but I'm always happy if anyone wants to tag along.

[jtinluvr]

My old house in Hollister had a bunch of fruit trees when we got it. Between the hassles with vector control/med fly monitoring and some of the fruit (or variety) not to my taste, by the time we sold the place they were all gone. Our current place has a cherry tree and a couple apple trees.

[BLUE]

Awesome. I know threads like this are helpful to keep track of when and how things got done. I know my threads are mainly for my selfish purposes but I'm always happy if anyone wants to tag along.

Tagging along is always interesting. It does help with some personal motivation I suppose as well. I’m a self-starter , but I’m also Lazy (odd combo).

My old house in Hollister had a bunch of fruit trees when we got it. Between the hassles with vector control/med fly monitoring and some of the fruit (or variety) not to my taste, by the time we sold the place they were all gone. Our current place has a cherry tree and a couple apple trees.

Ah yes!

Mosquitos....they gave me a warm welcome after we moved in. Welcoming party was as I installed a new rear hub bearing on the wife’s corolla (open garage....while I’m working on the ground). Low flyers , what a mistake.

Love cherry’s. Oddly enough , cherry trees have been a miss at 3 Local nursery’s For us off and on . I remember apple trees as a kid.

[Laecaon]

My all time favorite fruit tree is the Yellow Plum tree (Mirabelle plum). The plums are so delicious.

[Ni10]

found out what to use when working in hard packed clay soil, gypsum- Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard/sidewalk chalk, and drywall.

good luck, hope that helps with your future gardening.

[BLUE]

Thanks , I’ve put that in my notes on the ol phone.

We also picked up soil called “recipe 420” a couple of weeks ago.

Obviously it’s formulated for growing weed.
Put our tomatoes and strawberry’s in it this year , and wow
Good stuff.....!

[wayno]

You really don't have to spend that kind of money to get good produce, I did raised beds for my tomatoes, lettuce, and my Watermelon plants because I am trying to control weeds around them plants as I am only watering inside of them raised bed containers now, that soil doesn't likely have weed seeds in it.
Originally I planned on removing the raised bed containers after the tomato plants were over with and rototill the soil into the garden soil, but maybe I will leave them where they are if there are no weeds going in the containers, maybe cover them and add more new raised bed soil on top next season, I will decide in the fall.

[wayno]

I don't know how the post that was here ended up on Blue's thread, I must have spaced out.

[BLUE]

I appreciate that wayno. Trying to make things easier on the wife for a happy life. . We might not use the soil in the future though. We maybe doing raised garden beds next time.

Not the best picture Of the fruit trees located in the backyard , the brick barrier will be replaced tbd , and cardboard is for weeds (lazy).


Plouts , peaches , apricots , nectarine , oranges , mandarins. We have hybrid trees with several variety’s and different kinds of peaches to.

[wayno]

That is a big back yard!
Fact is my garden is a raised garden, all the photos I have taken are of a 2 railroad tie high raised garden, I had Junipers in my back yard when I bought the house, I cut all the branches off them and was going to wrap a chain around the lower section of each one and rip it out with my truck, that worked fine for the low Junipers in the front yard I removed so I went at it, I wrapped the chain around the stump(if that is what it is called) and wrapped it around this piece of frame that was welded in between the frame rails in the rear, this was a long bed commercial 1953 Chevy truck with a 350/auto in it, well I went forward a couple maybe 3 feet and the truck stopped moving, but I didn't stop moving, I hit the steering wheel, my head lightly hit the windshield, and my right knee broke the key off in the ignition, I got out and that very heavy duty welded in piece of metal was slightly bent, I used a sledge and straightened it, then I looked at the stump base and not even the dirt was disturbed, it didn't even move it a little, so I cut them all off at ground level and bought enough railroad ties to fill the whole back yard, I left 3 feet between the fences and the railroad ties, I made little walk ways between beds and then I brought in over 40 yards of dirt by the time it was filled, eventually I took out the walk ways and it was one large garden.
Then I needed more room in the back yard so I made half of it two rail road ties high and then I moved all that dirt to that section which took a while(days), I am thinking about making the whole back yard a garden again.

[BLUE]

Thanks , for this area it is a larger lot. Both neighbors poked their head over the fence and said they’d purchase our house if we ever sold....just for the back yard

Interesting chain of events for you thanks for sharing. I’ve been “allegedly” known to use my brothers old beat up truck half my life ago to do the same or at least “attempt” . It’s been a while since my tundra pulled out any real widowmaker trees.... *cough cough bushes cough cough* or stumps/small trees... .

[Laecaon]

I did that with blackberry bushes. My mom insisted I got the roots out. And a shovel was not fun. Tied a noose essentially around the base, and use my cars tow hook. So easy.

[DRIVEN]

Haha, my mom actually misses blackberries. Vile weeds!

[wayno]

I like blackberries, I used to go to the local park that had blackberries on one side of the entrance to the park, they didn't spray them back then, I could eat them till I was full and be back the next day eating them again, I just don't want them growing on my property as they are very hard to get rid of once they have established a foot hold, Raspberries are actually almost the same but way smaller stalks, they come up everywhere, but not like them huge blackberry stalks with sharp barbs on them, I don't wear gloves very often, but when dealing with blackberries I need gloves.

[Ni10]

my 2 cents on gardens - I've had a garden for 27 yrs and never thought of a raise garden ( different stokes for different folks ) cause I control my weed problem by only watering the plants and not the entire garden area (30x30). The tomato plants got a 3' dia dirt dike build around then, 2- 3" high, the vine ground plants ( green / yellow Suzuki, acorn etc etc ) got a 4" plastic ring around them to make a mound to keep the soil from washing away plus it helps keep the water located where the plant is. On the edge of the garden where I wasn't growing, I would take lawn clippings and spread it around, 3" deep and then pack it down by walking on it. When weed/s would pop through the clippings, I would pull them. The clippings also can be used around the plants to controls weeds and it helps retain moisture from drying out faster during the hot season. Once the growing seasons over, it can be tilled into the soil, puts nitrogen back into the soil.
Using card board is a good thing cause it can be tilled into the soil when your ready to do a garden. As for buying bag soil which is and can be expensive. Look into your local eco/city recycling center. They offer a good product and is a cheaper cost then bag soil.
As for weeds, they only come up cause of their roots or it's blown it. Buy a garden hoe, I like gardening and I like working it but not bust my ass doing it. I've noticed that as you keep killing the weeds, in mid summer, the weeds tend to not be coming up as much cause from lack of water.
Anyways, with some gardeners on the form here, we are here to help.

[BLUE]

Thanks Ni10 , I had to re-read that a couple of times.one thing I’ve been really bad about is not adjusting the sprinklers in the backyard...waters everything haha. I’ll have to save my grass clippings (when I have a healthier weed free lawn haha) , but normally There isn’t enough clippings anyways. I hadn’t thought of the recycled soil stuff in years...I did that years ago with my bro’s house with excellent results. Thanks for the tips !

[BLUE]

I did want to share , what I think is the coolest thing we’ve owned that is growing out of the ground , but we never planted...apparently it just started growing on its own one day hahah.

Pomegranate tree....in the front yard...have been meaning to train it but like most things I either don’t have time (1st) or the patience (close 2nd). Still though all we’ve done is barely water it , fertilize it , and Shazam !

[BLUE]

Tiny project...

Wife complained about garage door remotes being shorter and shorter distance on activation.I’ll change the batteries later haha.Installed this external receiver (mostly , since waiting on a power supply still) for when the original quits accepting remote signals.

(850LM External receiver)

]

(Cut down galvanized spare bracket laying around , and mounted it with some self tappers/nuts through an existing slot on the opener housing).

(Life saving self tapping screws are so useful , but I didn’t need to really tap barely...anything at all this time around)


(Pointing towards bright neon new “learn” button for 1 of 3 channels to choose from for the transmitters/remotes)

(Mounted , my wife can reach this safely , and I can replace the original logic board receiver this way If I wanted to without interference)

^^^ these can physically mount anywhere a power source can reach. Just keeping mine out of the rising heat.This type of receiver can work with different brands/models...it doesn’ care.

I can still replace my factory logic board or gear set without moving the receiver. Good enough.

[BLUE]

Yet Another small project

Living room “Hampton bay” 52” ceiling fan , operated on one speed no matter which of the 3-speeds selected. Ordered a new capacitor for $5 off amazon. Ordered a new 4-wire 3-way switch as well in case I’m wrong.


I don’t favor replacing things that could be fixed easily , especially if it’ll cost me 50-90% less to just fix them (with reasonable life expectancy). Sometimes I simply am too busy and other times just not willing to spend my off time on such things.