/HGM/ - homegrowmen 389

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New USDA zone map has been released: https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov<wbr>/

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previous: >>2725600
Spring is in full swing! Stagger your bush bean plantings to get continuous harvests.

>>2729881
Do me a favor and replicate my test by spreading cayenne pepper everywhere around them. I am not getting the pepper on the leaves, only the soil.

Cantaloupe and watermelon
>>2729885
okay will do

Making use of the bar I added to the greenhouse last week.

>>2729887
That's a lot of cantaloupes and watermelons. You must have a lot of space. Or are you growing them vertically?

>>2729575
>Bulgaria ranks 30th in the 2018 Environmental Performance Index, but scores low on air quality.[134] Particulate levels are the highest in Europe,[135] especially in urban areas affected by automobile traffic and coal-based power stations.[136][137] One of these, the lignite-fired Maritsa Iztok-2 station, is causing the highest damage to health and the environment in the European Union.[138] Pesticide use in agriculture and antiquated industrial sewage systems produce extensive soil and water pollution.
>Bulgaria ranks 71st in the Corruption Perceptions Index[227] and experiences the worst levels of corruption in the European Union, a phenomenon that remains a source of profound public discontent.[228][229] Along with organised crime, corruption has resulted in a rejection of the country's Schengen Area application and withdrawal of foreign investment.
Uh...

Are electric tractors worth it?
On the one hand, a conventional tractor is cheaper if bought old and used, but it also makes you dependent on big oil and if SHTF, you're pretty much fucked. Moreover, the pollution from the tractor might contaminate your food, air, and water.
On the other hand, electric tractors are more expensive and their reliability hasn't been confirmed yet, it seems.

Where do you get your seeds from? This year thanks to moving to new house I really upscaled my agrarian projects, but I'm paying out of my ass for seeds. I plan to get seeds from fruits by the end of the year, but is that even a good idea? Since for example I have few pumpkin varieties, wont seeds end up as some crossbreeds? Same with tomatoes or peppers. Is there some place I can get seeds for cheap in larger quantities? Excuse my retardation on the topic I never had to worry about seed prices before

>>2730016
If you have less than an acre, an electric riding mower is very nice. I know nothing about large farm equipment, but I suspect you're better off with a traditional tractor.

>>2730029
Squash/pumpkin seeds that you scoop out of fresh produce are viable. Most dried beans and lentils will also plant very well. Fresh tomatoes also tend to have viable seeds.

Fruit trees are a whole different subject especially since so many fruit trees are grafted onto hardy rootstock.

As for worrying about varieties and cross pollination it varies by species. If you are wanting to avoid cross pollination you will need to stagger the planting so they don't flower at the same time. Or just don't give a shit and replant the seeds you do get.

>>2730029
unless the seeds you're buying are dirt cheap ones, like radish or wheat, you're gonna be paying a good amount, especially with heirloom & specialty seeds, i think its worth it though, as you can keep the seeds from those
getting seeds via the plant is an extremely viable option, with pumpkins, a single gourd can easily have up to 100-300 seeds
also, pumpkin cross breeds depends on the variety, you can have a cushaw squash, a kabocha squash, a butternut squash, and a spaghetti squash all in the same patch, and they won't cross because they're all different species
if you really want to make sure you have plenty of seeds, it wouldn't hurt to have a specific plant that you just let all the fruit mature on, that way you can harvest the seeds off it

Does shape of gaiwan matter?<br>Tall vs wide?

>>2730078
What are you going on about ching ling fing fong wing wong hong kong song?

>>2730016
Do you think youre not also fucked if shtf with an electric tractor? Electricity comes from huge industrial plants and youre not going to be manufacturing your own replacement batteries or parts if it really hits the fan. All complex machinery in need of part maintenance and industrially produced fuel are fucked in the long term then. Whether electric tractors are worth it now, id say not as there are a lot of compromises made for the green electric ideal as well as inherent limitations that make these sorts of electric machines unusable except for the smallest tasks.

>>2730016
>it also makes you dependent on big oil and if SHTF, you're pretty much fucked.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_<wbr>gas_generator

>>2730135
>Electricity comes from huge industrial plants
Not if you have solar/wind/small hydro.
>youre not going to be manufacturing your own replacement batteries or parts if it really hits the fan
You won't need constant replacement. It'll be 10+ years by the time you need it, and by then things should return to normal, at least enough to get basic civilization going (with SHTF we're talking about serious disruption to modern civilization but not total catastrophe).
>as well as inherent limitations that make these sorts of electric machines unusable except for the smallest tasks
True.
>>2730138
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood<wbr>_gas_generator
Yeah I thought about that too. These things seem difficult to make, though, and they're not sold commercially either.
I guess if you know how to make one and have it stored, then a conventional tractor is better.

What is this pepper plant's problem? Top pic. Middle is another in a pot and more in a wooden container, they are doing well.

>>2730178
>Not if you have solar/wind/small hydro
I would think that you won't be generating enough electricity to keep a tractor operating what it needs to do with solar or wind or hydro without a pretty large setup. Although they would come in handy as better-than-nothing to accomplish heavy tasks occasionally when they get charged enough. Whereas we can get away with pretty minimal tractor use on our hobby farms if we want to, if SHTF we will all be depending a lot on whatever machines are available to produce more. And all of those methods of generating electricity are pretty fragile and need maintenance regularly, especially solar panels and wind, less so hydro. Not trying to argue with you though, I was imagining industrial collapse and not the temporary down like you are saying.

I can't even find a picture on google to describe this pest, it was a small white worm inside a sac inside a cherry leaf, anyone know this? Not a webbing but it was literally inside the leaf

>>2730226
You are growing it in wood chips... They are sucking the nutrients away from the plant's roots.

>>2730252
They mulch is from rotten plant stock, once rich in nutrients and mostly floating on the soil.

Been reading some stuff here and there about avoiding 'chemical fertilizer', I have some 34-0-0 that I was going to side-dress my corn rows with. I don't use glyphosate or pesticides because I'm concerned about it getting into the food and soil, should I be worried about using ammonium nitrate for corn?

>>2730268
>avoiding 'chemical fertilizer'
What the hell does this mean?? All fertilizer is chemicals.

>>2730251
probably a type of boring caterpillar
are you able to take a picture of it?

So I need to take the sprouts off before I plant potatoes

>>2730303
No? The sprouts are the plants.

>>2730178
It's going to be hard to get ANYTHING to keep running, but a couple propane/gas tanks and some water and scrap to make wood gas and store it is going to be far far easier than repairing anything electric; god help you if some uncommon capacitor or chip break in your charging equipment or mower. As someone who fucks around with electronics and repair from time to time, give me gas w/ minimal or no electronics every time. Wood gas conversions were done during WWII in Britain by regular farmers, etc.; it could likely be done if you are handy or have any repair knowledge of gas engines at all with a couple days to get everything running okay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQI<wbr>W4dVVokE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm4<wbr>6KAPLZpQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hf<wbr>znunVzKY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=522<wbr>BaxM0Jnk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2at<wbr>kQAiQbFg (there's wood gas tractors and cars in this series somewhere)
And with how everything takes a proprietary battery? Forget about it; that shit won't last maybe but a couple years. Even if you could tear the packs apart and replace the 18650s and the old pack charger and mower would play nice if you did so then you still have to balance each cell to the same voltage and hope they don't stray too far or it might just burst into flames/kill a battery when charging if the cell voltage from cell to cell gets too far apart and one gets over-charged/over-discharged. I want to say Aging Wheels or someone else fucking with EVs had a video on that. It's a nightmare when the world hasn't gone to shit; imagine trying to do that and balance each cell and make sure you pair up these cells to be the same brand, capacity, and even that they're both of the same rough battery "health", etc. when you can't just buy new or even go online and get a bin of used ones shipped across the country to your door. And that's IF they're built with 18650s or even lithium at all. You say it'd be hard but electric is not easier.

>>2730178
And I agree with >>2730240; I thought you were more considering long term SHTF type situations. But even in today's world: how many times do companies just discontinue old electronic tool lines and leave customers fucked with no new batteries? If it's for something I'm using every day or something that needs a lot of power output for a couple hours, those batteries are going to get drained quick. How much power is required to fill it back up? How much is generated? Is it generated during the time you're not using "the tractor or something" if you don't have power storage? I'd find it hard to believe something like that would have a battery that would last (and still not be limping along) by even the 5th or 7th year, let alone the 10th. At that point I'd be salvaging a car from the junkyard and chopping it up to build me a new tractor like they used to do with Model Ts.

>>2730304
>>2730305
Sorry I mean do I need to cut the part that's grown long back or is it fine to plant as is?

>>2730358
its literally the plant, if you cut that, it dies
just put it in the ground, water it, and wait, then you'll have some potatos by winter

>>2730268
Not really. If you over apply it then you could contaminate an aquifer or a body of water. The problem with chemical fertilizers is that they do nothing to restore the soil organic carbon in your soil which means that your soil degrades until your soil is destroyed. That's mostly what caused the Dust Bowl. Pic related.

>>2730303
>>2730358
You might want to rub off all but one or two sprouts on each potato so it puts more energy into growing bigger sooner.

>>2730390
Doesn't matter. As that organic matter decomposes it releases the same "chemicals" that are in synthetic fertilizer.

>>2730433
You're being disingenuous, faggot. Everyone who knows about agriculture/gardening is aware that synthetic fertilizers and synthetic chemicals are harmful to the environment long-term.
No amount of pilpul will change that fact, fucking jew.

>>2730226
>>2730252
>>2730259
Does putting a thin layer of wood chip mulch on top of your potted plants like this really impact nutrient availability?

>>2730226
Looks almost like they weren't hardened off before planting. Just a little sunburn.

>>2730433
>As that organic matter decomposes
That's the problem. See
>>2730389

>>2730440
Not really. Just don't till it in, and even then you can grow things very successfully in a pile of wood.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%<wbr>BCgelkultur

>>2730434
They aren't. You're just a retard
>fucking jew
QED

>>2730449
Manure is 100% organic but overapplying it also causes runoff which is harmful for the environment

>>2730358
Ah I understand, no, that part will be the growing plant, although >>2730394 is correct, you can "pluck off" SOME of the sprouts on a potato to give the other sprouts a boost, since the energy from the potato will be going into just a few sprouts instead of a bunch.

>>2730440
A thin layer, no, although I don't think it should be up against the plant, I would prefer to see actual soil around the stem itself. But it does "suck away" nutrients from the soil below over time.

>>2730390
I still don't quite understand, organic matter is literally any rotting plant, aka compost... which contains the chemicals I mentioned earlier...

>>2730434
>synthetic chemicals
Are you retarded? What the fuck does it matter where the ammonium in ammonium nitrate comes from??

>No amount of pilpul will change that fact, fucking jew.
>>>/pol/
Fuck off, loser.

>>2730389
>>2730390
>>2730480
Nevermind, I misread, I understand what you're saying.

>>2730479
You are correct, but your soil will be a lot healthier. Interestingly, organic farms tend to have a bigger issue with fertilizer runoff than chemically managed farms. Probably because it's more difficult to determine exactly how much of which nutrients you're applying at what time.

>>2730484
I'm glad you got there. From the perspective of soil health there's no reason you couldn't also use chemical fertilizers as long as you have a way to maintain soil organic matter, but if you only use chemicals to manage your land then your soil will degrade and you might as well be doing hydroponics.

>>2730487
Yes, I agree 100%. If you have enough organic matter in your soil, getting nutrient numbers perfect doesn't matter anymore because the healthy soil "takes care of it". Just tilling an area over and over without adding fresh compost will destroy the area.

It's finally done, from now on all my green waste will go in here

>>2730536
Looks nice anon, are those panels veneer covered mdf? If so, they'll succumb to rain and fall apart.

>>2730537
I have no idea what kind of panels those are, they are old flooring panels I used because I had them laying around wasting space.

Bought this jabuticaba plant as a mother's day gift.

Hope it grows in container.

>>2730542
>Hope it grows in container.
It's clearly growing already.

>>2730539
Maybe paint them with tung oil at the start of the season to keep moisture out.

>>2730542
Looked it up and found this for you.

https://www.wilsongardenpots.com/a/<wbr>growing-jaboticaba-in-pots
>Selecting the Right Pot and Soil

>Choosing the appropriate pot size: The size of your pot is important. Too small and the tree's root system won't have enough room to expand, while a pot that's too large can cause waterlogging, leading to root rot. As a general rule of thumb, select a pot that is two or three times as wide as its existing root ball for best results.

You might want to get her a bigger pot for mother's day too.

>>2730545
Thanks for advice but it's just not worth the effort, I still have dozens of those laying around, just look at background of that photo, if they start decaying I'll just screw in new panels, I think I have enough to replace every single panel in those bays.

How old do you think a vine this size is?

>>2730546
>while a pot that's too large can cause waterlogging, leading to root rot
Ignore this part though

>>2730546
>>2730562
Thanks, brother.

I'll get a pot next week and probably wait until the winter in july to prune it a bit.

>>2730444
I had my suspicions. Even though only 1 of the 6 are having trouble.
>>2730226
Could it also be from over watering?

>>2730549
Good point. I hope you enjoy composting.

>>2730560
3-6 years, weird they've kept it so long.

>>2730572
No problem. Maybe try air layering and see if you can make a little joboticaba forest in containers. One last thought: if you're committed to containers then make sure you get one that's really strong and make sure to use a soil mix that's really light so you don't break your back when you have to move them. I recommend making your own with really lightweight additives like biochar and coconut coir with a good amount of compost to help it hold together and some fertilizer. If you get uncharged biochar then mix it with the compost, cover it with water, and wait a week and the compost will charge the biochar. Avoid clay, sand, and gravel.

>>2730560
>>2730578
I concur with this anon.

>>2730578
>weird they've kept it so long.
Is it? It's not the first time I've seen big vines like that being sold in nurseries. Some even sell ancient olive trees (at least I figured they were ancient on account of their massive trunks).

>>2730580
Hopefully, one day I'll have some land to plant on actual soil, but for now, container it is.

I bought a large bag of light potting mix, which I'll use together with some soil.

>air layering
What is that?

>>2730588
It's a way to propagate woody plants. You root a branch while it's still on the tree and when the roots are ready you cut it off and plant it.

https://propg.ifas.ufl.edu/08-layer<wbr>ing/01-layering-air.html

>>2730590
can't ya just lean a branch over and put a rock on it over the second pot of dirt?

>>2730580
>Avoid clay, sand, and gravel.
Not that guy but why? Adding real soil will definitely help to retain water and nutrients. You'll also need the container to be heavy enough if you're gonna plant trees in them or they'll fall over. I would personally use 50% garden soil (unless your soil is very sandy), 25% compost, 25% peat moss or coir.

First little bit of grass is starting to germinate.

>>2730602
kill it now.
you're growing a worthless plant.
grow literally anything other than grass

>>2730590
Very interesting. Thanks for explaining.

>>2730590
Does it work with this year wood?

>>2730560
That's not a vine, that's a fricking tree.

>>2730560
Definetly more than 3 years old, I would wager at least 5

>mfw I see ground frost in the forecast and I was planning to start planting my tomatoes and peppers tomorrow

>>2730613
It should work on any branch, but it might depend on the species of tree.

>>2730612
No problem.

>>2730596
Because of the weight. You have a good point about the soil not being able to support the tree though. Clay or garden soil would probably be a good addition. 50% is still going to be insanely heavy.

>>2730593
Yes, but I can't remember what that's called. The method is also more prone to infection than air layering.

>>2730629
If they trimmed off the buds before they flowered each year then it could be 3 years old

>>2730590
Do I air layer with plastic or parafilm?

Can't wait to get a walker mower to cut it and clean up fall leaves.
>>2730606
No, I like it.

>>2730657
Either should work. You can even buy plastic shells for air layering online

My Confucius hinoki I planted at the beginning of last fall is putting on some nice yellow new growth.

Bush cherries and honeyberries came in today. I can recommend honeyberryusa. They shipped really fast, I ordered these on Monday

>>2730595
Ain't it some kind of leaf miner? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf<wbr>_miner)
Look at the leaf under the light and tell if there is anything that looks like a larva inside the leaf.

Some insects, parasites and even smaller birds hunt leaf miners, and unless you grow your plant for the leaves, the miners are usually not something to worry about. E.g., celery fly devastates leaves of some leaf vegetables. Horse-chestnut leaf miner used to kill chestnuts in EU until some birds learned that they can feed on the larvae.
If you've got an infestation of these endangering the plant, think about a systemic pesticide, it's the only effective way to stop them.

>>2730661
idc, i'll kudzu bomb your land and you won't do shit about it

>>2730657
Parafilm is air-permeable... are you sure that's okay? I mean I'll try no matter what so yeah.

>>2730602
You're in Massachusetts, right?

>>2730667
>Parafilm is air-permeable... are you sure that's okay? I mean I'll try no matter what so yeah.

>>2730711
You should ask that in a way that sounds less creepy

>>2730721
i meant for it to be unsettling, to imply i was just around the corner with my kudzu to take over his precious boomer hay

>>2730708
It should be better than plastic for that reason, but as long as you use a sterile rooting soil then you should be good to go.

>>2730822
It's a pleasing example. Nice trunk, and will continue to age well. I'd buy it and plant it in a nice spot.

>>2730705
>>2730709
Thanks, I've got two of them, and I want to get more, but the nursery only brought in big ones this year, and it's too early to get any deals on new stock. All the other trees I bought I either got on clearance or bulk deals from haggling with the manager.

>>2730743
Don't worry the grass is just a step in the master plan, going to make beds around the entire perimeter of the yard planted with pachysandra, thyme, creeping phlox, and smaller shrubs, and going to interplant bulbs with the pachysandra. Let the borders gradually grow into the lawn over time until I just have paths to mow through the lawn. But it's a lot less expensive, and much faster to get grass established than it is to buy thousands of bulbs, hundreds of flats of pachysandra, thyme, and phlox. Plus I need to stop wind erosion, and prevent the sun from baking the ground.

I fucking hate deer

They have gone through the young trees and my orchard and stripped every tiny cherry, apple, and peach they can reach from every low branch. There's still some left on the upper branches but they of course removed every fucking leaf they could in the process.

The weird thing is they didn't touch the plums or pears.

I hope in about a year or two the trees will be tall enough that the deer don't bother but I am so fucking tired of this absolutely insane deer pressure on everything. There are so many of these cocksuckers now. I hate them so much

>>2730846
I have the same experience.
>I hope in about a year or two the trees will be tall enough that the deer don't bother
Lol. Lmao even.
1. None of your trees will survive until you make mini fences around them. Ask me how I know.
2. Size of the trees doesn't matter. I've had mulberry that was big enough that sure it won't be attractive to them... well instead of chewing of bark, they started to rub their horns on it. Half of the bark got destroyed, had to make another small fence around this tree.

>>2730888
What is your mini fence setup? I'm thinking triangle of t-posts, 8 foot tall, each post roughly 5 feet from the tree, that's about 26 feet of fence per tree.

>>2730847
You'll never kill enough. If anything each deer you kill leaves room for another deer. You'd have to rent your land to hunters.

Potted, planted and pruned.

I figured the autumn here has been so cold that I'd chance it.

If the tree takes, next year I'll take an entire branch off.

Borax+honey worked OVERNIGHT to kill the ants I have in my raised planters. You have to mix it on a little piece of foil, don't mix it on the dirt itself, put honey on the foil and add borax and mix with a toothpick until it's a ball. Put the ball near the ants, agitate them, they instantly find it and start eating it and taking it back to the queen. Amazing.

>>2730916
Oh shit. Gonna try this, FUCK FIRE ANTS

>>2730911
It's basic wire mesh circle.
Every single tree has its own.
It's ugly as shit having 30+ trees and bushes wrapped but it's the only way anything survives.
I hate deer.

>>2730923
Plant a bunch of buckwheat around the perimeter and they'll mostly leave you alone.

>>2730822
I have seen similar looking olive in my local shop, they claimed it was 70 years old but I doubt that was correct.

>>2730822
Do they just airlayer these out of huge trees?
I doubt they grow these from cuttings, they would take forever.

>>2730938
They're slow growers so it might've been true
>>2730941
I think they're grown in massive nurseries in spain

Clearance rack is new bes fren, got some miniature roses and columbines for $2 each

>>2730916
Hey that's not a bad idea. I've tried borax and sugar and nothing really happened. This might be nicer than absolutely basting my doorways and door mats in permethrin to kill them before they get in...

My sweet potato flowers just wither and drop off the plant.

Started the cage for the garden today. 6x6x6, yes it's crooked, no I don't care. I just need a box to keep every pest/rodent/mammal/bird known to man out. Tomorrow I do the supports and chicken wire.

>>2730578
>>2730581
>>2730629

Can you grow them this tall if they're grafted on a different rootstock?

>>2730979
Yep. Both the rootstock and the scion grow over time. Vineyards will sometimes cut all the flowers off of smaller vines so they can grow bigger.

Damn, I've got peppers already in 7b.

These are sugar rush peaches which supposedly take forever to ripen though. People seem to like them a lot. I planted about 200 pepper plants of various kind these year just because I got a bunch of seeds.

>>2730985

I marked this row as various types of jalapeno. Cool looking flowers, I'll have to go back and check my notes to see what the fuck it is.

>>2730985
Peppers will cross pollinate. You might end up with some weird tasting chilies.

>>2730987

Yeah, the seeds might. But pepper seeds are cheap even for the bespoke varieties and they don't normally cross even if close unless you help it along. The peppers this will be as true as the online vendors selling five million flavors of Panamanian anal Abombers can make them.

>>2730927
>>2730931
How does buckwheat prevent deer?? Does it draw them away?

>>2730927

Yeah, nah. We planted wheat in the 25 acre field around my yard and deer will still literally walk up on my garage to eat my potted plants.

100 gallon bag full of micro dwarf hairy fuzzywuZzy tomatoes

They only get about 1.5 feet tall

>>2731041
How many gallons is that container?

>>2731043
I guess they're determinate if they stay that short? Presumably each will make not very much roots?

>>2731045
Yes they stay tiny hence I’m making a tomato carpet.
The roots stay tiny as well

>>2730994
No, the idea is you feed them something else and they eat fewer of your important plants. It works best if you combine feeding with other deterrent methods.

>>2730999
Maybe they didn't like regular wheat. You could try motion activated sprinklers or something that makes noise like wind chimes.

>>2731131

> maybe they didn't like regular wheat

Lol. Lmao.

Deer love wheat but under any sort of pressure they will eat literally anything. I watched some eat a tobacco plant last year.

Going into the garden the morning after applying metaldehyde slug bait is like seeing the aftermath of a Civil War battle. Almost makes me feel bad for having used it.

>>2729875
Can I used lights that are not "full spectrum" as grow lights?

I want to use this 3000k bulb to grow plants indoors. I do not like the look for 4000k or 5000k
>SANSI 300W Equivalent A19 LED Light Bulb, 4500 Lumens 3000K Light Bulbs, Non-Dimmable E26 LED Bulb with Ceramic Technology, 22.5 Years Lifetime, 30W Power Energy Saving for Home Workspace
>https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/<wbr>B0CC8VW1N8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_a<wbr>sin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

>>2731158

My experience says yes, might not be as good, but it worked for me. Source: I used them for about half my seedlings this year.

Also, some of tonight's deer damage. I'm so fucking done. I'm going to start shooting them and hoping they leave a blood trail everywhere, as at least blood spooks off rabbits and deer for a while. It's legal in my state to kill wildlife out of season if it's destroying property, it's just so wasteful I hate to do it, as you're not supposed to actually use the meat without a permit, and I'm not paying a conservationist to give me what I need to approve a permit.

>>2731161
how many deer will you have to kill before they stop munching that delicious growth?

>>2731162

Experience on basedbean fields says a fucking shitload.

I am hopeful that this being a yard, right next to a more attractive field, and the fact they're coming here to pick fucking leaves off trees means they'll change minds fairly easily if the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

Also bloodspill does deter them for a while. You just can't cover a field in blood (or can you) but hopefully enough of it near my gardens will help. Blood meal often gets me a short reprieve.

I don't these are going to ripen, but I don't know what they're going to turn into either.

>>2731162
>>2731167
What if he gets dogs to scare them away or attack them?

>>2731188

It's like putting in a fence, or anything else. At a certain point you spend a lot more on things other than just shooting them.

I started filling my bin just by throwing stuff into it but it probably isn't the best approach, how do I know if my ratio of browns to greens is correct, is there some sort of trick to it?

>>2731251
Is it too dry?
Add more green stuff.
Is it too wet?
Add more brown stuff.

>>2731251
>plastic erosion barrier
You should be using 1/2" metal wire fence or smaller. That fabric won't last.

>>2731150
Sure, but the plants animals favor change based on their context. I have a flock of chickens and they love eating clover and grass and they've tasted one of my strawberries to death, but they've left the henbit deadnettle and the dandelions completely alone. Henbit was named because hens like to eat it and chickens are known for their love of dandelions, but my situation isn't unique with chicken farmers. Some years they might eat it and others they'll completely ignore it.

>>2731251
>>2731256
This is a good heuristic. In general you want 2-3 times as much brown material as you have green. You can run your piles a little green and if they smell bad when you turn them then add more browns. A lot of people who compost keep a store of browns to mix in when they have greens available. If you have compaction issues then add in a bulking material and shift it out when the compost is finished. Wood chips are the usual go to for bulking, but I prefer using bones and lump charcoal.

>didn't want to bother this year so i started all my seedlings the same day
>cucumbers flowering already
kek at least EU weather's getting better for planting out soon

My test to see how carrots would do planting as soon as the ground was workable revealed that there was no benefit to jumping the gun. It took about 4 weeks for them to come up, they just waited for the ground to warm up. It didn't seem to hurt them, but there is significant risk they could dry out before sprouting. The last 2 weeks were pretty wet, so at least I wasn't having to water them twice a day after I uncovered the rows.

Guys I have to move to Texas. am I fucked?

"yellow" alpine strawbs, another marketing gimmick

Corn is doing good. Most is a foot tall or taller now. Some areas are lagging behind others, I need to side-dress fertilizer and cultivate it in sometime this week. Very happy with the progress of the corn over the still barely-emerging weeds. The painstaking selective watering was well-worth it.

>>2731335

I got my first red one earlier yesterday. It was a bit mushy and all the rain lately probably didn't help. Mine are potted and pretty dense but I wonder if the birds have been getting them, as there are barely any berries.

I started the seeds indoors back in January and they really blew up once I moved them outside.

I've got a fuckton of potatoes I sprouted that I don't really need. Can I store these for another year? Should I just not bother? I was reading I can just take them all and shove them into a bucket of dirt in my basement and they'll be fine

Anyone tried trellising strawberries? Would the runners attach to and grow on a nearly vertical slope of dirt? Maybe they could grow down a column of pots? Ever since I first learned about strawberry runners I've wanted to try something creative with them to grow a truly massive plant. This new one I bought is a pink flowered everbearing variety too and I'd like to exploit this to make a nice looking ornamental out of it too.

I helped my elderly neighbor get her garden ready today, found a wild eastern prickly gooseberry growing there and took it home with me. Gonna go take a bunch of the volunteer black raspberries home with me too. Tomorrow is the day of days, I'm having 9 yards of compost delivered, building another 8x4x1.5 raised bed, planting 35 lbs of potatoes in grow bags, a 40ft row of blackberries/raspberries, about 100 strawberries and if I have any energy left, my tomatoes and peppers

>>2731293
How long are the vines? My cucumbers are like less than a foot tall and already have flowers. I know I fucked up, but still

I was gonna buy one of those fancy drip irrigation systems but realized I buried all my plants and didn't really mark where they are. Do you just basically place a stake every 12 inches and that'll be fine or do you need to be super close to the plants?

>>2731371

I don't think trellising is going to work. The runners all put out their own roots.

>>2731371
Try it out and look into strawberry towers. A nearly vertical slope of dirt is either going to need to be clay or have roots stabilizing it, or more likely both. Build the slope gradually and root the runners while you build it. Use clay mixed with compost. You may want to embed a watering system as you build it up by punching new holes in drip line before you bury the new hole and runners. Here's a recipe for a yeast based root wash to prevent mold without using fungicide. You should pour it over your runners when you bury them.

1 tsp dry active yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 liter of water
Let sit 24 hours
Dilute 1:5 solution:water
Pour over roots

>>2731406
It's better if the emitters are close to the plants, but if you use it to completely soak your soil then it won't matter. Can you manually water until they come up and then put the system in?

freakin shot in the dark but can anybody tell me what kind of fruit tree this is? are these lychees?

NSW btw, Sydney suburbs

>>2731494
If it would be growing in eu I would say mulberry.
Maybe you have them in Australia as well.

>>2731495
hmm looks like it could be them except I the leaves don't seem to match. I can't find leaves that match

>>2731497
Leaves do match a mulberry. If you think otherwise, try looking up another plant that produces multiple leaf shapes on one tree and some of the leaves have a lobed shape (as those encircled).
Keep in mind that mulberries have a broad range of possible leaf shapes, and it can even differ on the same tree season to season whether the leaves are lobed or not (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikip<wbr>edia/commons/b/b5/Morus_alba-leaves<wbr>.jpg). Though I have seen mulberry trees that have only very large and unlobed all the time.

>>2731506
oh yeah I think you're right actually. I think they must be mulbreeze. I'll have to swing by the area in Nov/Dec and check in person.

Thanks anon

>>2731400
Heard you're supposed to pinch them off if they're that small.
Mine are around two foot maybe? Planted them two weeks early and kept them under a lamp but they're also new cultivars I haven't tried before.

Anyone have a favorite gourd recommendation? Never planted any and thought I might get one straight into ground. I heard pattypans are nice.

>>2731555
That's what I was planning before, but they supposedly take too much space and I'm doing containers.
Also, is it normal for a red currant to still have no leaves at this time after a winter?

>>2731557
You're going to need a big pot and a trellis for pretty much any kind of gourd. Maybe see if you can find a compact variety. I've never grown red currant, but it's partly going to depend on where you are. How long ago was your last frost?

>>2731561
Oh for sure, I just saw it's even worse for bottles and luffas. Most of these space requirements are kinda bull though.
Frost should be ending on the 16th.

>>2731539
Zucchini

>>2731557
>is it normal for a red currant to still have no leaves at this time after a winter?
No, it's not unless you are somewhere in the arctic circle

>>2731574
>No, it's not unless you are somewhere in the arctic circle
Two for two with bushes for me then. Might just plop a potato in that bucket, then.

>>2731438
That is a good idea. Thanks. I'll just do that.

>>2731508
>swing by the area in Nov/Dec
You should go there right now, winter buds are one of the few key things to tell apart black mulberry from white mulberry (I mean the species, not the color of the fruit).
Black mulberries have beefy buds darker than the twig: https://www.flickr.com/photos/exete<wbr>rtrees/albums/72157714262769663/
White mulberries have small buds that are not darker than the twig.
I can't tell anything for red mulberries, for they are absent where I live.

>>2731590
White mulberries will have a waxy look to the leaves, while also having much finer serrations than black

>>2731563
Try it out anyways. Maybe you'll get mini luffas or gourds.

>Frost should be ending on the 16th.
I don't think you need to start worrying about your red currant just yet, but again I've never grown it.

I'm building a very, very small pond in my backyard. I have clay from a local creek. Can I line the bottom of my pond with this clay?

>>2731162
Every time you kill a deer, there's a spot in the ecosystem for another deer. If you thin their numbers now, next season more will survive because there will be more food to go around, and you'll have the same number after all. You can't kill enough to prevent them, you'll need a dog like >>2731188 suggests or to build a fence.

>>2731494
>>2731506
100% a mulberry. Red mulberry I think.

It was supposed to rain yesterday so I planted all my potatoes but it didn't rain at all. Definitely supposed to rain tomorrow though. Do you guys think I need to bother watering my potatoes real quick or can I just leave it be and let the rain deal with it tomorrow?

I need to get some new hoses is my problem kek

>>2731606
With tuberous plants in general you should only start worrying about watering after they've sprouted and produced leaves

>>2731602
Yes. Look into puddling. Dig out your pond and and extra 6" and then toss some clay into the lowest point. Hose it down and stomp on it until you have a layer about 6" thick that forms a puddle. Continue out from that point until the entire pond is lined with clay

>>2731594
>I don't think you need to start worrying about your red currant just yet
Maybe not. I think I can see some green on there.
Anyways, everything else looks primed for bumper crops this year so I'm not worried about having nothing to eat.

>>2731652
Nice. I'm hoping for a good harvest too

>>2731658
Whatchu growing? Wish I had the space for tomatoes garlic and onions, really.

>>2731593
>White mulberries will have a waxy look to the leaves, while also having much finer serrations than black
Oh, so you enlightened me that I have a black mulberry that bears white fruits!

You can't tell apart mulberries that easily, and that's why nurseries con people by mislabelling and selling morus alba in place of morus nigra. There's a number of minor traits that can help you tell those apart, but in reality only few give you any confidence. I believe apart from looking at twigs in winter you can measure mature leaf thickness (0.4mm for nigra, 0.2 for others), compare the time when first flowers and first fruits appear (nigra is a month late compared to alba), and tell if the fruits have a visible stalk (fruits of nigra almost sit on twigs, alba has noticeable stalks). Oh, and if you're in zone 6 or colder, no nigra for you, they just freeze out.
I live in Europe, so we don't have to deal with identifying morus rubra that, to make things worse, freely crossbreeds with alba, hence I cannot tell anything certain on that.

What's worse, many people bought a 'black mulberry' that is in fact a morus alba from a 'trusted' nursery, and they are convinced that they have morus nigra specimen and spread the word about differences of their tree and a tree they saw bearing white fruits.

In a lab it's possible to definitely tell apart the black mulberry from others, for it has whooping 308 chromosomes, while the white and red, as most other morus species, have 28 chromosomes.

>>2731663
potatoes, not tomatoes, i'm growing some*

>>2731663
>>2731670
Tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, and onions like your posts mention. I'm also growing peppers, raspberries, strawberries, asparagus, beans, squash and a few other things. I'm in zone 5 so it's not even last frost for me yet. I'd like to grow a lot more, but there's never enough time.

>>2731683
Cool. I'm testing strawberries this year too.
And yeah. Almost wish I was an Aussie for those planting seasons.

>>2731665
whoa I take back the red mulberry thing, you know your shit. This picture is a red mulberry though, right? alba?

>>2731729
they turn black eventually, for clarification. I can try to get good pics tomorrow, they are ripening as we speak. I personally thought they were delicious, and they inferior to nigra?

>>2731691
There's a few places that have really good climates for gardening. None of them are anywhere close to me though.

Spread fertilizer, cultivating it into the soil

>>2731772
You'll get a fuck-ton of taters out of that, especially if you dig down a few feet inside and fill the entire lot with good tater soil. Love the smell of a good earthy tater.

>>2731789
looks like a jones soda picture

"Cilembu" cultivar sweet potatoes in a ~40 gallon bucket. I'm worried I didn't fertilize enough or correctly, so I will be performing a test with a couple dozen 3 gallon buckets, using different fertilizer regimens. I hope it's not too late in the year to start this.

Also, some of the tomatoes I'm growing are being very funny and growing leaves at the end of their flower clusters... what's up with that??

>>2731805
Incredibly, I am 99% this is truly the same cultivar as was advertised, even though I purchased the sweet potatoes off of Etsy. Look at this street view shot from Cilembu village in Java.

I'm terribly excited. These were some of the sweetest sweet potatoes I have ever tried.

>>2731795
Here's last year's haul. I planted them in an identical raised bed and another roughly 2.5x5ft in-ground bed. This year I'm using 15 gallon grow bags for taters

>>2731810
I can't into upright images apparently

>>2731342
I found alpines (Fragaria vesca) to always have a slightly mushy texture. Very soft fruit seemed to be a quirk of that species

A few cooler nights coming up. Going to try some passive heating for the greenhouse using one of my black 104L tubs. I might end up bringing the plants in on the night that gets down to 2C to be safe.

Of course the tub was nearly full when I remembered one of them had a hole that I patched. And sure enough that was the one I was filling. It doesn't appear to be leaking but I should know for sure by tomorrow.

>>2731789
13 rows on the 13th
>>2731803
never heard of that sodie pop

They had dwarf golden hinoki's at home depot for about 1/5th what the next cheapest nursery has them for, so I bought all there was left. Haven't decided where to plant them yet.

>already seeing the grey slugs that I had to wage war on last year coming back
round 2?

>>2731815

Interesting. I've never grown them before and just happened to get a packet of seeds. I figured I'd grow them potted and maybe transplant some later if they got too crowded. I have two large pots with about six plants each in them and they have filled it with foliage already.

>>2731161

Building on this, two deer bit it tonight. I can't bring myself to shoot a Doe with fawns, and there at least two does in my area with twins (what the fuck, they wont "adopt" orphaned fawns, will they?), but any wine aunt childless does or knobby headed shits are getting it. My neighbor down the road is similarly going to war. Incident to my beginning chemical warfare, it looks like they fanned out and demolished his garden. He lost about forty large plants overnight. I lost about 150 strawberry plants overnight as well.

I haven't seen them until after nightfall lately, but the first one I see during the day is going to catch a 50 bmg with his dumb fucking face. I've always wanted to see what that does to a deer, and it will probably be inside of 200 yards so the results might either be very impressive, or a simple pass through.

Is part of the reason I suck at gardening because I haven't been following this?<br>https://www.farmersalmanac.com/cale<wbr>ndar/gardening

What do you guys think of all the small/local farms and home gardeners that are being shut down in the US and Europe?

>>2731923
While knowing the growing calendar of your respective state/zone is important or even essential to succeed, that moon stuff sounds like bullshit.

>>2731923
That's old lady stuff, common everywhere. Not true tho.

>>2731826
>night that gets down to 2C
Jeez, worse than here. What's your plant outside night temp? I'm seeing weird numbers here and not sure what to do.
>>2731815
They're pretty traditional here and sure, that's how I always remembered them. They're so good if crosspollinated with domesticated strawberries though.

>>2731860
Here's a pic in daylight, also got some parsons junipers

Is it a good idea to throw large pine cones into compost bin?
I'm not sure if they'll break down fast enough.
I could burn them instead.

How often do you water your lawn? My parents refuse to do so in their house, but I water my own once a week in the morning, and not at all if it rains during the week.

So the red currant is alive. I also received over twice as many strawberries in my order as I needed so I had to plant them around it and in a small pot. Still have some left over kek.

>>2731990
Do it. Pinecones make a great bulking material. Sift out any bits that don't compost and toss them in the next batch.

>>2732012
That's a good problem to have.

>>2732006
Once a week should be good. You can get a rain gauge and stick it in the lawn halfway between a sprinkler and the edge of it's spray pattern to water more accurately. Your lawn should get about an inch of water a week including rainfall. It's easier to do what you're doing and just give it a little extra water when it looks water stressed.

>>2732019
If I had the space! I'm already planting them way overcrowded.
But I have someone to give away some of them to.

>>2732022
I always try to give away a bunch of any clones I grow or otherwise aquire to a bunch of different people in case some of us lose all of our clones, which happens more often then you might expect because we all live in different zones. We can always get a new crop of the same clones from each other and each of us are slightly better at growing different crops so it helps to minimize losses, even though you know at least one person is going to completely fail. We share strawberries, raspberries, aloes, thymes, mints, ect.

>>2732066
Oh yeah. I have this fake basil I got from family that they got from some foreign visitor. that I then propagated and gave back because theirs died.

>>2732075
That's really cool. Is it tulsi basil?

I want to include greens in my diet
I figure I should have a portion of greens with every dinner
What are some vegetables which would enable me to do this from autumn to winter and spring to summer?

>>2732224
Btw in my area I only get a few days of frost in winter

>>2732211
It's some kind of cuban oregano/mexican mint.
>>2732224
Spinach, maybe? Salads and chard in season. I'm planting brussels for cold months too.

Brussels need around a month more indoors, but the rest is finally ready to planting out tomorrow.

>Mid May
>Already almost a month without a single drop of rain and constant clear skies with scalding sun
It's so fucking over for my non irrigated field

>>2732224
>>2732225
You should be able to find planting calenders for your area that will be more reliable then I could be. If you grow some cut-and-come-again greens in pots then you can bring them in when they get too hot or cold and grow them year round. Malabar spinach would do well in your area during the summer. Kale would probably grow all winter for you. You could try lettuce in the spring and autumn. I recommend getting a red lettuce cultivar like fire because they have antioxidants and better nutrition. You should also get some herbs and really flavorful greens for variety like chives or leeks, nasturtiums, mustard greens, ect. Look into what edible plants grow in your area too. Start by identifying your weeds before you pull them. You might find that some of them are delicious and basically take care of themselves if you let them drop seed. There should be an online resource you can find that lists edible plants in your area. It's good practice to taste new plants without swallowing to make sure you don't accidentally eat a toxic look-alike. I hope you enjoy planning your garden and finding your favorite greens. Have fun, anon.

>>2732254
Maybe you should look into aquaponics. You could build a pond to raise fish in and build your field on top of that. The simplest way to do it might be to construct floating planters or stands for your crops and just wade out to them. If you invested in a pump then you could have the pond next to your field and you'd have your own irrigation. If your area doesn't get enough rainfall to keep the pond from drying up seasonally then you'd just have to find a way to top off the pond.

>>2732254
JUST fuck my field up.
Financial or infrastructure problem?

>>2732236
Ended up planting today because the wind was trying to break them in half kek.
Don't mind though, night temp prediction is okay.
>>2732254
I can barely remember any rain all year here. Two in total last month maybe? But nothing other than that.

>>2732254
>>2732278
There's been barely any rain for me this spring too. Sounds like it's going to be a dry year.

>>2732269
>If your area doesn't get enough rainfall to keep the pond from drying up seasonally then you'd just have to find a way to top off the pond.
Easier said than done I think but I've never tried. Not the anon you responded to, but I had a lake completely dry up for the first time in my life last summer, and I cannot imagine how much my water bill would have been if I had tried to keep it wet, let alone full.

>>2730822
my 20 yearold olive's trunk is 1/3 the size of that.

however, ive been told that olive trees are the kinds of trees that will continue to grow out and up as long as their roots arent restricted so maybe it being stuck ina pot made it a fat boy.

>>2732313
Sure, but if you're raising fish and growing vegetables in or next to the pond then it's work the expense.

>>2732330
I also wonder how far the groundwater would penetrate from the pond. Trees around the pond would absolutely have access to that water, but would annuals? I bet if you mixed enough organic matter into the field they would be able to get to the water.

Or am I completely misunderstanding and you actually pump the water out of the pond to irrigate the field, oops lol

Two questions related to sweet potatoes
Would 5gal (19L) buckets be too small?
And any suggestions for a purple meat variety? The one I was intending to get, Japanese All Purple, sold out on me before I made up my mind.

>>2732319
Look again. The root ball's obviously been been disturbed. There's no way it's been sitting in a pot for decades. As mentioned earlier itt i I believe these come from massive nurseries in spain and italy where they them by the tens of thousands.

>>2732331
>Or am I completely misunderstanding and you actually pump the water out of the pond to irrigate the field, oops lol
Basically this. Some plants would have access to the water, especially if you line the pond with clay instead of using synthetic pond liners, but for the most part you either grow your plants in the pond or you pump the water out to your field and design the drainage so it returns to the pond. I've been wanting to make one for a while now, but there's too many other things I have to get done first.

>>2732343
I've never grown sweet potatoes, but a 5 gallon bucket is fine for regular potatoes. It's a bit on the smaller end so you may want to go bigger. If you don't live in an arid climate then consider growing them in a burlap sack. Put the seed potatoes and about 4" of soil in the bottom of the bag, roll the edges down, and add more soil and roll the edges up as the potatoes grow. The burlap sack will decompose so you can only use it for one season and you won't be able to move it, but you might find it worthwhile.

>>2732269
>If your area doesn't get enough rainfall to keep the pond from drying up
Yeah, that's the problem, if I had a pond I would be losing that water to evaporation anyways.

>>2732275
Infrastructure, I would need to run a water pipe from the other end of my property straight through my orchard.

>>2732300
>it's going to be a dry year
Seems so, it's not even June and I already need to dig pretty deep to get to moisture and there is no rain in my weather forecast still.

>>2732384
Doesn't seem like there are any ongoing hilling procedures for sweet potatoes, aside from planting the slip in a hill. In fact, I haven't been hilling the normal potatoes I have growing in the garden, but they're rather leafy already so maybe I'm too late.

I have quite a few buckets for unknown reasons, and the garden was downsized so I don't have room in the ground for a dozen more plants. But burlap sacks sound pretty good if I want to avoid plastic leeching.
>nearly every amazon entry mentions sack racing and has poorly shooped photos of the activity in their bags
I really hate amazon. Also maybe not too keen on one-season items that aren't plants themselves, but I also saw a bait thumbnail about growing sweet potatoes in a sack that was lying down. Might need to go watch that.

During my search for sweet potatoes, I also stumbled upon another type of normal potato I want to grow but definitely wouldn't have anywhere for those.

>>2732395
>Yeah, that's the problem, if I had a pond I would be losing that water to evaporation anyways.
You would lose less water and you wouldn't need a pump if you grow your plants in the pond. Plus the pond is a large store of water so you could think of refilling your pond as irrigating your land all at once.

>>2732380
>design the drainage so it returns to the pond
I'm quite interested. I hadn't thought of doing it like that. Wouldn't that mean that all the excess nutrients would drain back into the pond?

>>2732429
Yeah, but that's kind of the point. You don't apply fertilizer, you just feed the fish and irrigate using the pond water. Their waste feeds the plants and when the water returns it's cleaner then it left. Incorporating biochar in your soil can help if your soil doesn't hold nutrients well. You lose less water and you don't have to worry about soil or pumping if you grow in floating planters on the water, but then you have to build or buy the planters.

>>2732408
I don't remember what site I used, but I bought 100 sacks for $80 with free shipping

Is bird shit good fertilizer? I am having a galaxy brain moment thinking if i should put the bird feeders in my garden next winter.

>>2732440
Yeah, but don't expect them to leave enough to completely fertilize your garden. Every little bit helps, though.

I'm growing some marigolds but the indoor seedling leaves always turn purple at some point. It doesn't seem to be problem for growing itself, but it makes me think I'm doing something wrong. Like do they need more fertilizer? I've been giving them about I think half the recommended dosage (since that's what I read people do) which I my fertilizer already says to third it for indoor plants.

Corn is really taking off since I fertilized, but I did burn some of it a bit applying too much. Hoping it doesn't seriously hurt any of it.

Can I just avoid watering my potato plants until the plant sprouts above the dirt or is that stupid?

>>2732470
all plants need water to make sugar and grow

>>2732471
Yeah but don't potatoes have enough juice in them just to start it out? Genuine question. I just was wondering since I know it's easy to overwater seed potatoes and then they rot underground.

>>2732473
Grab some soil and squeeze it.

Does any water flow out?
Too wet, don't add any water

Feels like sand without moisture?
Too dry, add water

Also my cantaloupe are actually doing good this year. Last year I couldn't get the few that actually sprouted to live very long.

>>2732395
>need to run pipe
That or a tanker trailer, maybe just a tank if you're downhill.
But some guys just pump up to a scoop dam, which means they can run the pump 247 until the dam/ tank is full then just use the pipe for something else

>>2732440
I collect Metric ton every year, it's valuable but unsuitable for direct application. Store it in a mound and mix it into your other compost

>>2732470
Potato itself is full of water, and usually when you plant them the soil is wet and you don't have to water at all if the soil is wet

>>2732616
Nah, this looks like something flowering.
Not dahlia but something like that.

>>2730029
>diy pumpkin seeds
I’ve read that they’re not really worth it (also, zuchini) since they can “rewild” and become inedible. I.e. quite bitter and toxic. If you still insist on eating them if they taste funny, you’ll run into trouble. There’s a case of some German boomers who still ate them all and died from it.
However, with heirloom seeds and knowing what you’re doing, it should be possible (after all, sneed doesn’t just produce his seeds from thin air), but I’d pic another crop to start doing your own seeds.
Like heirloom tomatoes. Buy the expensive pack once and have tomatoes forever.
Also, I got a lot of cheap (like 20 cents cheap) from Aldi.

>>2730029
I planted my last year's longbean seeds. Doing well so far.

>>2730434
You do have a point, but I’m pretty sure you don’t even know this point (more on that later) but in general, if we’re looking at the main issue, that is nitrate fucking up groundwater, it doesn’t matter where the nitrate comes from. No Matter if it’s from Haber-Bosch, Guano, compost or manure, if you’re applying too much nitrogen, you’re gonna fuck shit up.
Granted, the whole agricultural-industrial complex is a terrible thing and Haber-Bosch makes it much easier to overdose (though manure seems to overtake this right now), but you’re just a retard that knows nothing.
t. groundwater scientist that only uses compost in his garden
Ah, and on
>you have a point
Depending on the source of your industrial fertilizer, you might introduce a lot of contaminants to your soil. There’s some “funny” issues with fucking Uranium. How does that even happen (I mean, I know how it happens, phosphates can easily fit uranium into their crystal structure, but you know this and you test for that before selling stuff)

>>2732684
That's assuming nitrate leeching is the main issue. Soil erosion is also a huge problem and it's made worse insufficient application of organic matter, usually as a result of overusing synthetic fertilizers.

>>2732680
Kek I neglected to clean up my pole bean area until spring, there were tons of dried pods with beans so I was just screaming "chaos beans! chaos beans!" and throwing them everywhere, now I have a billion bean plants

>>2732696
Oh yeah. Dried on the stem, collected more than I had in the bought packet.

What are (You) most excited for this year? I'm waiting for those brussel sprouts. I love how the plant looks.

>>2732696
This is the superior gardening method.

>>2731494
Mulberry. If the leaves have any glossiness they're white mulberry, won't speculate more from the pics.

Something has always gone after my peas as soon as they come up, so I'm using the screen curtains from the old gazebo to make a cover to protect them.

>>2731578
Are you growing redcurrants in a container? All perennials are significantly less frost hardy in containers as it allows the roots to freeze when the ground would remain warmer. Currants are mindlessly easy in ground provided you don't have southeast US summer heat

>>2731665
Afaik there are no white fruiting morus nigra, the high ploidy level suppresses significant phenotypic variance. You can confirm by looking at the nuclei, they are much larger in nigra than alba relative to cell size. The whole selling alba as nigra because they ripen to black (as every wild type mulb does) is egregiously common and pretty annoying. Red mulb hybridization is quite confusing, as mulbs already have such high variation in a single plant between leaves and lifestage, have alba/rubra hybrids all over where I am but most favor the alba parentage.

Are currants worth it if you already have black/rasp/strawberries and cherries?

>>2732727
Tried one of the plan identify sites? Not anything I recognize. Celery? Lol.
>>2732734
Yes, but I did bring it indoors for the winter. It is seemingly sprouting a tiny bit of green, so I'll see later in the year.
>>2732741
They're one of my favorite fruits taste wise but they're also very cheap in season here so I mostly planted it because the sapling(?) was cheap in store.
You don't really get that much yearly per plant afaik.

>>2732749
Google says
>Currants are sweet and sour, with a berry flavour.
I guess? It's hard to describe. The red ones are very nice, sour but the sugar balances it out. Wouldn't call them berry tasting myself, it's a unique taste.
White ones are more purely sugary sweet, used to be my favorite as a kid, not so much anymore. Black ones I remember being more that kind of winey cherry sickly sweetness, never liked them.

Shitbox complete. I want to get everything potted or re-potted and the irrigation done by this weekend. Fuckin nigger deer sampled my potatoes the day after I posted the frame >>2730977 but thankfully spared them.

>>2732699
My San Marzano tomatoes. Got 3 good transplants, the rest were frost damaged and I thought they'd restock them. They didn't. I stopped by walmart today, as a hail mary attempt and unbelievably they had them, all in pretty good shape.

I want more tomatoes than I know what to do with this year.

>>2732764
>I want more tomatoes than I know what to do with this year.
I feel the same way until I have 100 lbs of romas in my kitchen that need canned

>>2732764
Oh true, true. I got three Costoluto Fiorentinos grown from seed in ground already. Wanted something cooler after very disappointing local dwarfs last year.
I heard San Marzanos are pretty hard to do, so good luck.
>>2732765
Gotta get those Wecks.
>>2732767
Get em if you have the space for multiple plants. Red if you ask me. Especially if you're an American and haven't had the pleasure of eating em fresh :p

>>2732770
Nice. Yea I started some seeds for the first time this year but they only just got their first fork, you know, like this Y. So the transplants are a guarantee in case they never take off.
>>2732765
Basically what I'm aiming for

>>2732777
My fluorescent lamp with space blanket setup has been working amazing so far because of how hot it gets, can recommend if you're not using one. Real cheap too.

>>2732749
They taste very sharp and acidic when eaten straight off the vine. Haven't eaten the "white" ones but seeing as they are botanically red currants with a different shade of red I doubt there's much difference.

>>2732779
>My fluorescent lamp with space blanket
Oh shit, that was actually the plan for next year

>>2732782
Just make proper supports, I crushed most of my tomatoes by accident last year, lmao.

Brit bong here. First time growing shit so probably doing it wrong, everything I've grown indoors is fine and hardening off everything<br> Outside seeds just got drenched and didn't grow bar a couple. I'm mostly doing jalapeños and habaneros with a few beans and peas and tomatos. Issue is my ex tried growing stuff before but slugs and snails decimated everything so I've got some hanging baskets and raised planters and all the pots I've wrapped in wide copper tape. Any advise on how to keep the fuckers away?

>>2732929
Slugs always hide under stones, pots, in tall vegetation and any other place that stays shaded and moist during sunny hours.
So what I do is remove tall grass (if there is any) and place stones and pots where I see slug damage, wait a day or two then come it with a knife and cut every single slug I can find in half, do this several times and there will be hardly any slugs left.

You can also use the beer trap method or any dedicated slug trap.

>>2732929
Use trap crops like nasturtiums to attract pests away from your other crops. Using trap crops as a boarder is usually pretty effective, especially if there's a second boarder of pest repelling plants inside the trap crops, but you can stick a few randomly through your garden and it will still work. You should also look into intercropping and companion planting. Growing alliums or herbs next to the plants getting eaten will help to deter slugs.

>>2732929
Use slug pellets or remove them manually when your plants are still young. Im not convinced 'trap crops' work.

My carrots are all up, but there appear to be an equal number of weeds around them. It'll be a few weeks until the carrots are big enough to weed. I planted my first batch of bush beans and covered the row with a hoop cover I made last year for peppers. Will see if I can give the beans a boost and get them producing by the end of June. Seeded some cucumbers behind the beans outside the chicken wire to keep them from spreading over the garden. Once they are big enough I've got a trellis I can put back there.

Tomatoes I started on April 13th are doing well and should be a decent size by the time I need to plant them. I planted some of the swiss chard I started in front of the beans.

Planted my zucchinis and watermelons today, feels good man

>>2733035
What were you planting them carrots in? Straight ground or did you try to loosen it up?
>>2733036
I know thoes tomatoes smell nice.
>>2733045
What kind of watermelon?

>>2733051
>What kind of watermelon?
Rosario (F1)
Early (70-80 days to maturity), sweet and resilient to illness and cool weather.
It was recommended to me by a friend because it grows well here in my relatively cold climate with short growing window.

>>2733051
>What were you planting them carrots in? Straight ground or did you try to loosen it up?
I loosened the soil before planting, then I lined the rows I troughed with screened compost, and covered with more compost. I always get a lot of weeds early in the season. After I do the first good weeding of the season I'll put mulch between the rows. After that the carrots will be thick enough to keep most of the weeds out.

I planted way too early, the carrots took 4 weeks to germinate because the soil needed to warm up. If I had waited a few more weeks I would have disrupted the sprouting weeds as I mixing the soil and sowing the carrots.

>>2733056
I'm pretty sure I tried growing that exact kind in a lil pot when I was a kid and never got beyond the first leaves, haha. Good luck.
>>2733057
Sounds comprehensive. I heard you can also grow them in sand with compost, right?
Fresh carrots from the ground were a childhood GOAT. Any specific wacky varieties you're growing this year?

>>2732931
>>2732941
Right, I'll research a bit more and try this.
Have you any personal recommendation for repellant plants? I have small herb garden and heard chamomile repels them but found a dozen on it the other night and it's not a young plant. They seem to avoid the lavender though and I'm currently growing mint to fuck the fruit flies off in my house.
>>2732969
The only issue with pellets is that I have dogs who love to dig and eat anything. Or take a shit in my fruit bushes.

>>2733035
Just cut the weeds down with some scissors until you can weed them. They'll be weaker when you finally get to it and they won't compete with your carrots as much.

>>2733062
I've never personally had an issue with slugs, probably because I grow so many alliums, but I can link you to some resources. My friend who always has trouble with slugs swears by beer traps and hostas as trap crops. Combining multiple strategies will be much more effective than any single strategy. Good luck, anon.

https://www.gardenia.net/pest/slugs<wbr>

https://sowrightseeds.com/blogs/pla<wbr>nters-library/getting-rid-of-slugs-<wbr>and-snails-in-garden
This one recommends diatomaceous earth, but because it's a non-renewable resource I don't recommend using it in your garden. The eggshells are a great suggestion though, and if you have chickens then the eggshells will encourage them to forage in those areas.

https://www.gardenia.net/guide/trap<wbr>-cropping-to-control-pests
Gardenia is turning out to be a surprisingly good resource. They recommend chervil as a trap crops for slugs.

This one is a PDF so if you click the link it will start downloading. This is the most important part though
>Slugs are attracted to marigolds, calendula, zinnias, and comfrey leaves.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou<wbr>rce=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=http<wbr>s://www.hoormansoilhealth.com/pdf/S<wbr>lug-Repellants-Alternative-Feeds-Ba<wbr>its.pdf

https://www.almanac.com/how-use-tra<wbr>p-crops-deter-pests
They recommend using parsley as a trap crop.

>>2733060
>Fresh carrots from the ground were a childhood GOAT. Any specific wacky varieties you're growing this year?
I settled on Tenderlong Imperator quite a few years ago as they produced well even given that I'm too lazy to thin them. They'll get to 10 inches long burrowing all the way through my top soil and embedding their tip in clay which can make them a bastard to pull. I usually use a pitch fork and loosen a clump of them at a time.

I wanted to try pelleted carrots this year to help achieve a deliberate spacing which should yield larger carrots. The pelleted imperator carrot they had was Neptune, so I'm trying those for the first time.

>>2733065
note that this is not true whatsoever for certain tree seedlings, who will just continue to grow their taproot bigger than bigger

>>2733065
My carrot weeding technique is to use a 3 prong pole cultivator to loosen between the rows. Let the dirt dry for an hour or two then come back and rake around with the cultivator to pull out the weeds as they float to the top of the loose dry soil. I can do that from the edge of the row so I don't need to walk among the carrots. A week or so later I'll go back and pull the weeds from the rows themselves which are now larger and easy to spot.

>>2733084
Nah, cut them down too. You will need to remove the taproot on any weeds that have them, but cutting them down will slow their growth and prevent them from dropping seed until you can get around to pulling the taproot.

>>2733085
That's a great method for weeding a carrot bed. If you find the weeds shading out your carrots them consider chopping down the tallest.

>>2733086
the previous owner of my house did this over and over every single year so I got tiny little baby treelings with massive foot long taproots

>>2733083
>Tenderlong Imperator
Shit, long carrots. Are they as good as regulars?

>>2733089
Sure, but you don't do it year after year unless you're keeping the roots alive for soil stabilization. Anon said his carrots are too young for him to start weeding so I gave him an option to buy more time.

>>2733090
They taste pretty good, sweet and coreless. Even when crowded they'll get to a decent size. I used to grow Scarlet Nantes, but they suffered a lot when planted too close together. Once I started covering the rows with a drop cloth during germination 5 years ago, my germination rate went up to nearly 100% so crowding became much more of a problem.

Are there any of those plant identification and plant care apps that are actually good?

>>2733099
>plant identification
Plantnet is good (and free)

Blue princess holly hedge is blooming, not sure if my other Holly's will be able to pollinate them though, planted last summer so not sure, hopefully I'll get berries.

>>2733099
>>2733103
> Plantnet
It's not merely an app, but also a normal web app: https://identify.plantnet.org/the-p<wbr>lant-list/identify
I've used this one for a while, and it really gives correct results, even when provided with a rather shitty input.
Tested that "in the wild" and cross-checked online photos, and tested it once just for fun in a botanical garden.

It only failed me upon ornamental cultivars, especially when you try to identify by a flower.
But hey, those cultivars often look dissimilar to the species, so I can understand false guesses there.

>>2733230
Ah I guess it's the name of the cultivar

>>2733099
>>2733103
Oh that's really good! I always thought I would have to ask over internet and hope for someone to know if I wanted to identify a plant.
Thank you for the recommendation, anons!
>>2733116
It's cute how your dog always accompanies you. Very heartwarming.

>>2733234
>It's cute how your dog always accompanies you. Very heartwarming.
Yeah she's great company, always tags along, got her the same week I got my house, fenced in the whole yard for her.

>>2733243
She's a working bloodline German shepherd

>>2733253
>the saliva flying out of the frisbee
kek

>>2733250
No but I really want to next year

>>2733250
I have with mixed success. What do you want to know?

>>2733250
I’ve had pretty good success using sterilized pet bedding in a 5 gallon bucket. All you really need is grain spawn and a shady place to let them grow. I also use a large drop mosquito net to keep the critters off them.

It's kinda funny it's cheaper to get a metric tonne of compost from a wholesaler than it's to get a couple of bags at the store<br>I wish I had the space to use a tonne

Getting cold tonight so I was thinking about putting a heater in the greenhouse instead of bringing everything in. One thing I hadn't considered is that the lowest thermostat setting for many heaters is a lot warmer than I need. One of the radiant heaters in the basement has a minimum temperature of 12C. The other one just has a dial with numbered settings so I had to look up the manual. Turns out it also has an "antifreeze" setting that will keep the temp around 5C which is perfect.

>>2733354
The difference in price is massive, I paid equivalent of 70$ for 3 cubic meters of good quality deciduous woodchips from a local landscaping guy, meanwhile 50 liter (0.05 cubic meter) of bagged wood chips sells for 6$ in nearby large gardening store.

>>2733358
Mine has 5 to 50 Celsius setting range, took me a while to find, very few can go below 10 Celsius in normal mode.

>>2733354
Paying for compost? I get it for free from the local getting spot. I can fit a little over a cubic yard in my Tacoma each trip riding out on my bump stops, done well over 200 cubic yards

>>2733401
I can get free manure from a place about 50 miles away, but I can't get free compost. I make my own, but it's never enough.

>>2733422
50 miles, that's rough, I get as much compost as I can take a few miles down the road, had to go extra thick where the septic system was replaced because there was no top soil.

>>2733428
It is, but it's cheaper to get groceries around there too, so two birds one stone. I'm glad you have access to such a great resource.

>>2733358
Well the thermostat in the heater sucks. I was up at 3:30 am and checked the wireless thermometer I have in the greenhouse. It read 2C so I went out to check the heater and it hadn't come on. So I turned it up until it kicked in. It probably wouldn't have hit zero, as a nearby weather station bottom out at 1.3 last night. I guess that's why quite a few people recommended AC plug temperature switches to control their heaters instead of relying on the dial controllers.


Should I take the van life pill

Anonymous

I’ve been bouncing on a bunch of ideas on how I could live my life as I am increasingly growing tired of living in my parents house (I’m currently working minimum wage at autozone delivering car parts to different stores while I am in school for welding.) but the idea of van life seems genuinely interesting to me. I’ve also heard of people working from their vans and I am willing to do just that. I am thinking of driving out west from the mid-Atlantic with a dirt bike/adv bike in the van. How do you even get started? What vans should I look into? What are the legal steps I need to take (if any)?

>>2729958
All the early adopters really drove up the price of vans across the board, so that sucks to be you. If you're willing to put in some elbow grease and have some fabrication/wood working ability you can make some really awesome concepts yourself in a van you buy for $5k ish. If you don't have that ability, be prepared to drop $15k and up for something that isn't going to break down immediately or hasn't been collecting mold in a field for god knows how long. So first step is money. How much do you have and what is your skill set?

>>2729991
I only have about $10K into my savings account. It really is not much I can spare. I *COULD* use my first gen CR-V as an alternative since the seats fold into a bed, and since my car is a 5MT, I can tow more than 1,500 pounds if I’m not beating the fuck out of my car. I have *some* carpentry experience, but I am proficient in MiG/stick welding with novice experience in tig welding Stainless, mild steel, and aluminum. I also have some automotive experience replacing chassis components, and very little engine building experience (rebuilt my locked up kx100) but some is better than never. I was thinking of a Chevy express van since I liked the space and the responsiveness of the throttle, and those fuckers are built like tanks. I can also build a trailer with my skillsets that doubles as a bike carrier and sleeping quarters.

>>2729958
No. Find a work exchange on a farm or ranch. Sleep in a real bed. Shit on your own toilet.

>>2729997
That actually sounds good, because large cities in Appalachia fucking suck.

>>2729997
>>2729997
I'll just put a toilet in my van

>>2729997
imagine having to work with stinky, disgusting, shitting-and-pissing farm animals

>>2730007
Literally our purpose on Earth.

>>2730007
OMG Stacy your so right. These guys are like, so Ick

>>2730007
Cool it with the racism bro, you're supposed to say African-American now.

>>2730020
No they like being called Black now since they found out real Africans hate them lol

>>2729991
that's why you buy a lightweight travel trailer. vanfags usually sell the shit they build anyways, and it's built with zero real knowledge on how to do it, just youtube retards regurgitating fudd engineering. they've ruined those vehicles with jerry rigging and shit that won't last or not grow mold. car prices in general are fucked, have been since covid.

How about you just do it with whatever vehicle you already have? SUVs are great for it. If you have a truck throw on a camper shell. I did 2 years in a fucking sedan and once I dialed in the system it was quite cozy. You could car camp as well.

You'll get a feel for the lifestyle and see if its a good fit for you before dunping money into it. If you must work look for seasonal outdoor jobs in places close to public lands, preferably USFS and BLM. If you don't have public land to sleep on its pretty miserable and you are basically no different then the rest of the homeless. I got a higher paying, more conventional job and left the life mostly because it drastically reduces your dating options and winters/heat waves are hard. I still go back to my old spots sometimes fircthe nostalgia though.

>>2729996

I'd start step by step.
the first Gen crv is a sick ride.
I used to have one and camped out of it a ton with a super simple bed platform in the back.

I feel like wether u need a van or not really depends on where you want to be and for how long at a time you want to do it.

I lived & wokred out of my S10 blazer together with my wife and dog for a bit more than a month last year and we didn't have a ton to complain about.

but we were in the woods of Finland with plenty of fresh water and mostly no people around.

if I were you I'd put my shit in the crv and go on a camping trip next weekend, see what bothers you and then improve on it.

maybe that will shed some light on what you need /don't need.

generally I think spending 3k building a trailer for the crv sounds better than jumping into 15k for a van without ever figuring out your needs.

also people talk about rtts as if they were memes but I love this thing.
my wife built it and it ever so slightly to short but I do very much love it.

how to do that in Europe where old offroads are or will be banned bc muh pollution? I see commercial vans as the main way

>>2729958
tips
>buy your van in autumn. when the weather gets cold all the backpackers and tourists are trying to offload their vehicles for cheap
>be short, if you're over 5ft10 dont expect to be able to stand up in most vans
>know how to fix your own vehicle and maintain it
>cut down your belongings to the absolute minimum
>keep some sort of self defense weapon in your van. no-one suspects the self defense cactus sitting on the shelf next to your door.
>be prepared for cops, security or home owners societies to move you on. try not to park in the same spot 2 nights in a row. locals notice regular vans.
>adjust your diet to accommodate living in a van. lots of stuff you can make without a fridge or a microwave is a must.
>you can get camp stove gas canisters for free from hostels and hotels. travelers leave them behind all the time and hotels cant dispose of them, so they have cupboards fucking full of 100s of them.
>gym membership for showering and shitting. have a backup chemical toilet (like $50 from home depot) in your van in case. for emergency showering a bag hanging from a tree works too.
>make sure you can keep your van dry. if you get a week of solid rain you'll fucking hate life if you cant keep the inside dry and warm. dont let condensation build up!!
>get in touch with friends in the areas where you'll be and ask if its OK for you to park in their driveway once in a while. this'll save your ass a lot on nights you cant find a park or when you're sick of getting harassed by cops/drunks
>dont be that guy brushing his teeth in his underpants in a suburban street at 6am.
>if you can customize it, put decals and decorate your van's exterior to disguise it as a work van. high vis vest and trade manual on the driver's seat, fake plumbing business logo and phone number on the side etc. people will think its a parked work vehicle a lot of the time and leave you alone, just as long as you dont make it obvious you're living in it.

Van lifing is a fad, get a property you delusional idiot

>just fork out $600k for a property with no utilities, no road access and 6 hour's drive from the nearest job

>>2729958
It costs money. More than you think.
>>2729996
Just use your CRV, it's better in essentially every way except living inside of. The CRV (especially first gens) are great cars, better than anything made today.
I say this with the exception of you finding your dream van for $1000 being sold by some grandma who doesn't know what she has.
Ride around your town and see if there are any sitting in a back alley, knock on some doors, ect.
Camper trailer + CRV would be good too
>>2729997
Live-in work is usually a better alternative yeah.
>>2730020
I laffed
>>2732250
Fucken saved. That's an awesome looking rig.

>>2729958
Van life "people" are insufferable retards, you'll fit right in

>>2733150
agreed. you're not a sexy instagram model doing the 'vanlife' with hundreds of thousands in the bank, you are homeless in a car, shitting in public toilets and going days or weeks without a bathing. it's not glamorous.

>>2733150
She used plaster for the walls. One bad pothole or bump and her shit is going to crack and crumble everywhere. Worst is she put this garbage up for sale instead of using it herself.
>>2733188
This. I can see how someone who literally cannot afford a house or apartment could have a better life living out of a mini van than on the street, but it's not going to be as luxurious/comfortable as the kids who have permission to spend Daddy's money freely on a van conversion that has a full kitchen and bathroom. You also can't travel for site seeing the way those people can because you need to factor in gas money and repairs. OP isn't rich, he's going to spend most of his nights parked at his parents' house anyway.

>>2729958
>How do you even get started?
buy a cheap cargo van
>What vans should I look into?
ford/chevy 2500/3500 cargo vans
>What are the legal steps I need to take (if any)?
none. just get insurance

I bought my van for $5500. I spent about $1500 on the electrical system (400w of solar, 2000w inverter, charge controller, 4x 100ah lifep04 batteries)
I built a cheap bed from 2x4 and put down some vinyl sheeting for the floor.

So all-in-all, I spent about $7k on everything. I've been all over the country, basically just chasing good weather. I work remotely, but most people work seasonal jobs which is a great way to meet people.

By living out of the van I was able to save enough money to buy some land, and most recently bought a 12x32 cabin. Now I got 5 acres and a cabin in SE AZ that I live at part-time when im not traveling.

Its the best feeling in the world having your own place. Its comforting to know that if everything falls apart on me, at-least I have a home and some land I can go back to.

Its been an adventure for sure. I love being on the move, meeting new people and just exploring. I'll never go back to living in an apartment.

My advise is, do it. Take a risk, hit the road and see where life takes you.

>>2733316
pic of my cabin

not paying rent is the only way I was able to save enough to buy it

heres the breakdown:
5 acres cost me $4500
12x32 cabin cost me $16k

>>2733318
Wtf can you do on this land? Can you produce any food or hunt anything? If not it's there large public land nearby you can hunt on? If all you can do is live on it and there is no source of water that's a shit deal.

>>2733316
>>2733318
Hey that's pretty nice.
Did the cabin come insulated and stuff for $16k?
What's the plumbing situation?
>>2733378
He can relax and pretend to be that one guy from Kill Bill

>>2733378
>Can you produce any food or hunt anything?
I'm surrounded by orchards, crop circles and vineyards. But you do need water of course, you need a well to farm. We got deer, javalina, lots of quail and turkey around here. I see quail literally every morning at my bird feeder. There's plenty of hunting near by. I saw three or four deer earlier today.

I don't have any intention of growing crops or being self sufficient or anything. This is just my home base when I'm not traveling or whatever. I want to have off grid properties in various states and just bounce around depending on the season.

I don't have a well. Instead I have a 2650 gallon water tank. I pay $200 to have someone come out and fill it. Lasts me about 6-8 months.

>>2733414
>Did the cabin come insulated and stuff for $16k?
It came with R19 insulation under the floor. I had it custom built so its about $3k more than it would of been without all the custom shit I requested. Here are the upgrades I requested: 2x6 studs instead of 2x4, metal roof, six windows, radiant barrier, tyvek house wrap and R19 insulation under the floor.

I'm really glad I had them build it with 2x6. The whole thing just feels sturdy as fuck with 2x6 spaced 16 inches on center. Gives me more room for insulation too.

>What's the plumbing situation?
I haven't plumbed it yet or ran electricity. Those are projects for another day. I have an outhouse and I run an extension cord into the cabin from my van. Thats how I power my starlink, lights, laptop and air conditioner.

Its not the ideal environment by any means, but it has its pros. Particularly the abundance of solar and low population. My nearest neighbor is about 3/4 of a mile away. I live in an unincorporated community of about 200 people total. All my neighbors live out here in unpermitted cabins or trailers. None of us have utilities or addresses. No HOA, no city goverment fags, no bullshit codes to jump through. Its nice. $82 a year in property taxes is all.

>>2729958
Legal steps:
>get a permanent physical mailing address
There’s a place in Texas that has always done this, you just have to sign a letter saying that you promise to “uphold the Texas way of life” and mail it in, then you become a citizen of Texas and can pay monthly for a “real” address (that doesn’t actually exist) so that you are technically legal and can get a Texas Driver’s License (and register to vote and never pay any state income taxes)…although you could just use your parents house too, you just need an address
>establish an LLC
Then rent a room in the name of the LLC to stay at a hotel in South Dakota for 1 night…you are now legally entitled to do business in SD, including making tax free capital improvements on your business, such as the purchase of a van or RV to live in and run your business out of…you can buy the car in any state just have the dealer do the paperwork for SD so that it remains tax free

I guess those arent really specific to van life, more so for telling the govt to fuck off and find some other source of funding, but they do still apply to van life and working from your van

>>2733441
Damn, nice job.
>I'm really glad I had them build it with 2x6.
Yeah I've heard from some builders that if they were to build their own house, that's how they'd do it too. Especially up north where they value the extra insulation space or anywhere with strong winds.
>outhouse
Outhouse is superior to an inside shitter anyways.

Really nice job.

>>2733459
What the fuck is that picture?

>>2733150
>rich white instagram sluts who've never had a real job are insufferable
ftfy

>>2733315
>What vans should I look into?
>ford/chevy 2500/3500 cargo vans
personally i recommend a Mitsubishi Dicklicker or just getting a Toyota Landcruiser with a canopy on the back. Fords are kind of shit.

>>2733479
I dunno, some random internet art I thought was neat.


Do you see any small, black berries? Or some small green berries?

>>2729753
Definitely some kind of mint. Probably oregano from the look of it. You should be able to tell if it is from the smell.

Almost all mints will have that square stem and opposite sets of perpendicular facing leaves like that.

>>2729757
I agree with this anon
>>2729753
Which is concerning because that's an incredibly common plant that can be positively identified by simply picking a leaf and smelling it.

>>2729757
Smell is unronically one of the most underutilized ways of IDing a plant.

The biggest mistake people make though is relying on a key to ID plants. You use a key to ID it the first time- but once you see a plant enough times you really do just get a feel for it. There are some that are just hard to tell the difference between though.. oregano is NOT one of them kek. The mint, pea, nightshade, parsley, and geranium families usually jump-out at you from first glance.

Anyways, ID'ing mature plants is alot easier than ID'ing very young sprouts seedling etc. That's where the "feel" thing really matters.

>>2729760
I thought so too but someone said otherwise.

>>2729768
It is definitely a mint. Probably oregano but some other mints can also look like that. That's where the smell matters.

Alot of mints can have an oregano-esque smell though. Some monarda's like Dotted Horse Mint can smell like oregano/basil but looks nothing like that. Basil looks alot like oregano to me.

>>2729753
Google says oregano, but to me it looks like a spicy globe basil I used to have.

>>2729753
That's definitely mint family. But it doesn't look like spearmint or peppermint. Maybe sweet mint? Looks kinda fuzzy like marjoram, but I'm guessing it's bigger than that? At least it looks like it. Doesn't smell sagey right?

>>2729753
Honestly it looks like basil, but not shiny.

>>2729970
I've wondered, have we tried to smoke everything yet? Maybe there is still some undiscovered smokable plant?

>>2729983
Since archaeologists and paleontologists seem to think most mind altering plants, including alcohol, mushrooms, ect, have been mostly accidental discoveries, maybe. On the other hand, I'm sure just about every plant known to man has been eaten at some point or another, probably due to tragedy/desperation or plain curiosity. Typically if it effects you when you eat it, you'll get similar or even more potent results from smoking it.
There's also tons of medicinal plants that you can smoke for their effects that simply aren't commonly known about.
If I was going to bet on it, I'd bet you there's some cool undiscovered drugs in the ocean no one has thought about hauling out, drying, and lighting it on fire to get high.

>>2729983
Haven't been through high school eh? Gotta be over 18 to post on 4chan. We smoked everything we though might get us high in HS. If it could be smoked, it was. Unless the plant itself hasn't been discovered yet, someone's tried smoking it.

>>2729753
Definitely minty. Maybe greek oregano since they have smaller more mintlike leaves

>>2729753
You should be able to identify this from the smell alone.
I'm guessing you grew up in a city in America and struggle to tell the difference between a sheep and a goat.

>>2729766
Based response, though I have never seen oregano with such large leaves.
It's heuristics and that's difficult to convey to people- when you're IDing a new species it's important to base it on solid and consciously reasoned evidence, but there is also lots of value in unconscious pattern recognition, and when I have seen pros in any sort of ID that is 99% how they operate (though they can explain their reasoning when asked).

>>2729757
>Definitely some kind of mint
That was my first thought.

>>2729753
When I was younger I was really into plants. State champion FFA on nursery landscape, state champion on Plant ID FFA, state champion on timber stand improvement etc. Went to undergrad and didn't pursue something related to plants (a decision I regret every day). But I have a good job now- it's just not what I love.

Anyways, I moved back home about 10 years ago, blessed with property and woods.. it's a very rural place so I got back into plants. Stopped getting cable and all that, not many other people living around so I just spend all my time in the woods.

Spending that time just out there seeing the plants every day season after season year after year made me understand them in a way no book or key ever did. If you dont have a fascination with them they will never stick. Almost a form of autism. Like you see people's face in a crowd and you'd never recognize them but if you have some interest in them it might stick and be familiar. Opposite/alternate is always useful but when it really comes to ID'ing young or out of season plants there is no replacement for just "knowing" them. Each one has certain qualities aside from obvious characteristics... they like to grow in certain places, slight variations in color, do different things at different times of year etc. and I never made a list to ID these plants it's like recognizing a person's face. Every day for like a decade if I'd go in the woods and come across something I didn't know I'd take pics and go home and figure it out and after about the five year point I sort of got to where I can get 90% at first blush, and can put the other 10% in the right family for the most part. Every now and then I get stumped though and this area is sort of hard mode I mean there are a ton of species here.

But tbqh I miss the days of going in the woods and every day it was one I didn't know.. like sort of an adventure to figure them all out. Makes me a bit sad now that it's no longer that way. Sorry for TLDR