This and That

Went around today and picked up some supplies. Mushroom compost, vermiculite, screws, other odds and ends. Plus I got two more packs of flowers, 1ea 4.5" aster & a 6 pack of asters. Pretty little things they are.

Went out back to redo the 16"x16"x12" deep container that had the cuke in it. The cuke got tossed a couple days ago. Set up my buckets and pans to keep the potting mix separate. The bottom portion had the water saving crystals in that portion already the next portion was the charcoal layer and the top portion was what I was going to redo as I did not have ironite in it. Got my five gallon bucket set and started removing the top portion. Came to a WTF moment. The burlap had rotted. I expected it to last at least a couple years and it has like been only about six weeks since I put it in. I had no recollection from my childhood farm days how long burlap lasted in wet conditions. So much for believing what I had read and seen on you tube about burlap. Must be they are using burlap treated against rot. So I finished bucketing the top layer, took the charcoal layer of about two inches and put that in a small pail. Removed the bottom layer and put that in the cement mixing pan which is about 20"x30"x5" deep. Tore out the burlap and washed out the container. Figured I had the container emptied I would do it up to 16" deep and add the 45 degree corners making an octagon. Made another trip to the store and got short roll of aluminum window screening. They claim aluminum will not rot and last like 500 years underground according to a soda can thickness. Seen that in my search on aluminum rotting. I knew it did not rot but at screen thickness I was not sure. I can remember pulling up aluminum screening from lot cleaning that was not rotten in my construction days.

With that emptying job completed I hauled the container to the garage and added 4" to the height and put in the 45 degree corners. That was as far as I got on that as it was late in the day when I finished my shopping and emptied the container.

The other day I did pre cut all the boards for two more containers I was planning on. That is still setting in the garage to be assembled.

Tomorrow I will add the aluminum screening to the inside of the box, refill the bottom layer that has the water saving crystals in it. then the charcoal layer and the top layer I will need to add the ironite and the mushroom compost plus vermiculite. Then I will transplant a squash plant in it I have started that is doing pretty good.

When I emptied the container the potting mix was moist but not dry or ringing wet. Moist enough to make a ball in your hand that did not drip water or fall apart from being to dry.

Then I will work on transplanting those pretty flowers in 10" containers.

Looks like I will need to redo the four other containers I have that have the tomatoes and peppers in them when they are done for the season. Add the 45 degree corners and put compost in top layer.

For some reason Just potting mix and a couple handful's of black cow does not give a good growing mix. For the time they have been in there they should show more vigor and growth. I will need to do like the guy that lived on Walden Pond and tug on the plants to get them to grow faster. I visited Walden Pond some time ago and it has my stone in the stone pile I threw in.