What did you do in the garden today?

[BirdsBeesTrees]

My youngest son,15, has been collecting Maple sap for a homeschooling project. I boiled down 5 gallons in several pots on the stove yesterday and got 2 cups of maple syrup for him. He loves it and keeps talking about it, so it was worth it.

 

[Nym]

I have buckets from a donut/ice cream shop. So far, they are holding up very well.

Do you make your own? If so, please share a recipe.

No, I bought mine online back in 2012! It will last forever.
Black Salve Australia

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[chickengr]

I went out for a little retail therapy this morning. I found seed starter pots made out of coir. I bought 2 packs of the 4 inch pots. Has anyone found/ used these?

they are so pricy here that makes no sense to buy them.

 

[gtaus]

I have buckets from a donut/ice cream shop. So far, they are holding up very well.

We have a local bakery that is selling buckets with lids for $3.00 each. Maybe that's a good deal for some people, but Harbor Freight has free bucket sales every few months and that's when I pick up my free buckets (no lids). Just picked up 3 free 5-gallon buckets last weekend with any purchase if you were a Harbor Freight Inside Track Club member, which I am. Only limit is one free bucket per day.

FYI, I always have a short list of consumable items from Harbor Freight I use so when the free bucket sale comes around, I already know what item(s) I want to buy.

You can never have too many 5-gallon buckets on hand.

Here's a great idea for gardening using 5-gallon buckets....

 

[gtaus]

What ever happened to using those large bags of vermiculite insulation for mixing potting soil? I used to buy a 3 cubic foot bag of vermicultie insulation at Menards for about $16.00 each. Now, you can't find those big bags anymore. The least expensive option I have found is now $19.00 for a 1.5 cubic foot bag....

That "garden vermiculite" costs more per bag for half the volume of the vermiculite insulation I used to buy. I can't find the less expensive large bag vermiculite insulation anywhere. Did that get banned or something?

Edited to add: Any recommendations for a low-cost vermiculite substitute for potting soil mixes? I have some deck pots that need to be filled this spring. Thanks.

 

[Acre4Me]

What ever happened to using those large bags of vermiculite insulation for mixing potting soil? I used to buy a 3 cubic foot bag of vermicultie insulation at Menards for about $16.00 each. Now, you can't find those big bags anymore. The least expensive option I have found is now $19.00 for a 1.5 cubic foot bag....

View attachment 3751038

That "garden vermiculite" costs more per bag for half the volume of the vermiculite insulation I used to buy. I can't find the less expensive large bag vermiculite insulation anywhere. Did that get banned or something?

Edited to add: Any recommendations for a low-cost vermiculite substitute for potting soil mixes? I have some deck pots that need to be filled this spring. Thanks.

A few years ago, I asked the local farm/garden shop (family owned, not a chain) to order me some bags -they were 4cubic ft, quite large. Can’t remember the cost though, but more reasonable than the small bags.

 

[MotherofOrpies]

Yay, I planted some sprouted garlic cloves last fall, they are raising their heads then picked up some freshly cut cherry branches, I fixed 2 of them to my cherry tree ( yellow sour cherries) have to wait an see if they take …

 

[saysfaa]

. Did that get banned or something?

Maybe. It has asbestos sometimes.

Edited to add: Any recommendations for a low-cost vermiculite substitute for potting soil mixes? I have some deck pots that need to be filled this spring. Thanks.

Rice Hulls. Link to info

I found a paper on how rice hulls are not as effective as vermiculite or perlite but it was put out by suppliers of perlite. Link.

Their main point was rice hulls are flatter so don't provide as much benefit to soil structure as the round perlite or more angular vermiculite.
So I think buckwheat hulls may be a little better than rice hulls but haven't found info on it. Buckwheat hulls might be hard to find as only hulls but buckwheat seeds are inexpensive, more available in the north than rice hulls, and include the hull. I think you could bake the seeds to keep them from sprouting in your potting mix. I would be tempted to try them viable and either use mulch or weed them as they came up.

The link to the perlite company has a nice chart on the second page about the properties of several options.

 

[saysfaa]

Another alternative to vermiculite might be ground corn cobs. I didn't see it anywhere and haven't looked for info on that. Yet, anyway.

 

[Molpet]

What ever happened to using those large bags of vermiculite insulation for mixing potting soil? I used to buy a 3 cubic foot bag of vermicultie insulation at Menards for about $16.00 each. Now, you can't find those big bags anymore. The least expensive option I have found is now $19.00 for a 1.5 cubic foot bag....

View attachment 3751038

That "garden vermiculite" costs more per bag for half the volume of the vermiculite insulation I used to buy. I can't find the less expensive large bag vermiculite insulation anywhere. Did that get banned or something?

Edited to add: Any recommendations for a low-cost vermiculite substitute for potting soil mixes? I have some deck pots that need to be filled this spring. Thanks.

Asbestos
https://www.epa.gov/asbestos/protec...-contaminated-vermiculite-insulation#concerns