The bucket list. April 10, 2010
Posted by ourfriendben in chickens, critters, gardening, homesteading, wit and wisdom.Tags: blog humor, bucket list, garden chores, gardening
trackback
Spring weekends mean gardening chores here at Hawk’s Haven, the cottage home our friend Ben and Silence Dogood share in the precise middle of nowhere, PA. To some, a bucket list may involve scaling the pyramids or touring the Louvre. Our friend Ben’s bucket list is, shall we say, a bit more down to earth.
Today’s bucket list is as follows:
* 2 buckets of potting soil for repotting potbound house- and greenhouse plants.
* 6 buckets of compost to spread on new raised bed.
* 1 bucket containing water and a coir brick to make new medium for earthworm composter, to be drained and mixed with shredded paper (once coir brick disintegrates) before adding to composter.
* 1/2 bucket of seed potatoes to plant in raised potato bin.
* 2 buckets of compost and 2 of straw to put on top of potatoes in bin.
* 1/2 bucket of mixed onion sets (red, white, and ‘Stuttgarter’, a long-keeping yellow) to plant in allium bed.
* 4 buckets of water to pour over tomato plants (so far, just ‘Sungold’ and ‘Sweet 100′ in containers) and mixed greens, radishes, and ‘Sugar Snap’ peas in raised bed.
* 1 bucket “OFB Special Top Secret” greenhouse watering solution, composed of water, liquid seaweed, Superthrive, and aspirin (our friend Delilah claims it helps plants resist disease, and her plants are the healthiest ever, so I figure can’t hurt, might help), occasionally enlivened with a shake of dried “llama poo” or guano. (We only have one bucket free for this solution, so we make it up daily and rotate watering accordingly.)
* 1 bucket manure pellets for top-dressing plants that won’t be potted up this season. I like the so-called “Energy Buttons” from Gardener’s Supply (www.gardeners.com).
* 1 bucket kitchen scraps to be added to compost bins and/or earthworm composter.
* 1 bucket mixed dandelions, greens, bread, and leftovers for the chickens.
* 1 bucket, frequently emptied and reused, for holding weeds pulled from garden beds and other areas.
* 1 bucket for pick-up sticks, all the fallen twigs and branches that are constantly littering our property, for transport to the firepit.
* 1 bucket for carting wood ashes from said firepit to ring around our fruit trees for natural pest control.
* 1 bucket of margaritas to revive the exhausted OFB after dealing with all the buckets previously mentioned.
So, what’s your bucket list?
HEHEHE! I LOVE this version of the bucket list, much more down to earth, no pun intended! I have buckets of grass clippings, buckets of sticks, and buckets of buckets and after all the work I’ll need to soak my feet in a bucket!
I’ll have to try the aspirin tip that’s a new one.
Ha! Soaking your tired feet in a bucket of water and Epsom salts, then pouring it around your roses—what a fantastic idea for gardeners everywhere!!! Way to go, Lzyjo! And please let me know what you think about the aspirin.
I bet Delilah is correct:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salicylic_acid#Plant_hormone
Though I don’t know how much of it roots will take up on their own. Also it retards seed germination:
http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Salicylic:acid:plant:hormone.htm
(Aspirin is technically acetylsalicylic acid, but the acetyl group comes off easily enough that I think that’s probably trivial.)
Thanks, Mr. S.! Hugely helpful!
Aspirin? I use steroids. Got them from the local college football team after the season ended. Sweet deal.
Ha!!! But just think of the maintenance, Benjamin!
Very interesting, just read the link from Mr. S. I knew that willow is supposed to speed up rooting time in water, but until now I hadn’t been able to make the connection. How many tablets do you use per what quantity of water — I’m guessing it’s pretty hard to OD a plant on aspirin.
I use three 325-mg. aspirin per 5-gallon bucket, Lzyjo, or one per spray bottle if I’m making a foliar feed. That may not be enough to be beneficial, but it seems like plenty to me, and it’s certainly never hurt the plants. And they never complain about headaches!