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I totally agree Tunk. Burning plastic bags smells really bad. There are a few areas along one of my bike routes where they are sitting in their front yard burning bags, boxes, plastic and yard trimmings to stay warm. It's black and surely isn't good for ones lungs.Quote:
Originally Posted by tunk
Quote:
Originally Posted by tunk
Tunk
I am sure if there was any trash around it would get burnt also but I hate having rubbish laying around so for the last 10 plus years I have been telling all and sundry to pick the shit up and to put it in the bin/s.
Here you can see she has got a little stack of wood ready for the next time a fire is needed.
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=25611&stc=1
When we moved over here from Aussie I bought a couple of these with us as I hadn't seen any for sale here at the time. There are plenty around now at hardware stores.
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=25612&stc=1
The missus has her little bin near the outdoor kitchen that she uses and then empties it into the big bin.
The bag over the top is to keep any scavengers out so they don't spread the shit everywhere.
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=25613&stc=1
The final destination is the rubbish pit. I dug this hole about 3 years ago and it is used by us and the SIL so it has lasted well.
I put all the grass and leaves etc. in there to help burn the rubbish and then I use some diesel to help it along. If you get a good fire raging the plastic and crap burns better and doesn't smoke or smell as much. I always try and burn it when the wind is blowing away from the houses. I used to chuck wood in there to make a fire that burnt for longer but the MIL got on my case because she wanted to save it for her "campfires".
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=25614&stc=1
JPPR it is v bad. The FiL Buddha rest his soul used to burn plastic with the tree clippings etc and it took me 5 years to get him to stop. They use it also to light BBQs so be wary of buying meat from the BBQ vendors - the whole point is burning plastic releases Dioxins wich are cancer causing.Quote:
Originally Posted by JPPR2
Dioxins are environmental pollutants. They belong to the so-called “dirty dozen” - a group of dangerous chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Dioxins are of concern because of their highly toxic potential. Experiments have shown they affect a number of organs and systems.
Once dioxins enter the body, they last a long time because of their chemical stability and their ability to be absorbed by fat tissue, where they are then stored in the body. Their half-life in the body is estimated to be 7 to 11 years. In the environment, dioxins tend to accumulate in the food chain. The higher an animal is in the food chain, the higher the concentration of dioxins.
JPPR2
You shamed me into getting off my lazy arse and giving the yard some water. For the last 2 days I have been moving the sprinkler around every half hour. Finally finished the front yard just now.
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=25615&stc=1
In the PM you sent you asked a couple of questions which I thought I would answer here.
You asked, "Do you use city water or well or both?"
I just use bore water (well water for you Americans). There is village water available but the pressure is abysmal so it won't run a sprinkler so I don't use it.
I have a bore at the new house and also one at the old house. I have plumbed both into the line feeding the shade house and main garden. The reason for that was that the MIL uses the one at the main house for her garden and I use the other one so we can both water at the same time. The SIL who lives in our old house just can't use the water while I have it running in the garden, well she can but then she hears me yelling and turns hers off. I help her pay for the electricity.
The you also asked:
"Soyour dirt is really almost clay like and when it dries out, it really driesout."
The soil here is very much as you described and is the reason I am trying to built it up by adding lots of straw, cow and chicken shit etc. It will take a few years but I will get there. MIL reckons I use to much shit so she refuses to plant in my garden beds. She recently made a garden bed near our banana plants where I hadn't put anything and her plants all died so she will maybe change her mind one day.
I also try and mulch around the plants to keep the top of the ground from drying out as in this picture of my corn patch.
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=25617&stc=1
I tried just using the straw straight from the bales but it sticks together and won't spread very well. So I got my wood chipper/shredder out and then after 1 day it burnt out so I wen and bought another one on Thursday. It breaks the straw up as well as separating it so it spreads well.
I have a German friend near here and he makes compost so I am going to make a bin for myself and start doing that as well. He has the best lime trees I have seen absolutely loaded with limes. He grows everything in the cement rings so he can spray the weeds but not get the plants. If I want to wind him up I just mention how good his soil is, man does he go off about how crappy it is.
Cheers
Ootai, we've got poor soil as well, similar to your description. When we started off i thought it would be a good idea when planting to add straw and rice husk to the soil and dig it in for water/ moisture retention especially with young plants. The problem i discovered was that all i was doing was providing termite food - so yes dig it in but keep turning it over. Around trees i leave a covering of leave for moisture retention but don't leave them touching the tree trunks, this provides perfect termite shelter and they'll start noshing the trunks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NamPikToot
Very common for countryside dwellers to harbour compost/mulch collections of one nature or another - especially as it applies to family gardens and other property horticulture ventures.
Very simple procedures within this climate. Almost takes care of itself.
Yes, but be careful of snakes, they love compost heaps for egg laying :)Quote:
Originally Posted by HuangLao
Thanks ootai.
I have city water that has really good pressure all the time. I feel quite fortunate. I also have 2 wells but only pump out of one.
I started my own mulch pit about 2 years ago. I use the grass clippings and I also rake up all my bamboo, lumyai and mango tree leaves and with my lawn mower mulch it up and toss on pile. You can accelerate the process by sprinkling with water and cover with a black tarp.
Once every month I spin the pile up with the rototiller head attachment head that goes on the Honda weedwhacker. It turns it over really well. Occasionally I add a bag of cow shit when mixing. My wife uses it in her rose garden. The pile isn't too big as I give clippings to the old lady around the corner and she uses it for her garden.
NPTQuote:
Originally Posted by NamPikToot
So far I have not seen any evidence of termites attacking the straw.
When I build the garden bed I use my excavator to dig a trench about 1 metre wide by 600mm deep and then layer straw and soil back in.
I don't put any straw above the original ground level so maybe there is nothing for the termites to see to eat. I did it this way because I thought it would help improve the drainage through the clay.
Yes I do dig it by hand (most of the time) after each planting has finished and I have noticed lots of worms which is good IMHO anyway.
What I have seen that I never saw before is some bloody great big fat worms that are almost a foot long. First time I thought it was a snake.Last time I had 2 large beds to turn over so I used my tractor and plough and then ran over it with the rotary hoe.
My original idea was to do it this way that's why I built the shade house 2.5m tall, so I could get the tractor underneath.
That idea has been compromised in some parts by the MIL's random plantings.
If I leave the bed without water for any length of time is dries out, subsides and start cracking up so to me that shows the straw is still decaying and the soil is still very clayey.
Hopefully it will be part of my legacy a nice organic soil garden for the future, unless of course I manage to live for longer than I think I probably will.
Cheers
Quote:
Originally Posted by JPPR2
JPPR
You are making me jealous, it must be nice to live near civilisation where you have nice water supplied at a pressure that is useful.
When we built the house there was a village water supply tank just opposite our place so the water pressure was not so hopeless, it was still not really good enough for a sprinkler but then they moved the tank down to the bigger cleaner water dam and the water pressure went to crap.
I was having a discussion with my German mate the other day about wetting and then covering his compost but he wasn't convinced however I will do that when I eventually build my compost bin/s. I was thinking of using hessian bags instead of plastic to cover it as then I could just water straight onto the bags without having to remove the covers each time.
I like the idea of having a mechanical mixer so I might have to look into that. How deep will it mix?
Cheers
Quote:
Originally Posted by HuangLao
From what I have seen so far the MIL just stacks everything up and around the trees and plants and then lets nature take care of it.
I personally think it is more or a moisture retention plan than a composting idea as she will stack stones and broken concrete around them as well.
The other thing she does is dig out around the plants and heaps the soil up around the base of the plant supposedly this stops the roots drying out as it puts them deeper under the ground.
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=25631&stc=1 oothai, apologies if someone has already identified this plant from page 1, but I'm sure it's what Thais call ชะอม cha-om. The leaves are used in curries, the stem and branches have very, very sharp thorns.
Yes, my missus loves Cha-Om.
Is it a Northern thing, don't recall Bangkok mouths stinking of it?
That is a HUGE problem here with folks. they do not want to take the leaves away so they rake them into a HUGE pile against the trunks. This allows termites to attack the tree and fungus and mold. Very bad idea. I had to break my father of that bad habit. Another one is tying branches up using bailing wire or rope then forgetting about it. Then the tree tries to grow over it and usually that branch or trunk dies or gets diseased. Another bad habit I broke my FIL of. We had 4 or 5 trees that broke in big wind storms right at the seam mark where wire was buried into the trunk.Quote:
Originally Posted by NamPikToot
It will til down about 6 or 8". On hard ground it will bounce too much but soft or reasonably moist dirt it works really good for what it is.Quote:
Originally Posted by ootai
Well we got lucky quite honestly. They added the city water line about 5 or 6 years ago, in fact right as our house was being completed. Interestingly though, many have their lines off or capped at their house because they do not want the water bill. They use the their well which I find really odd. Our monthly city water bill is 300 to 350 bht a month. Honestly its cheaper to use city water versus running a 220V water pump sucking water up from the well but the well water does have nutrients in it for the plants that city water doesn't.Quote:
Originally Posted by ootai
My mulch process,
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2019/01/263.jpg
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2019/01/264.jpg
I rake up about 6 to 10 piles around the property then come mow it up into my mower bag.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2019/01/265.jpg
I keep the pile covered but open it up once a week or so and spray it with some water or add water when I add new mulch material
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2019/01/266.jpg
This mulch is super rich and then you til or mix into the area where I plant. I do not like using the bagged mulch as its loaded with rice husks and peanut shells. Usually it has tons of mold.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2018/08/1616.jpg
Here is a bucket of grass and weed clippings from the lawn mower
How is the yard area looking where you watered it? It will take a few timesQuote:
Originally Posted by ootai
@ ootai,
Here is the tiller head that mounts to the Honda weedwhacker( thought I posted this somewhere else but couldn't find it). iI I remember correctly, the price was around 1800 bht.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2019/01/270.jpg
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2019/01/271.jpg
Again, on hard rock like ground it will do nothing but bounce and skip around as there is simply no weight on it like a conventional tiller. If you break the soil a bit it does a pretty good job. If you have a mulch pit it works awesome as it really turns the pile up quickly then just rake back into a pile and cover.
While not growing in my Garden, They have decided to add a "sewer" system in our Mooban according to my wife and FIL. Now I will use the term sewer loosely as this is really a rain run off control......BUT........
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2019/01/273.jpg
They just cut the road and are now jack hammering it into pieces along the street to our home.
Now I am not really sure how this is all supposed to work. If they do it like I have seen others they will trench it down about 3 feet and then cement it in with a lip then add these cement square blocks with holes in it on top as covers. That's all fine however how is this really going to work? They are adding the "Sewer" trench on the high side of the street and unless physics has changed recently water doesn't run uphill. If this is a run off its supposed to "Run off" into the river. I also find this interesting in that it never floods on our street.
I love this place...... There is never a dull moment. :smileylaughing:
It's time to empty the garden pond again this year. We do this every two or three years and add lime and manure before letting the monsoon fill it up again.
We netted most of the fish for New Year, but it's hot so any excuse to get in the water
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=26389&stc=1
and try out the different nets...
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=26390&stc=1
...but the easiest way is to pump out the water...
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=26391&stc=1
...and sit back with some lao khao
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=26392&stc=1
Plenty to go round
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=26393&stc=1
Let the girls finish the job off...
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Leaving the two big 'uns with nowhere to hide....
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=26395&stc=1
The rest of the water will dry up pretty soon but for the moment it is perfect for ducks.
Meanwhile the vegetable plot is probably the only bit of green we have left in the garden...
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=26396&stc=1
The lettuce enjoyed the nitrogen from the beans...
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=26397&stc=1
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=26398&stc=1
I had a good supply of courgettes this year as well and plenty of rice in the barn. Not sure why I need to go back to work...
To pay the gardener?
^ Ha ha...
In fact I have to dig the plots every year because they are left to ruin whenever I am away. I have given up double digging plots. like I used to do, because it was so soul destroying seeing them ruined every time I came back.
This year I ploughed the soil and made simple plots in October and grew the plants from seed. They were transplanted in early November before I returned to work so that I could enjoy the vegetables for Christmas. The wife stayed to look after the garden while I was away.
I have a lot of trouble with compost heaps, the locals don't like them because of snakes, and we have had more than our fair share of kraits and cobras. I would like one of those quick compost makers, machines that can make the stuff in 48 hours. I'd pay handsomely for one and can get plenty of material to feed it if anyone knows where I can get one. The family are always burning my compost heap as soon as I leave...
Be aware that composting matter can create enough heat to damage young plants' roots. It needs to be spread thinly and dug in very well, and deep.Quote:
Originally Posted by NamPikToot
I was watching QI the other day and the answer to whats in your garden could be.
A new undiscovered species. Apparently.
I think the secret to the "machines" is actually getting the vege matter into small enough pieces and a bio-additive or accelerator.....if it's the same thing I'm thinking of.Quote:
Originally Posted by Troy
Here's one I looked up. Uses beer!!! :)
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/make-h...tor-49558.html
You may find the smell keeps the snakes away, hopefully.