Thread: What's in your garden?

^ Nah! I want a compost machine...this one would be nice but a standard powered one will do.

https://www.xxx.xxx.xx/news/rural/20...achine/8049028

Well we decided to thin out a section of our Banana trees today. They really were not producing good tasting bananas according to my wife. I have a small dump truck hauler guy coming to pick them up 200 bht to haul'em off. BTW those things are heavy as hell.

We got some young trees and replanted 9 today.

JPPR, Deja Vu. The FiL God rest his soul put in about 50 Banana in our garden, partly to eat but mainly for him to sell for some pocket money. Whee i was over Xmas we decided to thin them out,remove all but 5 - yep you are right they are heavy - just a 13 foot tube filled with water .

When i say 50 that's 50 clumps so we probably took out over 150 stens and killing them ain't really easy, had to lime them and do it a few times. The farmer we know really appreciated the leaves for his cows though, they love them. So now, we have 3 of the small bananas and 2 of the longer variety; problem is you still have to get rid of the stems once you harvest - pain in the arse really but hey ho.

JPPR
Why didn't you use them for mulch around your fruit trees? My MIL gets me to help her cut them up and then she stacks them around trees etc.
I usually cut them into bits 1.5 foot llong and then cut those bits into halves or quarters depending on how big they are.
As you probably already know and as NPT said they are really just water tubes so they break down really quickly.

Just a couple of pictures of what we did 2 days ago. These I didn't cut up as small as usual.





Cheers

Originally Posted by ootai

JPPR Why didn't you use them for mulch around your fruit trees?

Ootai, we did similar but even then with so many we had to get rid of some.

Originally Posted by NamPikToot

just a 13 foot tube filled with water

Exactly. And the ones that produced bananas are always heavier right before they fall over. Its always a chore to keep them up. I don't really care for them. I can buy them cheap enough in the market. Its not like I eat bananas all the time but my FIL likes growing them and they do offer shade when big. I suspect that once my FIL moves on, I will yank them all out.

Originally Posted by NamPikToot

so now, we have 3 of the small bananas and 2 of the longer variety; problem is you still have to get rid of the stems once you harvest - pain in the arse really but hey ho

We still probably have 30 or so trees. We have 3 different types. I only eat the "Gui Hom" as they are called. They are just like the Chiquita bananas in the states. The others my wife either cuts and sun dries or BBQ's.

Originally Posted by ootai

Why didn't you use them for mulch around your fruit trees?

Honestly ootai, laying them around the trees usually invites insects and pests to attack the trunks and roots as they decay. We have huge black scorpions up here and the LOVE to hide under them. So I haul them all away. I use mulch from my pit and fertilizer. when its needed. I am trying to locate some citrus fertilizer as our lime trees need some "Love".

Originally Posted by NamPikToot

killing them ain't really easy, had to lime them and do it a few times.

Worked in the end eh?

OhOh,

Eventually I'm led to understand, repeated application and persistence (like making love to a beautiful woman as Swiss Tony would say). They kept throwing up babies as they were well established. Glyphosate would have been quicker but i don't like using it if i can help it..

Actually on the Bananas i've found the best way to cut the big stems is ....... a bow saw - goes through like a knife through butter

I only have a small garden but Figs grow well in a pot. I have to be quick before the birds eat them.

If anyone ever wondered what a difference a bit of water can make here is the answer.

3 weeks ago I posted some pictures of my "row of sticks"




Now 3 weeks later after trying to water them every second day they look like this.


and this they are even flowering must think its Christmas.


Unfortunately I might have to cut back on the watering as many people in the are having their bores go dry (not because of me) and the water storage they use for the village supply is drying up. My wife works at the Amphur for the village and yesterday they had a big meeting about the water supply issues.


Anyway much to my wife's angst I went out and spent some money on this.




Does a good job and I had to make the net you see behind it in the picture to capture all the crap it threw out.
Now to refining the compost technique.

Originally Posted by Warwick

I only have a small garden but Figs grow well in a pot. I have to be quick before the birds eat them.

Warrick i love figs, is that in Thailand?

Originally Posted by ootai

Unfortunately I might have to cut back on the watering as many people in the are having their bores go dry (not because of me) and the water storage they use for the village supply is drying up. My wife works at the Amphur for the village and yesterday they had a big meeting about the water supply issues.
.

Ootai causes district drought in bid to revive 3m long hedge, priceless - made my day

^^ Yes. I bought two from a stand at the annual Red Cross Fair - 50B each. They are both doing well and I took five cuttings, which all rooted OK, from one of them a few months ago.

These are Date Palms that I grew from seed. I did not expect them to sprout and I will probably have to find a home for them as I really haven't got room. Planted on 22nd Nov.



Not a good picture (it was a bit bright outside with reflection off the wall) but these are Mulberries. Very tasty stirred into my morning yoghurt

Originally Posted by Warwick

^^ Yes. I bought two from a stand at the annual Red Cross Fair - 50B each. They are both doing well and I took five cuttings, which all rooted OK, from one of them a few months ago.

Warrick thanks, they are now on my list to hunt down. We have quite a few Mulberries as well, easy to grow and take cutting and yep tasty and healthy but have o keep them clipped down as they shoot up to 15+ feet and then you can't reach the fruit.

ootai,
Nice job on the hedges, a slight trim and some water changes everything. I even noticed the grass was greener and almost needs a mow.

How does the chipper work?

I looked at some but was leary. Can you toss in Banana leaves? I saw one that you can even toss in full coconuts and they fly out as basically as dust....

Originally Posted by Troy

It's time to empty the garden pond again this year. We do this every two or three years and add lime and manure

^ mostly all Pla Nin ... and you have female fish in that.

---

We do this every two or three years and add lime and manure

Troy, I understand the use of the lime ... but manure??

Originally Posted by Warwick

I have to be quick before the birds eat them.

Have you thought of a netted enclosure to stop the birds?

Originally Posted by David48atTD

Troy, I understand the use of the lime ... but manure??

Pig manure in sacks put in each corner when the rain comes. This will allow plankton to grow and create a healthy pond before adding the fish. We remove the sacks after a week and use on the veg plot.

I have a paper on it somewhere, will try and fish it out for you. Anyway, the locals knew about it, when I explained, after creating the pond.

Troy, I take it you eat some and sell the rest? Looks like a good haul.

We don't sell them, there are enough for the family when we're not there. Some are given to funerals and weddings in the village and a lot given to those less well off over New Year.

We did have around 7 family eating from the pond for about 10 days before New Year. They had to forage for insects and fruit but it is a useful emergency measure if required.

Originally Posted by Troy

Pig manure in sacks put in each corner when the rain comes. This will allow plankton to grow and create a healthy pond before adding the fish. We remove the sacks after a week and use on the veg plot.

I have a paper on it somewhere, will try and fish it out for you. Anyway, the locals knew about it, when I explained, after creating the pond.

"Pig manure in sacks put in each corner when the rain comes. This will allow plankton to grow" ... so do you rely on the plankton to feed the fish?

If so, any supplementary feeding?

Thanks

Originally Posted by Troy

We don't sell them, there are enough for the family when we're not there. Some are given to funerals and weddings in the village and a lot given to those less well off over New Year. We did have around 7 family eating from the pond for about 10 days before New Year. They had to forage for insects and fruit but it is a useful emergency measure if required.

Thanks for the update, i would love a pond but unfortunately the area we have is just not really large enough and we are too elevated to support the water year round
We had some other land had two ponds and grew Pla Duk etc but you have to be there 24 hours once they get to a good size, ours got cleaned out twice and we gave up and sold the land.

Originally Posted by NamPikToot

Thanks for the update, i would love a pond but unfortunately the area we have is just not really large enough and we are too elevated to support the water year round
We had some other land had two ponds and grew Pla Duk etc but you have to be there 24 hours once they get to a good size, ours got cleaned out twice and we gave up and sold the land.

NPT
I once thought about setting up a pond with fish but the idea of not being there to make sure it didn't get cleaned out was what stopped me.
I thought that if I could have set up an infra beam system that triggered a loud speaker which played ghost noises the Thai's would never come near the place.
Unfortunately I am not clever enough to set up such a thing.