This past Monday morning I came across an ad for an Ariens Jet Tiller on craigslist that the guy listed for 40 bucks. I called the guy and he said that he broke the pull start mechanism on it, and tried to repair it, but just did not have the patience to rewind the spring and the rope on the pulley. He said he already took 2 calls on it (ad was posted on Sunday night), and one guy was supposed to come and take a look at it Monday night.
I just shrugged it off thinking it wasn’t meant to be, and that was that.
Well, Tuesday morning my cell phone rings, and the guy called me back saying that the other guy that was interested was a no-show. I set up to go see the machine after work, and it was actually half way between my office and home, just taking the long way.
I have dealt with these pull start coils and rope before, so after giving him two crisp Jacksons (and getting a receipt to write off the equipment expense), it was in my truck on the way home.
Fixing the pull start took all of 15 minutes, and while the belt for the reversing function is missing and the various clutch linkages are wonky, this 1974 machine fired right up, and last night after work I turned 3 rows.
I am just so happy that the garden is actually going to happen this year, and happy that I got this machine pretty much donated to me.
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Now I just need to figure out what I want to plant.
How do you get rid of weeds?
How do you get rid of weeds?
I had been weeding the strawberries by hand. I had left the rest of the garden fallow for the past 2 seasons while I attempted to take care of other things.
Weeding will most likely be with a cultivator hoe.
My gardening days are over sadly:( It was one of my greatest joys and miss it but will enjoy reading of the experiences of others with their gardening.
We used to live on a mini-farm and I had a big vegetable garden. And chickens!
We had raised beds and planted things close together and filled the box. It kept weeds to a minimum. We would use grass clippings for mulch and also the wood shavings from the chicken coop. Lots of free fertilizer in there!
We raised sweet corn, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, greens, strawberries, peas, green beans and swiss chard mainly for the chickens. I used to sell my brown organic eggs. We rented some of the acreage to a local farmer. He grew wheat and alfalfa. I would pilfer a handful of alfalfa once in a while for the chickens. I had the best eggs.
On two other properties I had huge flower gardens and spend almost all summer outside playing in the dirt LOL!
My husband got sick and we had to sell the farm. Soon after I had back surgery that was unsuccessful. We live in a condo now and I can only plant a couple of flower pots and window boxes with my husband’s help. I love to take my little dog for walks through the complex riding on my electric wheelchair to take in all of the beautiful landscaping.
I have different hobbies now to enjoy but none will ever take the place of growing something.
Do you use fertilizer? What kind? Growing seasons are short here so it is hard to grow things like melons. Do you live in an area where you can grow things like that?
I have a similar situation to what you describe… but I am just starting out. I am alone here so it is hard to do everything myself.
But I need to be ready for the post Bernie economy.
It’s a lot of hard work Rodamala but so rewarding isn’t it to grow your own food?
I used to do a lot of canning and preserving and it felt so good to look at those shelves of jars and know we could probably eat for a year or so on what I had put up.
My oldest daughter bought a dehydrator last year and has tried preserving some vegetables that way. I never tried that.
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