Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On May 5, 2008, at 7:39 AM, keith bellinger wrote:

> > Did as directed. Getting the peat moss to absorb the water is  
> > tedious.
> > Using a shovel is too much work. Rake worked best. If doing more I
> > think it would be worth using the concrete mixer.
> >
> > I know what you mean, Gene. I wonder, did you use your backhoe to dig
> the holes for your berries and those tomato plants? :)

You laugh. Tomatoes went into ground one could dig with fingers. But,  
yes, I dug blueberry bush holes with Magnolia. Possibly not again. The  
bucket is 24 inches wide and goes down deep so easily. Tried putting  
topsoil to one side, then subsoil clay to the other side. Lifted high  
and dropped, which breaks up clods. But this was in sod and I found I  
still needed to break things up more with the pick. So then after I  
had it all worked up I got the grower instructions which called for  
twenty-inch-wide holes only fifteen inches deep. Well, at least any  
exploratory roots will find easy pathways. It would be enlightening to  
dig out around an old blueberry bush to see how far the roots go. Do  
they stay in the peat moss area or do they migrate out beyond?

One issue with backhoe digging is the stabilizers, especially in the  
wet ground we have this time of this year, tear up the sod, leaving  
the garden area less pretty and rougher to mow.

Almost forgot to mention: the first 5.5 cubic foot bag of Canadian  
sphagnum peat moss I used was a b---h to get wetted. I bought another  
3.5 cf bag the other day--it says it comes from Wisconsin. It soaked  
up water much more easily.

Just goes to reinforce that we Wisconsin products do like to soak up  
liquids.