Rural Gardening !

[Keesha]

Dear mods: I’ve looked for a gardening thread I can’t find one so if this thread needs to be moved I am fine with that.

Rural gardening is a bit different than urban gardening, generally speaking because there’s more to look after.
When spring comes my life becomes very busy, mainly because I’ve got a lot of outdoor work to do.
Living on a property with a lot of trees makes leaf removal a challenge. Normally I’d rake the entire property by hand but we now have a leaf blower which really helps. Raking leaves can be back breaking but luckily I’ve got the proper tools.

Theres also lots of individual branches that fall off the trees that need picking up. Ornamental grass needs cutting. Dead leaves need to be picked from plants etc.,

We have a section at the back of our property where we burn all the leaves and stuff. I’ll take a picture of it when I start a big bonfire. Speaking of fun. Fires are fun and I like them.

Today I planted some pansy baskets. They’re so pretty.

Anybody else into gardening ?
What types of flowers do you grow?
What zone are you in?
How much property to have to care for?

Tell me about your joy of gardening

 

[Don M.]

I, too, love to garden and working outdoors. We are in a very rural area, and have 40 acres of heavy forest. I keep about 1.5 acres mowed, around the house, and a large open meadow off to the side....the rest is hundreds of trees. I have a 20X40 ft. vegetable garden in the backyard, and have it all prepped for the Spring planting....usually during the 2nd week of May. I hear ya on the "picking up sticks"...and I collect them for kindling during the Winter for use in our outdoor wood furnace. Usually, I mulch most of the leaves in the Fall with my riding mower, and I burn the ditch along our gravel road, so the leaves don't clog the culvert under our driveway. My wife has a large flower garden along the side of my workshop and she planted a bunch of "annual" flowers years ago, that come up every Spring, and give that area of the yard lots of various blooms...she keeps it trimmed and weeded.

After decades of living/working in the city, this quiet country life is Great. We have a nice town 3 miles away with all the essentials, and virtually everything we want/need is within an hours drive....including a nice casino. The kids and grandkids are all within 1 to 2 hours drive, so we see them monthly...we go, or they come to visit.

We've been here a little over 15 years, and I hope we have many more years before we have to give up this place. All this "country" activity is the best health care plan I've ever found...and I would go nuts having nothing to do but sit in front of the TV all day.

 

[Capt Lightning]

Here in the UK, we have too many houses and too little ground. Modern houses have virtually no garden and it's only the older ones that have enough room for more than a few blades of grass. Our house has what estate agents call, a 'large' garden - I'd call it modest.

We've just started to get things planted. Mrs. L has bought 250 flower plants which we've 'potted on' and will plant out next month. The tomato plants are doing OK in the polytunnel and the brassicas have been sown.

I've just finished making a decorative arch which marks the vegetable plot from the garden. Mrs. L has planted climbing plants which hopefully will cover it in future.

 

[Keesha]

I, too, love to garden and working outdoors. We are in a very rural area, and have 40 acres of heavy forest. I keep about 1.5 acres mowed, around the house, and a large open meadow off to the side....the rest is hundreds of trees. I have a 20X40 ft. vegetable garden in the backyard, and have it all prepped for the Spring planting....usually during the 2nd week of May. I hear ya on the "picking up sticks"...and I collect them for kindling during the Winter for use in our outdoor wood furnace. Usually, I mulch most of the leaves in the Fall with my riding mower, and I burn the ditch along our gravel road, so the leaves don't clog the culvert under our driveway. My wife has a large flower garden along the side of my workshop and she planted a bunch of "annual" flowers years ago, that come up every Spring, and give that area of the yard lots of various blooms...she keeps it trimmed and weeded.

After decades of living/working in the city, this quiet country life is Great. We have a nice town 3 miles away with all the essentials, and virtually everything we want/need is within an hours drive....including a nice casino. The kids and grandkids are all within 1 to 2 hours drive, so we see them monthly...we go, or they come to visit.

We've been here a little over 15 years, and I hope we have many more years before we have to give up this place. All this "country" activity is the best health care plan I've ever found...and I would go nuts having nothing to do but sit in front of the TV all day.

Hey Don M.
Forty acres is a nice size lot. We also keep a bit less than an acre mowed. It’s easier.


Collecting the branches for kindling is what I do also. Isn’t it great. We also use poplar and cut up oak from skids my husband brings home for that very


We mulch the leaves with our John Deer tractor and burn the rest. I thoroughly enjoy having a fire. It’s fun and the smell of the wood burning is very nice.


Do you cut down your own wood for burning?


We’ve got a vegetable garden that we need to start ploughing with our rototiller. Last year I built an 8 x 12 red western cedar greenhouse which I house the plants in until they are ready.


We have a variety of gardens around the house. Here are some pictures from last year.


Like yourself we are very fortunate enough to have all the conveniences just 30 plus minutes away so have best of both worlds.


I share your sentiments about country living. We found our lot and had our house custom built. When we first showed the inlaws they thought we were crazy but now over 20 years later they think our place is beautiful.


We have considered moving but we both really enjoy where we live and it would take a lot for us to now move.


Thanks for sharing Don M.

 

[Keesha]

Here in the UK, we have too many houses and too little ground. Modern houses have virtually no garden and it's only the older ones that have enough room for more than a few blades of grass. Our house has what estate agents call, a 'large' garden - I'd call it modest.

We've just started to get things planted. Mrs. L has bought 250 flower plants which we've 'potted on' and will plant out next month. The tomato plants are doing OK in the polytunnel and the brassicas have been sown.

I've just finished making a decorative arch which marks the vegetable plot from the garden. Mrs. L has planted climbing plants which hopefully will cover it in future.

View attachment 51722

Thats a fine looking arch Capt L. I see we have similar taste in stain colour.
It’s great of course. Lol!
250 potted plants . That’s passionate !

Oh what types of climbing plants does Mrs. L have?
Clematis are my favourite climbing vine and at one time I had 26 of them. Of course I can get carried away.
You’re the guy with the neighbour who has the cute adorable sheeps.

Thanks for sharing .

 

[NancyNGA]

Beautiful flowers Keesha. I love pansies. Down here they plant pansies in the fall. They are able to survive most winters. When it gets cold they wilt down flat to the ground at night and you think they got frozen, but they pop right back up the next day.

The soil is too poor and/or rocky here to plant much, and late July through September is prone to drought. Someday I'm going to move to Iowa, just so I can have a nice garden. lol

 

[Keesha]

Beautiful flowers Keesha. I love pansies. Down here they plant pansies in the fall. They are able to survive most winters. When it gets cold they wilt down flat to the ground at night and you think they got frozen, but they pop right back up the next day.

The soil is too poor and/or rocky here to plant much, and late July through September is prone to drought. Someday I'm going to move to Iowa, just so I can have a nice garden. lol

Gi Nancy,
We have little perennial pansies we call ‘jolly jump ups.’ We live in a 4/5 zone so annuals don’t last but these jolly jump ups do.
Pansies are quite cute. They always remind me of little faces in flowers. Plus they make wonderful watercolour subjects.

Well Nancy, you can always go nuts on flower baskets or containers. For us elder folks it’s not such a bad idea. I’m counting down the years to when I can no longer do this so I’m soaking it all in while I can.

Thanks for popping by. :flowers:

 

[rkunsaw]

Similar to DonM, we have 25 acres with a 6 acre lake. We had a garden a bit larger but have reduced it to a dozen or so raised beds these days for vegetables. Our house is surrounded by flower beds with all kinds of flowers.

 

[Don M.]

Hey Don M. Forty acres is a nice size lot. We also keep a bit less than an acre mowed. It’s easier. Do you cut down your own wood for burning?

Yes, I cut a lot of firewood throughout the year. We have a total electric home, about 2400 sq. ft., over a full basement. We have low electricity rates, but even so, the first year we lived here our bills reached almost $400 a month during the Winter. With hundreds of huge trees on the property, I have at least a dozen which die or get storm damage every year....so I bought a Bryan outdoor wood furnace, and a Brave 22 ton log splitter, and a nice Stihl chainsaw, and now I probably go through about 8 cords of firewood every year, and keep our electric bills down to $200 or less. I figure that over the years, I've paid for the furnace, etc., at least twice over, plus I get gobs of good physical work which helps keep this old body fit. With all this outdoor work, I can usually find several hours/day to do every day the weather permits.

 

[Keesha]

Similar to DonM, we have 25 acres with a 6 acre lake. We had a garden a bit larger but have reduced it to a dozen or so raised beds these days for vegetables. Our house is surrounded by flower beds with all kinds of flowers.

Shut up! A SIX acre lake? Oh I am soooo jealous! That would be the bestest thing ever. Swimming in the summer, skating in the winter. Oh you lucky soul. Is it stocked with fish? This would be my husbands dream retirement lot also. That sounds wonderful rkunsaw.

 

[Keesha]

Yes, I cut a lot of firewood throughout the year. We have a total electric home, about 2400 sq. ft., over a full basement. We have low electricity rates, but even so, the first year we lived here our bills reached almost $400 a month during the Winter. With hundreds of huge trees on the property, I have at least a dozen which die or get storm damage every year....so I bought a Bryan outdoor wood furnace, and a Brave 22 ton log splitter, and a nice Stihl chainsaw, and now I probably go through about 8 cords of firewood every year, and keep our electric bills down to $200 or less. I figure that over the years, I've paid for the furnace, etc., at least twice over, plus I get gobs of good physical work which helps keep this old body fit. With all this outdoor work, I can usually find several hours/day to do every day the weather permits.

That is a fair sized house and $400 a month is quite a bit. 8 chords of wood is about what we use per year but it’s almost our sole heat source. We have a furnace but we rarely use it.


Your log splitter is a nice one. That must make a huge difference in the workload. I researched your preferences. Nice.
View attachment 51792


My man still cuts and splits all our wood manually by hand. I help , of course , but he does most of it himself which is far too much work especially considering he still has a full time job.


We have a Stihl chainsaw also. They are the best. We invested in some good axes, which makes a significant difference in chopping wood. I think perhaps they are Fiskars. Must check. The chopping wood part I rather enjoy myself, oddly enough. It’s a bit meditative somehow and is great for toning the arms.


Yes rural lifestyles aren’t for the lame @ heart. It takes work and commitment but I agree that it’s enjoyable physical labour and is what keeps my husband and I active and healthy. I hope to keep up this lifestyle for as long as I can.


Hopefully Seeker will join us. I know she shares a similar rural lifestyle.


That outdoor wood furnace sure is sweet. The couple up the road have a really nice outdoor furnace and it appears to work well but I don’t really know much about them. View attachment 51791

 

[Meanderer]

Not since the deer and rabbits came round..... the gardens have tended to disappear.

 

[Don M.]

Yup, those pictures are what I have. I added a "cradle" to the log splitter...keeps the logs from falling down on my legs/feet as it splits. We have the "middle" furnace in the picture...at full load, it creates up to 130,000 BTU's, and does a great job of heating the whole house. I have added vents in the basement to keep the upstairs in the low 70's, the basement area in the mid-60's, and the garage in the upper 50's. A load of wood lasts about 8 hours, so I go out 2 or 3 times a day to add some wood, and load it up real good about 10PM...that way the electric furnace only comes on for a couple of hours in the very early morning. I'll go out around 7 and add some wood to the hot ashes, and by the time I've had breakfast, it's back up to taking over again. We go up to the city every 3 or 4 weeks to visit the kids and the casino's for a couple of days, and let the electric furnace run, then when we come back, some old newspaper, and kindling gets the furnace up and running again within an hour or two.

Living in the country requires some planning, and a fair amount of hard work...to keep things looking good, etc., but it is sure a good way to stay in shape.

 

[rkunsaw]

Shut up! A SIX acre lake? Oh I am soooo jealous! That would be the bestest thing ever. Swimming in the summer, skating in the winter. Oh you lucky soul. Is it stocked with fish? This would be my husbands dream retirement lot also. That sounds wonderful rkunsaw.

Yes, it is stocked with fish and yes to swimming in the summer but it doesn't get cold enough for skating. I don't want to make you jealous so I won't mention the 17 Crappie I caught last week.

 

[Keesha]

Yes, it is stocked with fish and yes to swimming in the summer but it doesn't get cold enough for skating. I don't want to make you jealous so I won't mention the 17 Crappie I caught last week.

Very cool I don’t really fish but my husband does. I just swim behind his boat singing songs loudly :whome:

 

[Capt Lightning]

You don't happen to own or be employed by them are you??

 

[Ruth n Jersey]

We live in a rural area and when we first moved here we were one of 3 houses. I grew all kinds of flowers and veggies. One year I grew geraniums from seed I started early and they were just beautiful. I never saw such different colors. As time went on more houses were built, The deer and wild life began to devour my garden. Can't blame them. This past fall I double fenced an area for my veggies. Hopefully it will work.
Your photos are beautiful.
I like pansies also but we live in zone 6 and it is to cold and when the heat hits they quit blooming. We recently went to Atlantic City and they have them blooming all over the place. Amazing how just a few hours away makes a difference.
I also raided my daughters home in DC. She had a few shrubs and plants I hadn't seen. They never made it through the winter. They are 5 hours away.
The seasons are changing though. I remember in the 50's having tomatoes on the 4th of July, now we are lucky to have them at the end of August.

How many of you start your plants from seed? I've been doing it for awhile now and there are so many more varieties to choose from than buying plants in the spring. I try something new each year.

 

[Don M.]

How many of you start your plants from seed? I've been doing it for awhile now and there are so many more varieties to choose from than buying plants in the spring. I try something new each year.

I plant everything from "seed". In late March/early April, I start some grape and cherry tomato plants in small containers of soil, and by the time Mothers Day rolls around, I usually have a good selection to transplant into the garden. This year, I'm going to try something new for soil preparation. I'm dumping the ashes from our outdoor wood furnace into the garden, which should add quite a bit of carbon to the soil when I till it in in the Spring....should minimize the need to add fertilizer....we'll see.

 

[Ruth n Jersey]

Sounds good Don. My Grandpa grew the best corn I ever ate in the area where he dumped the ashes from the furnace year after year.. Pumpkins did well underneath the corn as well.

I plant everything from "seed". In late March/early April, I start some grape and cherry tomato plants in small containers of soil, and by the time Mothers Day rolls around, I usually have a good selection to transplant into the garden. This year, I'm going to try something new for soil preparation. I'm dumping the ashes from our outdoor wood furnace into the garden, which should add quite a bit of carbon to the soil when I till it in in the Spring....should minimize the need to add fertilizer....we'll see.

 

[hiraeth2018]

Keesha, my house was originally built in 1920 and sits on 1/2 acre... cottage style, nothing fancy. I am surrounded by fir and pine trees so I have to deal with falling branches, pine cones and lots of needles. I have only lived here 5 years but have slowly turned part of the lawn over to make room for several garden areas. I have actually made more work for myself but I do enjoy the beauty of flowers. Right now I have 5 chickens/hens so it looks like I will be adding 2 more chicks this spring.

I live in a zone 8 and love to find the unusual plants/flowers/shrubs. My garden style has no name but if you need one I would call it eclectic.

 

[MeAgain]

We have ornamentals that are basically hardy enough to care for themselves.

Otherwise if we can't eat it we don't seed it. Too much work tending to all the chores here as it is. We raise hens for eggs and try to grow most veggies.

 

[RadishRose]

How I miss the lost flower gardens of my 20's and 30's and the huge veg garden the next door neighbor had.

 

[MeAgain]

I plant everything from "seed". In late March/early April, I start some grape and cherry tomato plants in small containers of soil, and by the time Mothers Day rolls around, I usually have a good selection to transplant into the garden. This year, I'm going to try something new for soil preparation. I'm dumping the ashes from our outdoor wood furnace into the garden, which should add quite a bit of carbon to the soil when I till it in in the Spring....should minimize the need to add fertilizer....we'll see.

We are going to do the same thing with the wood ashes. We already planted the red potatoes under a few inches of hay.

 

[rkunsaw]

I planted potatoes yesterday. Just one 12 foot row. I don't think my garden's going to be very big this year

 

[Aunt Bea]

I planted potatoes yesterday. Just one 12 foot row. I don't think my garden's going to be very big this year

That's always the way it starts!

Maybe a few peas, a couple tomato plants, a hill of cucumbers, ...

Enjoy!