drippy, I got a composter for Christmas,and just love it to pieces,:0)
I also have a worm bin in the kitchen,lots of composting going on over here,ha ha
Are you gardening above ground?
cAROL

Congratulations, Drippy. I'm so glad you finally have your own permanent space again. Aren't you finding it hard to adjust to the climate change? I'm feeling about on my deathbed trying to do anything in the Ohio heat. I can't imagine switching from New England to Alabama!

Karen

Welcome to the dark (and crumbly!) side!

You know you are home when...

My compost bins are falling apart. Hope to build new ones in the fall.

Don't forget the pictures. We want pictures!!!

cAROL, so far my in-ground plantings have been less than about 30% successful - so yes, I am gardening all the fall veggies above ground. I have a nice fenced in rectangular area (bunnies seem to be able to get in, though; I'll have to deal with that), all cruddy grass. I mowed it down, set out the two grow beds & other containers, and the compost bin, and will eventually work some of the area as lasagna bed. The clay is too tough to dig through - wet, it's mud; dry, it's rock. Amending is the only way to go, and I'm much too lazy to try digging it in.

Karen, I tolerate the heat better than a lot of the natives - the only thing I find frustrating is that from 9:30-4ish, I can only work about 20 minutes at a time, then I have to come in for a hydrating/cooling break. Geez, maybe I'll have to get a real job for those hours...nah...

Tiffy, I knew my bins from MA wouldn't make the move without falling apart - they were getting pretty old. I was really glad the buyers wanted me to leave them.

Drippy, has you tried square foot gardening? That might be the ticket instead of digging. You don't use dirt, it's a mixture of 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat and 1/3 vermiculite. I grow all my veggies this way. There is a forum here for it and book you can buy. Let me know if you have any questions and I would be happy to advise.

Bev

Drippy, I bet you'll soon outgrow that new composter here in the South! I started with one, moved into two - and I'm only cold composting so I don't even put veggie debris into the composters yet! I throw out at least two (probably more like 4) trash cans of compostable materials per week!!! Everything is growing like weeds down here.
I don't know your current space, but we have space, and I'm planning on putting in a cement block composter at some point, just to get it hot and gimme loads of space to throw this stuff! Today I cut off probably 30-40 more feet of squash vine. Nothing wrong with it...except that's too much vine for the garden!

Bev, I haven't fully pursued the square foot gardening thing, although it's always seemed like a sensible concept. My problem is I tend to balk at formulas - I'm a hack gardener - discovering what works, even though it means a lot of failures along the way, is half the fun for me. That being said, the grow beds are 3' x 3', and I just got a third one, so that gives me nine square feet of growing area. Plus I have some windowbox type containers, in which I typically grow lettuce/leafy things. I may get more serious about the square foot idea yet.

GGG, I had two composters in New England, and it wouldn't surprise me if I need a second one along the way. I like the look and ease of set-up of my new one; it was @$99, so that wasn't too bad. It's already got some grass clippings, wood shavings from stump grinding, and kitchen waste (so thrilled not to be throwing it in the garbage!).

Okay, so in 2-3 days, my pole beans, cucumbers, yellow & green summer squash, chard, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts sprouted. Peas, too, even though they say not to start them here for fall (why?). Also a couple of Sungold tomato seedlings that haven't been planted out yet, and one unknown pepper. What the heck, I'll try them, nothing to lose, right? I'm glad I got 2 of the grow beds filled and ready to go today!

Drippy, what kind of composters did you buy?

I also have 2 bins. They're Biostacks and I love them.

Karen

Karen, it's called a Garden Gourmet, made by Scepter Corp., and marketed by Gardens Alive. It looks good, it's the right size for me, and even with my 7% mechanical aptitude, I put it together myself.

My Mom recently got the small tumbler type from Gardener's Supply - that's another nice one, but I thought it would be too small for me. She is of an age where she doesn't want to aerate compost with a pitchfork or composting tool; the turning type is perfect for her.

I hope you like it Kim. One can never have enough compost!

I started 2 small lasagna bed areas today next to our new deck. I got hot and tired so I quit. I have a little finished compost to add to those areas- hopefully tomorrow morning before it gets hot.

Karen

I bought one - tumbler - from Costco in the spring and I love it!!

I agree that you need more then one.

I have four garbage cans holding the extra material so the composter can finish. I am bad about turning it regularly (gets heavy quickly) and it is still doing an awesome job!!

When I buy compost at HD, it MUST be lightened with peat moss or something. This black gold is heavy heavy heavy.

I know this is WAYYYYYY off topic - or maybe not - but I loved your limerick at the S&C Forum!!!

Hi all...just decided to drop by the WS forum and see what is going on and saw all these familiar names, :) The heat here on L I has been a bummer all season, the humidity is something else. Drippy this whole new experience gardening in the south is interesting to read, I love it!! Hope all is well with everyone, :)

Alberta

Hi, Alberta - we have crazy heat here, but I love it, even though I can't stay out in it in the middle of the day more than 20 minutes. We could use some rain at this point, but again, I love the way it rains during part of the day (when it rains) and then clears up - not like my time in MA, where we could get walled in by 5 or 6 days of steady rain at a time. Even though the heat is tough on the plants (and the electric bill from running AC), I'd rather have 5 straight days of sun.

Tiffy, thanks - I have a love/hate relationship with that forum - it's funny as all get-out much of the time, but some folks are just too technical about their gardening approach for me. In all fairness, they probably have a lot better success with their gardens, but hack gardening is all the fun for me. I get a kick out of "discovering" something that works, and then realizing that those in the know could say "duh, we could have told you that before you had all those failures". Oh well! :)

I sure wish we would get some rain here Drippy. I got my water bill yesterday and I have never had a $60. bill before ever. DH has been really trying to get grass growing in spots, but we are fighting shade in the front, and he thinks that grass seed will germinate in 90 and above degree weather, LOL, he's retired now and is home all the time, UGH!! Oh well, he does turn the compost for me, :)
Alberta

We're in need of rain too Alberta. With temps in the mid 90s for the foreseeable future, and heat index over 100, we really need rain. Despite running sprinklers most of the day, my soil is cracking, plants are frying.

We have a lot of lawn area to seed too. Waiting for cooler fall temps, and hopefully, some rain.

Currently 10:30 a.m.
temp 86°
humidity 63%
heat index 92
dew pt 72°

Karen

Karen, you have the same weather we do - every day for the past 5 weeks has been above 90.

Alberta, I swear that when my DH retires, I will get a full time job out of the house.

LOL, I retired before he did.

Alberta

I cannot relate to the heat you gals are talking about. I think I would melt or go nuts!!

But I can relate to the DH thing. Mine grew Broccoli last year and let it flower and then asked why he wasn't getting broccoli. He had told me not to interfere with his gardening so I didn't! :O)

We did get a little rain- 0.3". Not much, but it beats a blank. It was more wind than rain- incredible wind! Lasted about 15 minutes. The difference between us, Drippy, is that you asked for it when you moved to Al. I'm in Ohio! I didn't sign up for this. The heat index was 104° before the storm. The rained dropped the temp a little but raised the humidity.

Retirement? The way the economy is looking, I'm afraid we'll both have to work until we're 90 :-(

Karen

@ Tiffy...LOL, little by little I'm learning in my old age that men just don't want to be told anything. So yours wanted broccolli, mine wants grass seeds to sprout in 90 degree temps, :) Can't live with them, can't live with out them.

Alberta

Husbands...

Mine just finished spreading a truck full of dirt in our yard. It's 93° with a heat index of 104. When finished, he started cutting the grass! Tomorrow he's gonna plant grass seed! He won't listen. They really are all alike.

Karen