Skilled garden maintenance: hourly vs. flat rate
flippant_dolphin
18 years ago
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The_Mohave__Kid
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agosamiamvt
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Row Cover Gardening
Comments (35)I like Johnny's Seed - Seed Starting Calculator. http://www.johnnyseeds.com/e-PDGSeedStart.aspx??source=HomeSeedCalc0111. I will probably use this calculator this year to determine the planting dates and use Martha Stewart's Seed Starting Worksheet - www.marthastewart.com/seed-worksheet - to keep tract of what I do. I agree with you - I have got to keep better records of what/when I plant and when/what to fertilize. I finally organized an excel worksheet for ordering our vegetable seeds - I think I have that documented for easy seed ordering decisions. Here are a couple of photos of our soil sifter (we have rocky soil in places) - we built it to fit our wheel barrow so it does not move once I place it on the wheel barrow. It works pretty good for sifting soil in a small area. I go down the garden row and throw in surface rocks then dump the rocks in my 4-wheel trailer and dump the wheel barrow of dirt back in the garden. Thought it might also come in handy for sifting soil for the Soil block mixture. FYI RE: Row Cover Gardening Posted by: karin_mt 4 (My Page) on Thu, Dec 30, 10 at 12:21 I like both of those web resources for seed starting. The Johnny's one is particularly cool. I found that the hardest thing was forecasting the frost-free date inside my greenhouse so I could predict when to start plants that are destined to stay inside. And yes, a customized Excel sheet is a great way to go! I have an Excel database that starts from the very beginning of our gardens, so I have a pretty good history of what I've planted each year, where it's from and how it did. There are a few gaps though, notably which type of raspberry variety is where. I also have a little bar graph that I use to track the planting dates, exciting weather events, bloom periods and key harvests. Each year I print out the template, then fill in the bars by hand over the relevant dates. This gives a very interesting comparison of your growing climate from year to year. Maybe someday these will be key pieces of climate data? The note-taking is also helpful for reflection - it helps you firm up your thoughts. Now, your soil screener looks like a very nice tool. I like that it fits firmly on the wheel barrow. What do you do with all the rocky stuff that is left over? Maybe you'll have enough for a stone border? Do you have alkaline soil too? Do you find that your soil gets clumpy, even when it's nice soil? That's something I've noticed lately. Even though the soil is beautifully textured (not clay), it forms hard clumps. I am wondering if this is from alkalinity and the particles being inclined to stick together. RE: Row Cover Gardening Posted by: 7000feet 3 (My Page) on Fri, Dec 31, 10 at 10:40 Your method for keeping notes is helpful! The Salt River runs through our property (a mild to raging stream depending on the runoff and irrigation needs - so I return the rocks to their rightful owner - the river. We have great soil because we are on an ancient river bed but the bad part is the top soil varies from 0-36" depending on the swells. We tried to locate our garden on deep top soil but still had to haul off large rocks in the beginning and now sift the soil as we plant and haul off the small rocks. I haven't tested our PH but is alkaline soil like yours. It does get clumpy but try to keep it moist during germination and use a lot of mulch to keep the walk areas dry/walkable. We add manure every fall before plowing the garden. We purchased sifted top soil for the GH and added a lot of vermiculite, peat moss & compost - not problems with GH soil. Here is a photo of what works well for us to remove rocks from our garden. I purchased this wonderful dumping trailer that hooks on my 4-wheeler. I rake the rocks in a row and use a manure fork to throw them in the trailer - then dump the rocks on the river bed with their cousins. RE: Row Cover Gardening Posted by: soonergrandmom Z6 Grove (My Page) on Sat, Jan 1, 11 at 16:26 I have used the mini-block maker for years. I use either Jiffy Mix or ProMix with it. With ProMix you may have to throw out a small stick or two, but it holds together fine. I didn't know about the attachment for the medium block maker that makes the hole for the little one to fit into until several years after I bought mine, and I never remember to order it. So I don't use the two blocks together. Some things grow so rapidly that they need to be started in the medium size, but I start all tomato and pepper seeds in the tiny block and pot up to small containers when they get their first real leaves or when they appear to be a good strong seedling. Some things I don't need to plant 20 of, so I write the name on a popsicle stick, lay the popsicle stick between the row of blocks and slide the blocks over in groups of five to a small piece of foil. I crimp the foil up a little to hold the stick so I don't lose the name. I don't make real plant markers until I am sure I have good transplants. I make the permanent marker at the time I put them in their first small container. I am much more likely to plant 5 seeds of 4 varieties of tomato than I am to plant 20 of the same kind, so it works well for me. RE: Row Cover Gardening Posted by: ngrrsn 7 (My Page) on Tue, Sep 11, 12 at 1:33 Would like to know more about the tunnel construction; why the wire mesh instead of pvc or waterline pipe? What is the mesh sizing? Is this welded wire? What size is the wire (#10,12,14)? How easy is it to form the wire? Is it fairly strong, or does it bend easy? Why the gaps between sections of wire? How is the wire secured to the ground? What is the height of the tunnel at the center line? I am very interested in this. RE: Row Cover Gardening Posted by: Hudson...WY 3 (My Page) on Fri, Sep 28, 12 at 9:09 The mesh is 47" 12 1/2 gauge Field Fence available at most farm supply stores - a full roll is 330' but most stores have smaller rolls as well. I cut the fence in 6' lengths with small bolt cutter or wire cutter and cut the vertical wire such that there is 6" of wire on both sides of the hopes to push into the ground to anchor the fence. The center height is approx. 24". I plant in wide rows of 30". The mesh size is 6" squares (for easy reach-in, weeding etc.) although the bottom couple of rows are a bit smaller. I gap the fence in the rows approx. 18" to reduce the cost and because the row cover does not sag with the gap. I like the fence because it will last many years and I live in a climate where we have had snow every month of the year and periods of hail or strong wind. The fence does an excellent job holding up the weight of the snow and withstanding the wind/hail etc. It pulls out easy at season end and stores by stacking one inside the other. I have never tried PVC pipe so I am not in a position to compare. I am sure this fence method is more expensive but I like the way it performs. RE: Row Cover Gardening Posted by: Hudson...WY none3 (My Page) on Fri, Sep 28, 12 at 10:44 This Years Broccoli using the tunnel method - keeps out the insects too. I usually plant veggies in the garden with the row cover the 1st week of may or earlier if I can work the soil. Without the row cover, there is a threat of frost until the middle of June and after the end of August. Well worth the effort! RE: Row Cover Gardening Posted by: ngrrsn 7 (My Page) on Fri, Sep 28, 12 at 17:18 Thanks! That helped a lot! I Appreciate the follow up. Post a Follow-Up Your Name: Your Email Address: Zone (optional): Subject of Posting: Message: Optional Link URL: Name of the Link: A copy of further followups will be emailed to this poster. Return to the Greenhouses & Garden Structures Forum...See More'Perceived Value' of a gardener (long post)
Comments (33)Been there. Last summer I was hired by a client for several projects ,one was to untangle several old climates vines in a bed that had been invaded by a weed vine and was covering everything in the bed. As you can imagine this was a painstaking job. He freaked over the amount of labor this took.He came and went watching me work away and kept asking "Are you having a fun time?" I work at a quick pace naturally but one careless yank on this one and there goes the climates. I found it interesting that a job he wasn't willing or capable to do he wanted me to do for a wage you don't need an education, experiance or even the english language to get that kind of money for. I pay my lovely non- english speaking cleaning lady more! I truely value her help. I do know how to clean but I just don't have the time so I hire her occasionaly and don't try to give her half at the end of the job. I did do before and after photos which helped as I tooted my own horn over the thourough job I did. Here is where the rub comes. As he grumbled and tried to make me feel like I ripped him off, the real value of my work didn't appear until this spring. I drove by the house recently and saw his fence covered in blossoms from the 6 climates vines I saved. In retrospect I might have suggested just ripping it all out and buying new vines which may have taken less time but cost just as much for the new plants and I think he would have been ok with the same or higher amount. I am a true gardener and not a buisness lady at heart however and and saw 15 year old big vines and I thought they were worth saving. I learned a lot from this job. I really try to feel out how much the client enjoys the garden or knows about gardening. If they place little value or take small notice of the garden except when something is wrong then they will not value you or notice your contribution to their garden. I don't need for a client to be knowledgable about gardening but simply to have an appreciation for it. I try really hard now to weed out clients who would be better off with the mow and go style and price tag. It's not a perfect system but people who are better clients seem to value me even more when I am willing to say I don't mind if they need to hire someone for less but this is what my work is worth. If they let me go then I think I have dodged a job I would later regret. Good luck...See MorePricing for container gardens
Comments (1)For containers where I work, our formula is: retail cost of all components plus $30/hr for design and planting time. It's always more time consuming than we figure. And they always want a quote up front. Good luck....See MoreAverage hourly rate for electrician?
Comments (40)I have had an electrician out a couple times. FIrst time it was a 1st hr rate for $75 for something quick and easy. That covers him for the trip time and gas on a fast job. Learned my lesson and learned how to do electrical lol. Later I needed my panel replaced cause the old fuse style one started getting hot and was a fire risk. Insurance covered it (they considered it an appliance breakdown), the hourly rate on the bill was $65 not including parts. He had 2 guys out doing that job, probably pays them each 25-30 per hour my guess. More than what I make. (Incomes, cost of living are lower here) Total bill for the new panel was around 2500 so maybe there was some administrative costs calculated in after the per hour rate and the parts cause they were only there about 10 hours....See MoreThe_Mohave__Kid
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8 years ago
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