99 replies to this topic

[petro]

the best investement I ever made in Folsom was an electric jack hammer from OSH. It has paid for itself over and over again. I could never have dug the trenches for the sprinklers or the three foot deep tree holes or the garden beds without it.

[MSgt]

the best investement I ever made in Folsom was an electric jack hammer from OSH. It has paid for itself over and over again. I could never have dug the trenches for the sprinklers or the three foot deep tree holes or the garden beds without it.

I need one of those. What is the brand, model, and price? I looked on the OSH site but they don't have a catalog of all their procucts.

[folsom500]

I need one of those. What is the brand, model, and price? I looked on the OSH site but they don't have a catalog of all their procucts.

You can rent the one best for digging at home depot for $61 per 24 hour period..

I am planning to rent a one man Auger ( faster than the electric jack hammer) to dig a few holes this or next weekend so if a regular here has any holes to dig and wants to share the cost (total is $64 per 24 hours) I will only need it for a couple of hours... let me know

Cheers
Ken

[petro]

MSgt I'll look tonight at the brand, I think its Mikita, maby I got it at Home Depot??? It was expensive but when I considered all the times I would have to rent it the purchase made sense to me. Plus having it at home and being able to use it for short periods of time and not renting was worth it. My hands got really shakey after a while of "jacking" things around.

[Farley]

April 1, 2006...in spite of such a wet March, or maybe because of it, the garden is starting to look nice and lush.

[cw68]

April 1, 2006...in spite of such a wet March, or maybe because of it, the garden is starting to look nice and lush.

Wow, it looks beautiful!

[dnell]

April 1, 2006...in spite of such a wet March, or maybe because of it, the garden is starting to look nice and lush.

That's amazingly beautiful...so green and full of life!

[folsom500]

Hummmmmmmm of no cosmic consequense... Hummmmmmmmmmmm...
3 april 2006
On Wednesday of this week, at two minutes and three seconds after
1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.
That won't ever happen again... (1, 2,3, 4 , 5 , 6)

AND I am sure all of you will wait up for this momentous occasion!

You may now return to your (normal ?) life. ;-) >

Another pic of PART of our yard--



Cheers
F500

[Flowerlady1]

how do folks around here deal with the dirt? - the soil here is just like concrete - I think we're gonna have to buy a jack hammer to be able to do any kind of planting or landscaping work.

I dug 3 trees out a few weeks ago - small fruit trees - I'm replacing them with pine trees for the shade, but it should have taken about 30 minutes to do that - instead it took over 3 hours to chip away the dirt and rocks around the roots to get those things out - the soil here is really bad, the top layer is rock and some dirt and about a foot down its pure clay.

I usually work after rain like we've been getting this last month. The ground is saturated, but drained. The rocks are stiill there, but the soil around them is a lot softer. Use a shovel or a pry bar to get the bigger rocks out. We have been adding top soil, mulches and plants to our yard since we moved in in '99. The more stuff put into the soil, the easier it is to work, but that only helps over time. (we also have what looks to be an old road bed at the top of our hill--6-10 inches of gravel and chunks of asphalt. We had to use the prybar to dig holes in very wet soil to put in redwood trees that will break up the gravel and garbage in the soil. We're now putting ferns and other plants under the trees since the ground is getting easier to work.)

Good luck!

[folsom500]

Some early srping color of our Hardinbergia... Ah - but they do not last --
Wouldnt it be wonderful to have this all year round ?
We have been developing this as a bower or nearly a cave that we can sit under- expanding it it yearly.. the birds love it as well..

[Flowerlady1]

Some early srping color of our Hardinbergia... Ah - but they do not last --
Wouldnt it be wonderful to have this all year round ?
We have been developing this as a bower or nearly a cave that we can sit under- expanding it it yearly.. the birds love it as well..

Yeah, I love it--they camp in your cave-bush--and come to my place for seeds. Very cool.

[folsom500]

Yeah, I love it--they camp in your cave-bush--and come to my place for seeds. Very cool.

Keeps more in our feeders- - we go through 40 pounds of wild bird seed, 20 pounds of Black oikl sunflower and 5-10 pounds of thisle seed a month... in 7 feeders in the back

although we have seen the large grey squirrel getting his share of the sunflower seeds...

But it sure sounds nice with all the birds around all day -- although there are a few that could start their chirping a little later in the morning

The birds also camp out under the rosemary..

Cheers
F500

[Flowerlady1]

Keeps more in our feeders- - we go through 40 pounds of wild bird seed, 20 pounds of Black oikl sunflower and 5-10 pounds of thisle seed a month... in 7 feeders in the back

although we have seen the large grey squirrel getting his share of the sunflower seeds...

But it sure sounds nice with all the birds around all day -- although there are a few that could start their chirping a little later in the morning

The birds also camp out under the rosemary..

Cheers
F500

Yeah--that little gray bugger has been hitting our yard, too. He's quite the acrobat dancing around in the trees trying to get to the feeders--just out of reach . We go through about that much seed, too. And the birds near the windows are making my cat nuts....she's almost as funny as the squirrel!

We've had a couple of orioles the last couple of years--have you guys gotten them over there? Gorgeous yellow/orange and black! Nice songbird, a bit skittish. I think we've had a couple of grosbeaks, too, similar coloring to the oriols, but short, fat beaks, a little broader body. And the robins are back in the neighborhood, too. Haven't seen the bluebirds yet, tho'. I think they come in later, like June....

The little birds, sparrows, wrens, goldfinches, etc have been hanging out in the redwood trees, front and back. They're pretty funny if you interrupt them at mealtime. I've been cussed out on multiple occassions for coming outside.

[folsom500]

Yeah--that little gray bugger has been hitting our yard, too. He's quite the acrobat dancing around in the trees trying to get to the feeders--just out of reach . We go through about that much seed, too. And the birds near the windows are making my cat nuts....she's almost as funny as the squirrel!

We've had a couple of orioles the last couple of years--have you guys gotten them over there? Gorgeous yellow/orange and black! Nice songbird, a bit skittish. I think we've had a couple of grosbeaks, too, similar coloring to the oriols, but short, fat beaks, a little broader body. And the robins are back in the neighborhood, too. Haven't seen the bluebirds yet, tho'. I think they come in later, like June....

The little birds, sparrows, wrens, goldfinches, etc have been hanging out in the redwood trees, front and back. They're pretty funny if you interrupt them at mealtime. I've been cussed out on multiple occassions for coming outside.

We had the Orioles last year or the year before for a couple of weeks, but not since- I heard they like Suet , so put some out but nothing .
We have 8-10 Bluebirds daily since the middle of winter- Must like our food better than yours
We dont see robins in the back often - except when the cotaniaster (sp) has its berrys ( have them in the front and back) - just noticed a few red wing black birds in the last month as well as our seemingly resident 10 for so doves...
Tons of little birds-- most striking is the BRIGHT yellow little ones with a little black on their wings-- look like canaries but likely finches-- we also get the red head / breast finch and others of similar ilk.. as well as dozens of sparrows of various kinds ( not sure all are sparrow) that hide in the rosemary and the hardinbergia ...
Sometimes in the early evening - when I think they get their final meal for the day- I see what looks like the ground moving with all the birds... surely well over 100 at one time of all kinds....
I keep the feeders close to the house so we can see them while eating in the Kitchen nook...

I simply love watching them ....

Cheers
Ken

[folsom500]

For those that like lilac- here are a couple pics from mine at the 'office" -- blooms are dark purple and about 6-8 inches long





Not sure if I caught the Black Butterfly in these or not-- but he/she was there..

Going to cut a few today to take home for the weekend....

Cheers
F500