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Post by mskrieger on Mar 29, 2015 13:07:18 GMT -5
Yeah, that's a cool idea. I'd say if you're working with purely biological (bacterial/viral/sewage-type) contaminants, or even hydrocarbons, such a set up works well. Less so if you have radioactive or chemically stable contaminants, stuff that is impossible or difficult for fungi, bacteria and plants to degrade.
Although I did hear of a group in New Orleans using certain types of plants and fungi to "mop up" seriously bad stuff after Hurricane Katrina. Sadly, I don't remember where I saw that. I'd assume you'd need to harvest those plants and sequester them as toxic waste, though I may be wrong. (Certain plants such as tobacco preferentially absorb uranium, just as an example...that's one of the many reasons why smoking is bad for you.)
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 29, 2015 13:01:56 GMT -5
Wow. I'm sending all of you with the hot weather and water shortages some good wishes. It snowed here again on Friday and yesterday...but then sun came out again today and melted the snow (just a few enormous piles here and there left) and the ground is thawing and it's time to prune the cherry trees (hooray!) Speaking of cherries, here's a trade--you take all my rain in April while the stone fruits bloom, then share it right back in May.
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 29, 2015 12:54:27 GMT -5
Mike,
It doesn't seem as if Solomon is denying the role of mycorrhizal fungi in the food web. It's merely outside of his purview. He's talking about basic, reductionist chemistry and geology. If the mineral isn't there in enough quantity, no amount of soil biology is going to fix that. Indeed, what he's saying (at least as I read it) is that if your soil is mineral-balanced, the soil biology blooms into full glory.
FWIW, It's also worth noting that Solomon is a fan of tillage, and tillage encourages a bacterially-dominated soil ecology. However, his recommendations work for those who practice no-till as well.
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 27, 2015 15:03:50 GMT -5
oh and forgot to mention--other gardeners in my neighborhood are always amazed at how big and healthy my plants are, and how good the vegetables taste. Indeed, it's worked exactly as he promised. That's why I continue to consult Solomon's methods, they work for my garden.
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 27, 2015 15:00:49 GMT -5
So, I'm coming in with another plug for Solomon. I actually wrote to him for advice once, and he emailed me back and did a free soil analysis for me. This was before "The Intelligent Gardener" came out. So I bought it when it did. If you ignore all the personal details and grouchiness, it's really quite helpful. The major points:
1. Gardening is soil mining 2. Knowing your geology is helpful. 3. Specific food traditions evolve for specific reasons--people who follow them survive and thrive, those who don't, don't.
So for example, there are parts of New England that are lacking in certain trace minerals that humans and their livestock need to survive. Native Americans living here remedied that by eating lots of seafood (inland tribes traded for it, or harvested salmon and shad and cod from the enormous spawning runs that used to happen inland before we dammed up all our rivers.) Modern farmers deal with it by importing selenium and feeding their livestock mineral supplements.
As a gardener in the current era, I count myself lucky to be able to get soil tests and amendments at low cost. Over the long term, I'm interested in capturing and recycling as much of those nutrients as possible through humanure composting. (And I'll track the effect on my land through soil testing! Yay! OMG that's geeky. ANyway.) I read Solomon, take the good stuff and ignore all the bah humbug and weird personal details (like I can't believe how many times he's been married. Nor that I can actually tell how many wives he's had just from reading his gardening books. Dude, get an editor.)
PS I also find his advice about unirrigated gardening to be excellent. I don't garden that way entirely, but his careful advice and experiments gave me options that allowed me to do my trials more effectively.
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 18, 2015 13:45:43 GMT -5
Kazedwards, I doubt it's the sterility or not of the egg cartons--if you require sterile seed mix to start those tomatoes, you got some really weak, poor seeds. Egg cartons do, however, dry out fast, especially if they're cardboard. (still following my "too dry to sprout" theory. If you have to water them every day to keep them moist enough, that's not good either b/c it chills the seed and makes them more vulnerable to fungal disease. If you already wrap 'em in plastic and/or know for a fact that they're at the perfect moisture, than disregard my harping on this subject.)
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 17, 2015 12:46:04 GMT -5
Hm. I'm going to try growing Lagenaria this year. Not the goose-neck ones that you show (that's what we call those around here--goose-necked. Oftentimes the small bulb at the end has an elegant tilt like a swan or goose's head),but a different variety. Got the seed from Fedco. I'll let you know how they do here.
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 17, 2015 12:40:37 GMT -5
Troubleshooting for Kazedwards: Sometimes my tomatoes/peppers/eggplants don't sprout if the seed mix is too dry. Normally to avoid that I make sure it is just-right moist enough when I plant (it makes a ball when I squeeze it, which crumbles if I press on it lightly), then I wrap the pots in plastic to prevent evaporation. Then I put the pots on top of my furnace. It's well insulated with asbestos (yay for 1950s technology!) so the temperature is always about 75-90F. This is just right for solanums to sprout. Good strong seed sprouts within a week to 10 days. I just start checking after 5 days or so and take the pots up to my south-facing window once seedlings are visible.
I don't use grow lights or anything, so my seedlings tend to be a little leggy. Not a problem. Usually fixes itself when I harden them off. And if it doesn't, I just plant them deep enough to cover most of the extra stem--they sprout roots from the stem if it's covered up and seem to do just fine this way.
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 16, 2015 9:41:22 GMT -5
Steev, I admire the way you operate. Pheasant is mighty tasty.
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 16, 2015 9:36:54 GMT -5
How beautiful! I love wisteria too, no matter how invasive it may be.
Nothing like that around here though, for sure. Ground still covered in snow. Dirty snow. Even after two days of rain. The only hint of spring a a couple of brave alliums (garlic tips? Annoying invasive flowers that self sow promiscuously and I can't get rid of?) valiantly poking up above the ground. Nighttime low was 19F last night.
Haven't gotten out to prune the sour cherries or peach trees yet. Haven't even started tomato plants yet, because every time I go out to score some potting soil the stores are closed! (Refuse to go to Home Despot, but I may give in...I know they'll have what I'm looking for, and I know they'll be open. Argggghhh.)
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 12, 2015 9:18:41 GMT -5
A freeze 6' down? That's pretty extreme, although apparently not unheard of in the past either (I've looked at charts for how deep foundations need to be laid in the upper midwest...wow.)
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 10, 2015 12:58:14 GMT -5
I hear you, Ottawagardener. The temperature has risen above freezing during the day for almost a week straight here. I'm starting to see features of the landscape I haven't seen in months! And colors! (As in, colors not = white.)
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Post by mskrieger on Jan 26, 2015 13:34:00 GMT -5
Hi folks, So. Johnny's Selected is offering a new fava bean this year called Vroma. Supposedly heat tolerant. I admit I am...tempted. Although fava beans are a losing proposition in my climate, y'all know I love them. They're backordered until March. I was wondering if anyone here had scored a packet, and if you did, please let me know how they do. So I can just go and waste space on them again next year. Hope lives eternal
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Post by mskrieger on Sept 10, 2014 9:06:36 GMT -5
And by the way, thanks for the pointer to the leetle grey buggies, 12540dumont--I'll look for them next year.
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Post by mskrieger on Sept 9, 2014 9:38:18 GMT -5
That two-tone pepo looks alot like some my farmer used to bring to the Adams Morgan market back in Washington, DC. He said weather conditions and temperature could alter the balance and intensity of yellow/green. At any rate, it's a good-looking zucchini!
And your zucchini very well might be resistant to borers. Doesn't mean it's immune. I recently realized that I have squash borers in my pepos and maximas...that that's what all the scarring along the stems at the base of the plant is from. I never paid much mind to it because I never had sudden cucurbit death syndrome, so I thought it couldn't be borers. But now I realize the plants are all surviving off of secondary root systems they put out at leaf nodes where the stem touches the ground. Which probably explains why the maximas only set one fruit per plant, and why I get only a reasonable amount of zucchini instead of the outrageous bounty some people complain of.
Never year I'm going to keep a closer eye on the plants and try to cut out and destroy the borers before they destroy the main root system.
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