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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 17, 2016 11:31:54 GMT -5
Well I tried using the clean kitty litter to see what it did in terms of turning back into clay to use for cob heat sink sort of liner for the outside of a wood stove. Most of it does not dissolve back into clay. I read somewhere that it is often partially baked as Nathan mentioned so it won't revert to simple clay, which can tend to be dusty. So the rest of the bag will just get mixed into the soil as it is of no use to make cob. Even after a week of soaking and pounding it with a piece of 2x4 daily only dissolved maybe 1/2 of it. There's enough of it that's not baked that should help fill some of the sand interstices and help retain moisture. Now wondering if it might be a good idea to dissolve as much as possible before doing that to prevent clumps. That's probably the plan for next spring....
The good thing about the cob experiment is that it crumbles well so will incorporate into the soil easily, so it isn't a waste of more than time..and now I know. A friend is not convinced and wants to try another brand which is not clumping. . Somehow it seems likely that all of these will be treated in some way to keep down dust. We shall see.
Or, perhaps it's time to reconsider an aquaponics system.
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 16, 2016 10:37:12 GMT -5
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 13, 2016 3:13:30 GMT -5
That'd be the way they ensure they or their offspring always have a job. it's a conundrum. Perhaps they neutralize the metals in some way? In the " Greening the Desert video Lawton talks about how astonished the ag people were that within a few months Lawton et al were able to grow fruit bearing figs in soil that was basically sterile from being heavily salted fron ag chemicals and fertilizers. They thought Lawton must have washed the salt through, further down into the soil. Instead ( he didn't have the water to do that even if he had wanted to) it appeared as though the soil microbes etc from the mulch, plant material and compost, had bound it up in some way which made the chemical salts inaccessible to the plants. Maybe something like that?
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 12, 2016 18:02:22 GMT -5
An exciting time for you! Congratulations.
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 12, 2016 13:25:52 GMT -5
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 12, 2016 2:41:06 GMT -5
This stuff is growing like gangbusters now. I have about 20 plants going, dug out any that hadn't sprouted and using some fresh, the rest for drying. If the plants don't get too huge, will plant some outside next spring and see how they do. One of the health food stores in town is considering taking some of the plants which would be a great help, ended up with way more than I need. Good thing I like it.
Learned that to get max health benefits from it, it should be used with black pepper. Supposedly the combination makes the tumeric about 2000 times (?!) more bio available.
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 11, 2016 14:59:33 GMT -5
I love lavender and have a hard time growing it, inside at least, it seems very particular about watering and I keep getting it wrong. I have a 12 inch pot of it that I brought into the house, now not sure what to do with it over the winter. Does it want to go dormant ( it's blooming half heartedly now) or should I be trying to encourage it to stay awake all winter? I got some seeds from it but was hoping to get some cuttings, just not sure what to do or when. It's a lot harder to read a plant that doesn't have traditional leaves, I can't tell if it's unhappy or going through a normal phase or what.
anyone here grown lavender in the cold North? It's never survived outside for me so any help on keeping it healthy over the winter would really be appreciated.
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 11, 2016 14:45:01 GMT -5
There's a website that sells them that says most veggies do fine but don't use them for strawberries.
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 11, 2016 7:08:20 GMT -5
Well, that's a relief; I don't think we need Agribusiness mucking about with our daily bread. But agribusiness IS mucking about with our daily bread, as was pointed out glyphosate is used to kill and dry down the crop, and showed up in every loaf of bread they tested in the UK. I just got a newsletter that said it is so ubiquitous now ( because of drift?) that even most organically grown grain is showing contamination. I got some perennial rye from PG seed, they told me that it's supposed to be planted in the fall but they usually plant it in the spring and it does ok, I can't remember any explanation being given. I forgot about it until this thread showed up, if/when this snow melts will have to do something with it.
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 11, 2016 1:35:18 GMT -5
Briefly looked it up, the flowers are edible, the seeds are not, don't know about bulb or leaf. One suggestion was to stuff the flowers as you would squash blossoms.
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 11, 2016 0:50:38 GMT -5
It. Is SO NICE to hear of something positive that a government., any government, has done! Thank you for sharing, it's excellent news.Granted it should never have got to the point of needing to be made into law, but since it did, it's good to hear that some States are stepping up and doing what's needed.
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 10, 2016 18:12:48 GMT -5
I would snaffle them if I were you. I was actually looking for those last spring but the only source I found was expensive so didn't go that route. The roots in my seedlings all dig down and then circle if I don't get them planted out at that point, so I don't see why the roots wouldn't be happy with deeper containers.
it might not be the roots but the above ground parts which had difficulty with air circulation, that was the only thing I was concerned about, but I'd certainly give it a go and see.
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 10, 2016 12:48:57 GMT -5
I have an ongoing problem with knees, so digging is a challenge, which makes root veggies and tender bulbs tubers etc a problem I found a bunch of laundry baskets and lined them with burlap, then planted dahlias in them. Success! Harvested them yesterday and they've produced an astonishing number of medium carrot sized tubers! It looks a bit funky, to be sure, but so easy to dump the basket, shake the soil off and bingo! The grow bags probably work as well but these were basically free...the burlap bags cost me .25 each, they are toast, totally gone at the bottom of the basket, so they clearly compost just fine. The laundry basket gives the sides some support and also has a tiny reservoir at the bottom so it doesn't drain and dry out quite as quickly as just the burlap, but the sides allow plenty of air and drainage. No slugs, either.
Next year going to do a whole load of stuff like that, SO easy just to dump out the container. Dahlias, glads, potatoes.... No worries about drainage but do have to keep an eye on moisture levels. Easy to plant, care for and harvest. My regard.for laundry baskets has morphed onto a whole other level previously undreamed of.
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 10, 2016 9:23:27 GMT -5
the things I've learned on these forums! I never knew that glad set seed and it had never occurred to me such a gorgeous flower (plant) might be edible. Next year glads for sure lots and lots of them!
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Post by prairiegarden on Oct 4, 2016 9:39:04 GMT -5
We've had 3 days now of heavy rain and the forecast is that it will continue right through to the end of the week. I'm just so grateful it isn't snow as it so easilly could have been - and most winters, would have been.
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