Garden thread.

[benevolance]

Sounds exactly like the soil in my yard...3 inches under the grass it is pure sand

I mixed as much mulched leaves in as I can scrounge...That and the ashes from burning leaves....a little bit of manure...

I am sure it is not perfect...But my vegetables are growing...Mind you I am growing easy stuff like Tomatoes, Potatoes, carrots..etc... Nothing too complex

[glenn kangiser]

Tried the Salsify once, Pete.  I don't remember getting any to grow though.  It was a long time ago.  I should try it again.

Hows the lasagna garden doing now Daddymem?  For green stuff I think you might be able to use grass clippings from the lawn mower.  I met a guy one time who had a giant garden grown in nothing but grass clipping compost.  One of the best I'd seen.  I don't know what the ratio is on Carbon, nitrogen air and water but that's what it takes to break horse manure down in a month along with weekly or more turning.  Horse manure is the perfect mix of carbon to nitrogen.  If it has more straw - bedding etc, then chicken manure is a perfect addition as it is higher in nitrogen and offsets the carbon.  

Water to the point that it is damp but does not drip when you squeeze a handful of it.  Air is necessary for the bacteria.  Sounds like your lasagna garden is providing the needed air etc. by the layer technique.  The manure is supposed to completely break down in a month if turned often enough and kept damp enough.  Covering it with completed compost keeps down the flies.  If none a tarp would probably work.  It took me about 3 months to break down about 200000 lbs of it - 7 truckloads.  I used the Bobcat.  Sometimes I didn't smell good.  Temps would reach 140 degrees - at some point there it is too hot and makes ash or can catch fire.  I know I posted a link to it somewhere a long time ago.

Losing a dog is always rough if it was a good one.  I have had to put down a few - some with cancer - at least one of which got it from sleeping on fiberglass insulation in the barn.  Others I should have done sooner but didn't.  The worst was my little dog that bit my moms legs when she tried to make me get on the school bus --- I had a mean teacher and didn't want to go.  She would make me get on the bus protesting violently while my little dog was gnawing at here ankles.  

My uncles collie killed him.  Came about a mile cross country to do it.  

Even though I was only about 7 years old, I was seriously considering taking my dads 30-30 over there and shooting him -- (the dog - not my uncle) :-?  I thought it over though and decided I didn't want to upset my uncle and that wouldn't bring him back but I never did like that dog-- long nosed POS.

[Daddymem]

We don't have a lawn and I hope to keep it that way-well maybe a couple tiny areas (kinda like construction entrances to get the sand off the feet before entering the house).  We're gonna check out the golf courses around here to see if they have waste piles we can get into.  I could get more seaweed but I'd rather have that stuff buried deep...it smells a bit too much like a clambake-makes me hungry

[glenn kangiser]

How about horse stables.  I know you want that yummy smell around your place.  You must have friends who play polo.

We are done with yards too.  We use the water for vegetables and flowers

[fourx]

Lawn Bowling clubs are good, if you folk have them up there- they mow the bowling greens down flat all the time and always have heaps of very fine-ground clippings available for nothing.

[Daddymem]

MARCO

[glenn kangiser]

Got it, Daddymem.  When I think of Mass. I always think of high class sophisticated and proper college types, so I figured - in a stereotypical way that you would automatically have friends who played polo.

[fourx]

...which reminds me that there is a particular mint sold here in supermarkets as ""Chef's Mint""- it has an elongated oval leaf ..I want to grow it but I have been unable to find it in any plant supply sites or companies. It's used in tabouli, but Lebanese people I have asked just call it ""mint"". Does anyone know it's botanical name or another name for it?

[glenn kangiser]

You got me on that one, Pete.  Is it possible it just wasn't mint for you to know? :-?

[benevolance]

daddymem

Have you heard of the plant that looks like grass...requires little water is almost impervious to the weather and does not grow....You might have to mow it once every 3-4 years....

They have a web site...Nomoremowing.com or some such...I am a big fan of killing lawns...I hate mowing grass...

http://nomowgrass.com/

Wow I actually remembered where I had stored a link....Must be the Stan Rogers Music I am listening to....

I want this grass in my yard....It would be amazing to never have to mow again

[MountainDon]

My grass requires no water, no mowing, resists weed growth, requires no fertilizers, and stays a nice green all year round.  
The only thing I miss is when you lay down on it you don't get that nice cool feeling like you do from a nicely manicured real lawn.

[glenn kangiser]

That's some really nice lawn, Don.  

I figure if I'm going to water anything up here, as much work as I have to go to to keep things working, I am going to have to eat it or have pretty flowers from it.

[MountainDon]

I wouldn't want to eat my grass...

[benevolance]

I want green pavement...

I win the lotto I am paving the yard and paying extra to have them color it grass green....

It would be amazing... no work same color...

I told my wife she said soemthing to the effect of over he dead body....But if I win powerball that will suddenly become a possibility...

Okay I was not totally serious about that last part

[glenn kangiser]

Get her some of that beautiful green plastic grass like Don has in the picture there.,,,,,   and he talked his wife into it.  Are you less of a man than he is? :-?

[Daddymem]

Reminds me of one of our big projects.  The grass wasn't growing near the sales office so they went out and painted the ground green.  
Nothing against lawns but around here they don't grow too well without tons of effort with chemicals and fertilizers.  Besides, I live on a dirt road tucked into the woods, a lawn just looks out of place imho.  I'm interested in that no mow stuff, I'll check into that some more.  It grows sideways instead of up-that might be the ticket for a decent patch of grass.
Nice lawn MountainDon.  I wouldn't be opposed to that either.   Care to share cost?
I don't have any polo playing friends, can't say I've heard of polo around here at all.  This hea is the ahmpit of the cape-full of swamp yankees, fishamen, and bog frogs (although the "willow tree 100-feet on center please" crowd has gotten quite an edge).  Don't they learn yous guys propa in calyphonia?  

[glenn kangiser]

I guess I just got the wrong picture -- Kennedy's and all.  (Good party but don't ride home with 'em).

So you are saying you are just a NE version of a redneck.

Tree huggers - they're all over the place.

[benevolance]

Hey man I am a tree hugger.... Well I consider myself one...

It is the burlap wearing granola eating tree huggers I loathe

I consider myself a tree guy because I love trees...I tell everyone I know to plant trees... I advocate that increasing forest cover on the planet will eliminate global warming... Simple...No new tech needed...

Trees will fix just about any environmental problem...They clean the air and water...Prevent desertification... animals and insects love em too...

[Daddymem]

Glenn..."willow 100 foot on center" refers to the McMansion lots with 100 feet of frontage, each lawn manicured to perfection with one of those silly 6-foot tall willows with only 3 or 4 long spindly branches planted in the middle of said lawn.  Nothing to do with not liking trees at all.  I'm not kidding, new subdivisions have become so cookie cutter that it is easy to get lost in them-all the houses and yards look the same!

[benevolance]

Daddy

It was the same in Nova Scotia three years ago when I left and it is the same here in South Carolina....Whatever the mold the houses and lots are carbon copies of each other....It keeps costs down...One design....workers are more efficient each time they build the same house over and over...Ditto for the landscaping and driveway...etc....

Follow the money

[MountainDon]

Daddymem,
The product is RealTurf    http://www.realturf.com

That piece of grass is 14 x 25 ft and cost $2K installed. They had to excavate the old genuine organic grass, dig down and remove earth, then bring in crushed stone, pack it, then some sand, pack it, and finally install the "turf". I wasn't around the week it was done. It was a birthday present I had hinted at.  

At first I thought it was a lot of money, but thinking about it's my opinion it was worth it. Now that we've had it for a while (third summer) I'm even more convinced it was a good thing to do.

It always looks good, we use a plastic rake whenever necessary, or a blower to round up the leaves etc in a corner.

I never did calculate how much water we poured into the old real grass (I know Glenn, you're shoked at Mr. Numbers here for that neglect) but it was substantial. June thru Aug demanded a daily soak or it would quickly go into the wilted look stage.

[glenn kangiser]

Glenn..."willow 100 foot on center" refers to the McMansion lots with 100 feet of frontage, each lawn manicured to perfection with one of those silly 6-foot tall willows with only 3 or 4 long spindly branches planted in the middle of said lawn.  Nothing to do with not liking trees at all.  I'm not kidding, new subdivisions have become so cookie cutter that it is easy to get lost in them-all the houses and yards look the same!

I've seen similar things here-- It would be easy to come home after to many beahs and end up in the wrong house, eh.

[glenn kangiser]

Don, could you please at least throw out a few ball park figures?  Just a couple? I miss the number's Don. :-?

[MountainDon]

(Sigh!!)  

We cut the summer water use by more than half. But that includes the change from evaporative air cooling as well. So the waters are muddy.    Highest summer use was 8000 gal compared to lowest winter use of 3000 - 3500 gal.

Of course that's the volume that was cut, not the dollar amount. That's because the monthly bill includes those fixed charges as you know I've previously discussed, Glenn.

Hope that helps out.  

[Daddymem]

Mesclun to pick, spinach not too far behind.


Lasagna beds ready for planting.  Tomatoes in tonight, beans this week and newspaper potted seedlings this weekend.
Amazing what things will grow around here

gotta be one of those relatives of Glenn's he mentioned that are from around here.