great, whats next!?

The media generally shy's away from exposing the sorry state of earth affairs unless it will cause panic. Which is why I'm sure they listed the number of pharma's present in municipal water this morning. Hartman was right, water (in this case clean water) will become the next great scarecity, even in non-arid areas. The necessary changes in laws and use regulations will no doubt be decried by some as big government interference, but when the alternative is drought and death, or in this case the unknown effect on the vulnerable that drinking this medicated water will bring.

Anyone who tells you that everything is fine is either living in denial out of fear, or somehow making money from a cover up.

what exactly did I save on daylight?

I'm still amazed things that grow. I started these plants (mint and valerian for those joining us late in the game) on Christmas, hard to believe they were once tiny seeds. I'm not impressed by the taste of the mint, when they say it does not come true from seed they arent kidding. If I can find a branch I like to make a cutting from I may look elsewhere for mint. If it looks like spring is coming to my neck of the woods, you'd be misinformed. The temps ourside are in the low 30's and windy. No snow per se, just dead cold. Got to chat with a friend yesterday while picking up some baby clothes. Given pest problems they are going to have to fence in their garden. A shame but unfortunately a necessity. Makes me want to get out and garden all the more, except for the bitter cold.

On the hydroponic front I'm trying to coax the last of the seedlings to transplantable size before the 19th when I have to swap out trays to start the vegetables....YEAH!

If you have a moment and haven't been there already, please check out Onestraw, He had a mini epiphany of sorts (minpiphany?). Like most people involved in sustainable living, permaculture, gardening, etc, he made it know of his desire for more space. But recently he came to realize exactly how much he had accomplished right where he was. Kudos, if we all had that attitude (greenies and non-greenies alike) we might not be swinging from the death spiral of more more more.

Friday at the movies

Ok not really, at the movies. But I thought I'd bring a lighter touch than my usual self indulgence. Scream to be Green found these, so I cant take credit, but I will repost them here.

There is another video by free range studios, the fine folks who brought you "The story of Stuff" which is a fantastic mini movie. Go to Scream to be Green and check out the FARM WARS video, utterly hysterical. And if you have a few minutes,go check out story of stuff, watch it with your family, it will really get the ball rolling if you or they have never really considered how wasteful we are as a society.

Dotting the I's

Yesterday evening I submitted my order to Fedco for the last of the remaining seeds I needed. 5 pounds, carib potatoes, 5 pounds yukon gold spuds, and 1 lb of stuttgarter onion sets. Moose tubers (a fedco division) is adamant that they do not ship until early april. According to my planting chart (Jeavon's chart with my dates plugged in) I should be chitting these April 2. Seems a tad close but there are few places that even have the spuds I need at a reasonable price. Start looking earlier next year if these end up a little late, thats the lesson.

If anyone has any advice for chitting, I am all ears.

In other news, it looks like the Tulip poplar in our yard (that sappy horrific mess of a tree) has began budding. Tulips and Daffodils at our daughter's daycare appear to be sprouting too. Understandable since it has been in the fourties the last couple days. Like Today:



Why is this a problem? Cause it is supposed to drop to the 30's tonight and snow for 3 days. What a tease! Oh well, it ought to be enough of a thaw to loosen up the soil so I can dig the beds soon.

One last thing, I got an email from the folks over at the waterHOG rainbarrel company. A bit pricey for my budget right now. Not to say that I wont ever get them as expansion tanks but right now I am leaning toward an agricultural sprayer tank from TSC to use as a horizontal barrel for under the deck. I'd like to hear from anyone out there who has a rainbarrel and has stored it low in elevation how effective it will be without some kind of pump, to pressurize the stream. I'd be perfectly happy with a low pressure level, so long as it is enough to work one of those fan type wand attachments for the garden hose. I am going to mount the outlet at the bottom of the tank to let gravity do ...well in this case all the work which should be sufficient when it is nearly full at ~50 gallons, but will it be enough when it gets low?

Golden Opportunities

I guess I never put two and two together before. Nature does not create waste. All organism find ways to use the byproducts of the others. Manure is an obvious one, but not something my family would find palatable were I to start using my own poo in the compost heap, nor would they be particularly welcoming of a sawdust bucket sitting next to our standard issue water waster.

Then I came across a few drops of info that made me think...
But what about pee? Diluted 10:1 it has been proven an effective fertilizer. In africa it is finding widespread use. Do I dare keep a jar in the shed to fill for times when fertilizer application is called for? And in between on the compost heap to replenish nitrogen. (we usually end up with a lot of browns from the sunflowers, vines, leaves, etc, but very few greens from the smallish lawn. Might a quick shot of recycled refreshment every morn keep an otherwise slow pile moving?

I'm mischevious by nature, and normally I would giggle at the thought of people dining on my peepee powered vegetables, not because it is unsanitary, but their initial shock. Being a family man though, I do feel a certain need to warn them. After all, isn't part of this whole change in the way we get our food a matter of taking control of exactly what goes into our bodies as much as possible? Who am I to deny them that choice.

A possible solution

we have a smallish 10x10 gazebo in our backyard. There are shelves on each of the legs for potted plants and each year we attempt in vain to put some kind of potted flower on each. The problem is that as soon as the season gets hotter we can't keep up with the watering, either by virtue of forgetfulness on our part to include it in the morning routine, or the heat, or the plants using it fast. Bigger pots are out of the question, the thin metal supports and shelves of the gazebo wont bear the weight. My possible solution below may remedy it.





capillary watering is nothing new, the wick medium (probably braided felt) will travel up a pvc pipe to prevent drying the wick out. The question then becomes, can I run that long of a wick and still have it be effective?

If this is proven reliable, what is next? Well since I plan to put some manner of water storage under the deck anyway, why not mount planter boxes on the edges of the deck and wick water from the rainwater tanks below? Given enough tank capacity and rain to fill it, could deck planters become completely automated without complicated and expensive drip soaker hoses? Seems to simple and easy to be true. I wonder.

Ping Pong and puzzles

ping pong of course being the weather, 20 one day, 40 the next. The mint and valerian are doing well if you cant see the phone photo clearly.

the puzzle is lemon balm. Seems that the seed stock I have is succeptable to damping off. I have started it twice in the aerogarden and both times it has turned belly up a few days after sprouting. This to me makes little sense. I thought damping off was a soil born infection, wouldn't hydroponics by definition not allow for such a thing. Second, the aerogarden uses a single water reservoir for all the growing pods, so everyone shares the same water. But I have started a half dozen other seedlings during the same time, and none exibited any signs of damping off. No batch had any of the same species of seedlings, to avoid the possibility that perhaps something was antagonizing it. Even stranger still, chamomile was in the mix this time around. Chamomile tea is supposed to be a preventative for damping off, so I figured on a whim it might have some kind of positive effect. Nuthin, nada, zip. After a few days (I am still amazed with how quickly perennials germinate in this thing.) I see green baby leaves emerge, then die, then another seed germinates, wilts and dies and so on. I have started a couple seeds in sterile mix to test, but if those go belly up too then I am thinking that the seed itself is the culprit. If so I'm sure the company will give me a refund, but I'd rather have a Lemon Balm seedling. Oh well, a friend has offered a cutting if it doesn't work out.