Slow the flowhttp://www.oregonlive.com/gardencenter/oregonian/vern_nelson/index.ssf?/base/homes_gardens/111338628388020.xmlConcepts:
plant, water, Gardener, soil, crop, weeds, planting, hoses, fruit, edibles, beds, wind, moisture, irrigation, Vern Nelson.
Summary:
Gardening smart when water is at a premium requires a multipronged attack. For example, soaker hoses and drip irrigation lines release moisture slowly, curbing runoff and drift problems common with sprinklers.Irrigate early in the morning, if possible, so water has a chance to soak into the soil and be absorbed by plants before the day warms up and steals it.I water down the composted areas first, then sow cover crop seed, rake it in and tamp it down with the flat face of a steel rake.Cut the cover crop down when it's mature but still crisp, and leave it in place on the soil to mulch against weeds and moisture loss, and to stabilize soil temperature, or you can dig it in.To boost nitrogen in the beds, plant leguminous cover crops.When you do plant annual edibles, especially vegetables, plant them near the house or where they can be easily watered, such as near hose bibs.If your garden is swept by dry winds, put up porous fencing that winnows the wind, or choose a more sheltered site for planting.It's best to pick the immature fruit off a fruit tree for the first two or three years after planting so that the tree's energy goes to developing a strong root system.It's especially important to do this under drought conditions, as producing large, sweet fruit demands water and lots of plant energy.When soil is low on water, some plants are more prone to scorching, so shelter marginal plants along shade/sun interfaces with shade cloth or other screening material.
www.topdressing.biz
www.linearaeration.com
Friday, April 15, 2005
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Topdressin.biz News: In and Around the world of Compost
Pasadena Star-News - Opinionhttp://www.pasadenastarnews.com/Stories/0,1413,206~11851~2792015,00.htmlConcepts:
sports, compost, Bill Bell, health, sell, drip, education, .
Summary:
GARDENERS and others who discover the joys of composting find that it can become an addiction.On foreign trips, unable to turn vegetable scraps and raked-up oak leaves into the magic of mulch, they become like the homesick American in the Lorrie Moore novel who says to her husband in a Parisian restaurant: "I miss recycling.'Adherents run from those with a single heap or backyard plastic bin in which they make their black gold to massive commercial operations that create, bag and sell compost as fertilizer in nurseries.All can tell you at least a little something about the invertebrates and microorganisms that chew things up and create a little steamy heat.About temperature curves and moisture content and calculating the proper ratio of materials.And then there's Altadenan Tim Dundon, who for over 20 years has been known as Zeke the Sheik, the rhyming king of the amateur compost world.Rather than a little pile that can be turned by a pitchfork, Dundon is the creator, the curator, the proud possessor of a mountain of the stuff and a subtropical garden atop it and in his yard."A weapon of mass creation' he calls the 40-foot-high hill that sits on land adjacent to his own, long owned by Mountain View Cemetery.Now the venerable cemetery, burial spot for many of the founding mothers and fathers of the region, has decided it needs to sell the lot it has allowed Dundon to use.That economic reality may spell the end of the line for Dundon.But his baby's been in a heap of trouble before.Fire and zoning violations caused the county to tsk-tsk.They use it to mulch and fertilize their own gardens.Because what else, to quote Zeke, so deftly "generates the power that makes a flower?'If Mountain View needs to sell, it needs to sell.Another of the excess plots the cemetery owns could be used for composting, or could be sold to allow this one to continue in its present use.Citizens could pool resources to buy the plot or a financial angel could buy it for Dundon and the good of the community.Anything is possible with Dr. Frankenvine and his Ladder of Matter.Here's hoping that one of Altadena's most beloved living landmarks doesn't bite the dust.
www.linearaeration.com
sports, compost, Bill Bell, health, sell, drip, education, .
Summary:
GARDENERS and others who discover the joys of composting find that it can become an addiction.On foreign trips, unable to turn vegetable scraps and raked-up oak leaves into the magic of mulch, they become like the homesick American in the Lorrie Moore novel who says to her husband in a Parisian restaurant: "I miss recycling.'Adherents run from those with a single heap or backyard plastic bin in which they make their black gold to massive commercial operations that create, bag and sell compost as fertilizer in nurseries.All can tell you at least a little something about the invertebrates and microorganisms that chew things up and create a little steamy heat.About temperature curves and moisture content and calculating the proper ratio of materials.And then there's Altadenan Tim Dundon, who for over 20 years has been known as Zeke the Sheik, the rhyming king of the amateur compost world.Rather than a little pile that can be turned by a pitchfork, Dundon is the creator, the curator, the proud possessor of a mountain of the stuff and a subtropical garden atop it and in his yard."A weapon of mass creation' he calls the 40-foot-high hill that sits on land adjacent to his own, long owned by Mountain View Cemetery.Now the venerable cemetery, burial spot for many of the founding mothers and fathers of the region, has decided it needs to sell the lot it has allowed Dundon to use.That economic reality may spell the end of the line for Dundon.But his baby's been in a heap of trouble before.Fire and zoning violations caused the county to tsk-tsk.They use it to mulch and fertilize their own gardens.Because what else, to quote Zeke, so deftly "generates the power that makes a flower?'If Mountain View needs to sell, it needs to sell.Another of the excess plots the cemetery owns could be used for composting, or could be sold to allow this one to continue in its present use.Citizens could pool resources to buy the plot or a financial angel could buy it for Dundon and the good of the community.Anything is possible with Dr. Frankenvine and his Ladder of Matter.Here's hoping that one of Altadena's most beloved living landmarks doesn't bite the dust.
www.linearaeration.com
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)