The Hobbit Hole XXX - Then world behind and home ahead...

http://freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net/ ^

[RMDupree]

Me too!

But not as much as I look forward to seeing you again, chica. :-D

How'd it go last night?

[SuziQ]

I brew some strong tea, and only dilute it about half as much as I usually do. For example, I brew 8 teabags in about a quart of water, then add enough water to make 1/2 or 3/4 of a gallon. I let it cool to room temp, put it in a bucket or large enough container and put grass seed in it. I didn't fill it so full of seed that the seed was jammed in. There was still plenty of tea to be soaked up, and you could move the grass seed with a long handled spoon through the liquid. Let it sit in the tea overnight, or as I did, two nights, then drain it, and spread it out on a concrete floor in a thin layer so that the floor can soak up the moisture. I scooped it out of the bucket with a strainer, and let the tea go back into the bucket. Then when most of the grass seed had been strained, I took the bucket outside, poured the remaining tea through the strainer and got the rest of the seed.

The floor WILL get stained from the tea, by the way, as the seed dries. I let it dry for a couple of days, stirring it from time to time so that it would dry evenly. Then it's ready to throw down! The way the writer of the book from which I got this idea, "The Impatient Gardener" put it, "when you put this grass seed down you'd better run like hell because that's about how fast it's going to grow." He was right, too. It too less than a week for this seed to sprout! I think it must be the tannic acid in the tea that helps loosen the husk and lets the sprout have an easier time coming through.

I watered the area I was seeding very thoroughly, but remember not to over water, after the seed is down, or it will end up floating on the water in clumps, and when the water is absorbed into the ground, the seed will remain in those clumps. If you can just dampen the seed with the sprayer attachment a couple of times a day, it will be up in a week! We'll have to wait until its about an inch and a half high before we can mow again, but I had had Joseph mow just before I put the seed down, so the rest of the yard is not ungainly, yet.

One thing I did with the overseeding after the first batch had clumped up, was, after I sprinkled the seed, I walked on it to tamp it down into the soil. That combined with VEY light watering should solve the clumping problem.

[HairOfTheDog]

We end up having to reseed our front every spring just because it gets traffic and wear all winter when it's dormant and it can't hold up... I'd love to speed it up. The watering and clumping routine I'm familiar with, we will try the tea next spring!

[osagebowman]

But how bout the races? Are they broadcasting from our racetrack? I was out near there thursday afternoon and saw the big highway flashing signs noting that there would be significant delays during race days; they were on I-70 and I-435.

They have opened up one of our streets, kinda sorta, to one way traffic. Well, the one way kinda sorta works. Saw quite a few cars heading the wrong the way, hmmm, one way, do not enter, sounds fairly explicit to me..:-)

[osagebowman]

That spray would've felt good here today, didn't get to 99, just 96 and change.

[osagebowman]

Thanks very much for info, we'll give it a try next time. LSA

[Overtaxed]

But they were going only one way!

The races at "our racetrack" are probably on cable only. They're showing the Daytona race on Fox tonight.

[Overtaxed]

'course the room I started cleaning was thesunroom....up to 100 in there this afternoon.

[osagebowman]

The low humidity is great; really helps the tolerable factor.

RE: the races, I figured you'd be able to wireless into it somehow. :-)

RE: one way, yup, just the wrong one way.

[Overtaxed]

You can get the radio broadcast online...and they usually have the highlights online, but not the whole race.

[Ramius]

That tea-soaking seed business is really interesting. I've never heard of that before.

[g'nad]

thegirl has been enjoyin' your posts along with us...

she said, "gee... I didn't know they got married..." ;o)

[Ramius]

Heh. Kids these days...

:-)

[RMDupree]

*whistling innocently*

[RosieCotton]

I still can't figure how he gets in. He's too big to get through the fence, and I don't think there's enough space by the side gate. Maybe under the front one...dunno.

Well...I accomplished part of my list today. Didn't do any burning, though, or much of anything else other than reading and hanging out. But after this week...that was rather nice.

[SuziQ]

I read about the tea soaking several years ago. It's from a book called "The Impatient Gardener", and he had some cool ideas on keeping your lawn looking nice. One of his more interesting ideas is spraying ammonia on your lawn in the middle of the summer to keep thatch from being created in your lawn. He says your neighbors may not like it, but your lawn will love it!

[HairOfTheDog]

I finished the pasture mowing, but it kicked my butt :~)

But that's good, I've got that done and can focus on some cleaning and prep for company this week.

[JenB]

Talon's here ;-)

I guess we made curfew... no angry father waiting when we got home anyway.

[RosieCotton]

I got the backyard, at least. Still need to weedwhack...I guess I can only procrastinate so long on that.

Lots of company coming in the near future, no?

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, you can procrastinate as long as you like, but I suppose the grass will only grow so tall :~)

No definate plan yet, but we sortof expect R&R and the girls Monday or Tuesday for the day... and then next week, Becky's coming from OK.