Posted on 04/03/2015 1:24:44 PM PDT by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks.
No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no telling where it will go and... that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!
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Exactly true ! "High and Tight" is only a temporary condition , and greatly misunderstood.
When it comes to a fireman emergency response, towels are optional; extinguishers are mandatory .
Happy Easter !
Your sins ,foibles and character flaws are all forgiven by the Savior , (except for the lack of hot water)!
You remain in my nightly prayers
I hope Dware sends you some hops, as I think they would make one heck of a loaf of all-grain bread, and left-overs for brewski ! Not that you needed an excuse !
:)
Howdy, y’all!
You look good Johnny, looks like you’ve gained some weight. Did you keep your ponytail?? You could always tie it to the back of your cowboy hat. :0
You can ask Marco about the pony tail. It's gone. All that is left back there is a scar. This time of year, I miss having it to flick flies with. ;)
/johnny
1. He is moving even better than the last time we were there.
2. He is working on his speaking of words with a speech therapist - a guy with two brain surgeries is lucky to speak at all. :o)
3. Only a few hairs left on his head, but who cares about that for a man, no big deal.
4. He wanted food from Taco Bell so we took that plus some for us so all chowed down on Taco Bell.
5. Saw how he takes raw coffee beans, puts them in a popcorn machine and roasts them.
6. Looked at his garden patch and he has seeds planted and some herbs that are volunteer are already up - thyme/rosemary/cilantro are ready to be used.
7. He and Bob went over some electronic stuff that needs fixing. They also went over an exclusive helicopter that takes up most of the table. This is not a toy - think thousands of dollars.
8. Bob told stories from his earth scientist/geology years traveling the world to find oil to put gasoline in your cars.
The picture Johnny posted was at the end of the visit as we were leaving.
After we left, Bob made the comment we all talked for two and a half hours without stopping and didn't talk politics at all. Johnny has had quite a life with outstanding accomplishments in the military which were noted by the military with a stack of accommodations. Not many people would walk away from a high paying electronic job the day after 911 and re-enlist in the Air Force.
Johnny has his first chemo this coming Thursday. Please pray for him that this chemo will stop the cancer.
And thank you for all the kind things you and Bob did. It's good to have friends close.
/johnny
#4. I didn’t say you liked it, only that you wanted it. :o)
However, I liked the soft taco since I don’t have to eat them as often as you do, and Bob liked his burrito. We added Taco Bell to fast food to get if we need food quickly and don’t want to cook (I never want to cook).
Bob and I like you, even love you. We raise your name to God at least three times a day and again when we do a Rosary and I use the Rosary beads with your name inside the heart on the beads. God definitely knows where you are and what you need.
So happy to see Jonny has gained a few lbs. Glad you had a nice visit.
God Bless you for being a personal FRiend to Johnny for all of us ~
Potato story
Well,
A Girl Potato and Boy Potato had eyes for each other,
And finally they got married, and had a little Sweet Potato, which they called ‘Yam.’
Of course, they wanted the best for Yam.
When it was time, they told her about the facts of life.
They warned her about going Out and getting
Half-baked,so she wouldn’t get accidentally
Mashed,and get a bad name for herself like
‘Hot Potato,’ and end up with a bunch of
Tater Tots.
Yam said not to worry, no Spud would get her into the sack and make a rotten potato out of her!
But on the other hand she wouldn’t stay home
And become a Couch Potato either.
She would get Plenty of exercise so as not to be skinny like her
Shoestring Cousins.
When she went off to Europe ,
Mr. And Mrs. Potato told Yam To watch out
For the hard-boiled guys from Ireland .
And the Greasy guys from France called the French Fries.
And When she went out West,
To Watch out for the Indians so she wouldn’t get scalloped..
Yam said she would stay on the straight and Narrow
And Wouldn’t Associate With Those high class Yukon Gold’s,
or the ones from the other side of the tracks who advertise their
trade on all The trucks that say, ‘Frito Lay.’
Mr. And Mrs. Potato sent Yam to Idaho P.U. (that’s Potato University )
so that when she graduated she’d really
Be In the Chips.
But in spite of all they did for Her,
one-day Yam came home And announced she was
Going to marry Peter Mansbridge.
Peter Mansbridge!
Mr. and Mrs. Potato were very upset.
They told Yam she couldn’t possibly
marry Peter Mansbridge Because he’s just.......
Are you ready for this?
Are you sure?
OK! ...........Here it is!
A COMMONTATER
You’re looking good, especially considering all the trauma. Don’t worry about the resting and sleeping part. Your body is repairing itself as you sleep.
Keep eating and we will keep praying.
You are a great friend and I’m glad Johnny has you and your husband. I feel very bad about his illness.
Thanks for the update Marcella. So good to know you and Bob are visiting him. We are grateful.
I don't often miss out on days like today, so I guess the rain is appropriate for today. I miss that 'old time religion' and the old hymns on days like today. Oh well. Staying home isn't going to kill me, even if it feels really weird.
/johnny
Happy Easter to you too brother! I love those old time hymns too. He is risen for all of us and eternity in paradise (with a perfect garden) awaits us. We do the best we can while we are here. I feel bad you can’t make it to church for the fellowship, you can always plant a seed today to celebrate new life. Our prayers continue.
that was the cutest story!
SOIL IS A DYNAMIC SYSTEM
Soil building is a dynamic process. It takes time to build a good soil. These are the processes involved in soil building:
*Addition – roots etc /decomposition/bacteria and other microbes
* Removal – lose surface from storms, lose nutrients from plants
* Transformation – rocks will break down sand silt clay
* Translocation - [I didn’t have anything in my notes here. I am presuming is something like the processes of streams, flooding – but I’m not certain – basically I take it to mean things are moved and must be slightly different in meaning to the addition and removal processes. TXO]
COMPOSITION OF SOIL He showed a pie chart graphic with the following percentages:
*Water – 25%
*Air – 25% He said, “You don’t want to lose your air!” He noted that too much water will take away the air.
*Minerals – 48% These are the sands, silts, and clays.
He showed us an inset graphic showing the relative amounts (no numbers) of those components of the 48%
Imagine here a circle about a nickel size: SAND
Imagine here a circle about .5 cm: SILT
Imagine here a dot: CLAY . . . . [Except for TEXOKIE’s yard! LOL!]
*Organic Matter – 2% He noted that the Minnesota pic shown earlier with the 2 feet of fertile black soil was about 5% of organic matter. The farms in Oklahoma can be 1%. We need to do our best to increase that percentage to the 2-4% and that puts us in a good soil range.
A student asked about lime addition. He said that the question anticipated him, but that it is for the neutralization of the acids in the soil. He said that taking abundant samples and testing them will help in learning what amounts to use to make that amendment.
SOIL PROPERTIES
* TEXTURE – relative proportion of the grain sizes
* STRUCTURE – arrangement of particles into small groups, or aggregates
Texture and Structure are PHYSICAL PROPERTIES, and those are difficult to change.
*FERTILITY – how nutritious is the soil for supporting plants
*pH - soil acidity and alkalinity
*SOLUBLE SALTS – sodium, chloride, but also other mineral salts as well can precipitate / leach out of the soil depending on what minerals are present.
[TXO’s thought of an example: In limestone areas, can get calcium salts (travertine) – that is certainly common in our area! Ground water is full of it – so it’s in the soil too!]
Fertility, pH, and Soluble Salts are all CHEMICAL PROPERTIES and actually ARE things we can change.
*BIOLOGICAL – microorganism populations and other life in the soil. This includes bacteria, worms, fungi, etc.
He had a triangle graphic showing the different types of soils. I got most of it, but cannot really reproduce it here.
SOIL TYPES Imagine a triangle with the base having the caption :
SAND %
The left ascending leg has an arrow pointing up to the top:
CLAY %
The right leg has an arrow pointing downward to the base with the caption:
SILT%
Arranged inside the triangle showing the appropriate percentages are the various kinds of soil such as “Clay, silty clay, silty clay loam, sand, mixtures of sand and clay and silt [which TXO missed] and loam [the sweet spot in the middle], sandy clay loam, sandy clay, clay loam.” He wasn’t so concerned that we get the exact percentages, just that we see the principle of that range of the kinds of soil you get with the three ingredients, sand, clay, and silt.
APPROXIMATION OF WATER HELD BY THE DIFFERENT SOILS:
SOIL TEXTURE: SAND
has the water holding capacity in .5-.7 inches/foot of soil
has the rate of irrigation of .75 in inches/hour; bare soil
SOIL TEXTURE: LOAMY SAND
Has the water holding capacity of .7-1.1 inches/foot of soil
Has the rate of irrigation of .75 in inches/hour; bare soil
SOIL TEXTURE: LOAM
Has the water holding capacity of 1.0-1.8 inches/foot of soil
Has the rate of irrigation of .35 in inches/hour; bare soil
SOIL TEXTURE: CLAY LOAM
Has the water holding capacity of 1.3-2.1 inches/foot of soil
Has the rate of irrigation of .25 in inches/hour; bare soil
SOIL TEXTURE: CLAY
Has the water holding capacity of 1.4-2.4 inches/foot of soil
Has the rate of irrigation of .15 in inches/hour; bare soil
Installment 2 on SOIL ends. Again, Have a Happy (Remaining) Easter, yall!
Well, Johnny, you got the right attidtude. Don’t let them doctors talk you into an early grave. I believe very much in God’s natural substances and imo, he will bless you if you do as well.
ditto
I am also a fan of old time hymns
The church I visit is full of world class bluegrass players (best kept secret in the county)
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