The more you learn...
Mar. 21st, 2002 06:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sierciaThe more you learn just how much you don't know.
I took a class last night on soil amendments and fertilizers. I know, it sounds horribly geeky. But, if you want to have a nice garden, you really need to start with having good dirt. And that would be one thing my yard/lawn/lot absolutely lacks. It's typical New England glacier soil (which is to say, full of rocks), made worse by the esker near our house (essentially a glacial gravel bar). I learned a lot of interesting stuff, most of it about just how far we'll need to go to turn our patch of earth into a happy and healthy piece of land. But I really want to, so I guess I should get started, eh?
Let's see, I learned that buying potting/topsoil in bags is not worth much, because since they have to be heated and sterilized, they lose lots of their good bacteria and some of their nutrients... That Miracle-Gro just turns your plants into miracle-gro junkies (the nitrogen in their water-soluble fertilizer is bound to mineral salts, which are left in the soil. The mineral salts in the soil interfere with nitrogen uptake within the plant's root systems, thus making them need more miracle-gro to get enough nitrogen. Interesting, no?)... That azaleas love acidic soil, so will be good candidates for replacing the ugly evergreens currently in front of the house... That the butt-ugly dyed mulch stuff our previous owners used is not only ugly, but bad for the soil beneath it. And, she's going to e-mail all of us a list of online resources for organic gardening, which I'm quite excited about. I think this weekend, I'll try to collect soil to send to the UMass labs for testing.
BUT, even with the iffy soil in my yard, my bulbs are sprouting happily. Check out the pics of some of my crocuses (Crocii?)
I'm not real good at flower photography yet, but I'll be practicing all summer!
Other notes from yesterday... parking at Brookline Adult Ed sucks ROCKS. Big ones. Boulders, when it's sleeting out and you end up parked 5 blocks away, up a really big hill. The Asian Peanut Something wraps from the Purple Cactus are really yummy, especially with steak in them. I wish I had more money and time so I could take more classes like this. There was more, but now I don't remember it.
I took a class last night on soil amendments and fertilizers. I know, it sounds horribly geeky. But, if you want to have a nice garden, you really need to start with having good dirt. And that would be one thing my yard/lawn/lot absolutely lacks. It's typical New England glacier soil (which is to say, full of rocks), made worse by the esker near our house (essentially a glacial gravel bar). I learned a lot of interesting stuff, most of it about just how far we'll need to go to turn our patch of earth into a happy and healthy piece of land. But I really want to, so I guess I should get started, eh?
Let's see, I learned that buying potting/topsoil in bags is not worth much, because since they have to be heated and sterilized, they lose lots of their good bacteria and some of their nutrients... That Miracle-Gro just turns your plants into miracle-gro junkies (the nitrogen in their water-soluble fertilizer is bound to mineral salts, which are left in the soil. The mineral salts in the soil interfere with nitrogen uptake within the plant's root systems, thus making them need more miracle-gro to get enough nitrogen. Interesting, no?)... That azaleas love acidic soil, so will be good candidates for replacing the ugly evergreens currently in front of the house... That the butt-ugly dyed mulch stuff our previous owners used is not only ugly, but bad for the soil beneath it. And, she's going to e-mail all of us a list of online resources for organic gardening, which I'm quite excited about. I think this weekend, I'll try to collect soil to send to the UMass labs for testing.
BUT, even with the iffy soil in my yard, my bulbs are sprouting happily. Check out the pics of some of my crocuses (Crocii?)
I'm not real good at flower photography yet, but I'll be practicing all summer!
Other notes from yesterday... parking at Brookline Adult Ed sucks ROCKS. Big ones. Boulders, when it's sleeting out and you end up parked 5 blocks away, up a really big hill. The Asian Peanut Something wraps from the Purple Cactus are really yummy, especially with steak in them. I wish I had more money and time so I could take more classes like this. There was more, but now I don't remember it.
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(no subject)
Date: 2002-03-21 07:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-03-22 09:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-03-22 12:17 am (UTC)Yeah, interesting about the Miracle Gro. Very interesting. I wonder what they have to say about that. (OMG! You reminded me about my plants! I put them out a couple of days ago to get some of the nice spring rain and left them out... and it's supposed to dip into the 30's tonight!!) I do know my plants grow bookoodles of leaves when I use "K-Mart" miracle gro stuff... getting funky looking bunches on my pothos - U-shaped stems with new leaves every half inch or so.
Any idea where I can find a remedy for some type of white gook on my clay pots? I'm not sure what it is, but I can't wash it off... it comes back. And it's sticky when you mash it. Yick.
WTG on the classes. Maybe I too will be able to plant something NOT in a pot.
~Kimley
Very interesting....
Date: 2002-03-22 08:33 am (UTC)Re: Very interesting....
Date: 2002-03-22 08:58 am (UTC)Re: Very interesting....
Date: 2002-03-22 11:12 am (UTC)Seeya tonight!