I had to buy a used lawnmower. My 15 year old riding lawnmower gave up the ghost. The muffler fell off, and it burned oil so bad that it made for foul air whenever I used it.
Like most of us, I could not afford a 5 thousand dollar riding lawn mower or even a 700 hundred dollar one. I never like the riding one anyway. The tires kept going flat. I had to buy a battery every year until I got smart and brought it indoors this winter and kept it charged with a trickle charger.
This lawnmower cost $75 dollars as is. It was known to have surging problem. I tried it out and it didn't surge for me. It idles a little slow but I can live with it. It was probably designed that way. I think with a sharpened blade it ought to do alright.
No one should mow grass that is higher than their knee caps. It puts too much strain on the engine. I use my scythe to cut the tall grass and then the mower. Look at my grass:
It is crying to me to make hay bales. Not for gardening but for compost under my trees. Even with seed, I never had a problem with green bales turning into giant weed monsters.
I read somewhere that some straw bale gardeners believe that straw is the medium they grow in. They don't mean a medium like a pot but like rich soil. They believe they can grow in a straw bale with little else. It's true straw aids the growing medium but it is not soil. Look at this site if you don't believe me: http://www.the-compost-gardener.com/-can-you-plant-a-vegetable-garden-in-pure-compost-.html
Here's the quote: "The thing to remember is that the ideal soil only needs about 5% organic matter. The rest of the soil is made up of 45% minerals, that's the ground up parent material, 25% is water and 25% air."
How does the straw bale gardener get their plants to grow? Straw and fertilizer. The 45 percent of fertilizer diluted with other materials (like potting soil) helps the plant not burn up from the toxic fertilizer. Soil or minerals is by far more important than decomposed straw.
Careful attention must be given to cooking the bales. If the straw doesn't compost in a straw bale garden, it won't supply even the lowest percent of composted organic matter. Using uncomposted straw to the straw bale gardener is more like growing out of a dry tumble weed than a wet composted straw bale.
There is nothing like a fresh rose. I think I remember that rose pedals are edible.
Whatever you do, do not eat flower pedals bought from a florist. They are toxic and might kill you. The only way to deliver the flowers from foreign lands is to spray them with all kinds of chemicals.
I received my pH tester today from Amazon. The first thing I tested was my well water. It measured 6.70. I also tested rain water 5.64. The internet also says rain water has a pH of 5.6. Not bad for not calibrating the tester first.
I tested my green juice mixed with water and it was acidic: 6.24. My Mtn Dew Baja Blast tested at 2.60. I read that some juices like wheatgrass are alkaline when digested. It sounds like voodoo science when a substance that is acidic changes when the elixir has been swallowed. Vinegar is the same way. It is acidic 2.7 but many claim without scientific support that it alkalizes the body. But when it come to colas that has the worst measurements no one dares to say it changes our body and makes us super alkaline and super healthy. Of course we know it doesn't, but slick meisters claim all sorts of things to get us to buy their products. Keep reading my posts. I am not through with alkalizing claims that will make us healthy.
My last point today is about rain water being so acidic. Should we be adding lime to our soils to keep up with the acid rain effects?
I always notice that plants seem to grow better after a rain than by watering from my well. The water from my well is less acidic than rain water. Is there something I'm missing? I hope your are as confused about pH as I am. Let's have a soda and think about it.
Maybe we should read this while we are sipping on our pop.
They are as confused as I am. Does anyone want to test their theory? Have some more sugar water. It is bound to enable our brains to figure it all out. Don't you feel good after having a cola? We're all juiced up with sugar and caffeine and ready to think.
No comments:
Post a Comment