Straw Bale Garden Part V: Growing Vegetables

...ooms indicates that well rotted straw bales are more like the kind healthy soil that supports a web of soil organisms that, in turn, help vegetables grow. Some of the plants, like this winter squash, I planted as seedlings. Others, like this cucumber, I sowed directly into the bales by making a little hole and putting in the seed with some home made seedling mix. Again, the vegetables in the bales are doing better than veggies in my two remaining...

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Saturday Linkages: Soils, Prickly Pear and the Case for Going Outside

Soil diagram from the Garden Professors. Let’s get (soil) physical… https://sharepoint.cahnrs.wsu.edu/blogs/urbanhort/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=943 … The Science Behind Honey’s Eternal Shelf Life http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2013/08/the-science-behind-honeys-eternal-shelf-life/#.Uh0YB1lfCUw.twitter … Open Tech Forever: permaculture/open tech startup: http://boingboing.net/2013/08/21/open-tech-forever-permacultur.html … DIY Hanging D...

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Does Compost Tea Work?

...at Washington State University and Catherine Crosby, a Ph.D. candidate in Soil Science at Washington State University had to say in the webinar. Due to a lack of research no peer reviewed recommendations can be made on the use of compost tea. Nobody agrees on what compost tea is or how to brew it. What kind of compost do you use? Do you have to aerate it? How and for how long do you aerate it? Compost teas have been shown to both solve and cause...

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The Green Cone

...solid waste into liquids which then, if all goes well, percolate into the soil. The Green Cone, supposedly digests all kitchen waste including meat, fish, bones, animal waste, and dairy products, items not recommended in most compost piles due to the fact that they smell bad while decomposing, attract pests, and could possibly transmit Salmonella and E. coli bacteria if used on food crops. The green cone is, however, not a composter and the end r...

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Two Easy to Grow Climbing Roses

...se I chose two common varieties that I thought could tolerate our horrible soil and dry conditions: Don Juan This stunning, deep red climbing rose was developed by Michele Malandrone and first sold in 1958. It has an intense, complex scent. I chose it because I heard that it was drought tolerant. It’s also easy to find. Iceberg Climbing Rose I refer to this rose as the “gas station rose” for its ubiquity. Frankly, it’s an unimaginative choice but...

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