Dirt -- Should you make dirt apart of your life

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  • sas-schatzi
    sas-schatzi Member Posts: 19,603
    edited May 2017

    Mtw red or white. Kidding. Hmm maybe that's why I haven't had a recurrence yet? I've certainly drunk enough wine.

    Years ago on "OmG, they found a cure for Stupid" thread which is inactive, but the first hundred pages are a hoot. Our stuff was starting to appear on fb. We all changed our names and avatars. I looked around and saw my German Wired haired Pointer>>Schatzi. I became my initials and her name. She's a rescue. Really was my son's dog, but ended up mine b/c he was in apartments. He and his GF named her. The GF was into German at the time. Her birth was estimated to be Jan or Feb. I chose Feb 14th as her birthday. She's the sweetest dog. It all fits her nicely :)

    Glad to hear that advancement has been made on the peanut scenario. It has been such an issue for so long.

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  • WenchLori
    WenchLori Member Posts: 1,558
    edited May 2017

    I haven't played out in the dirt in a few days, must be why I'm feeling rather puny 😳


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  • MTwoman
    MTwoman Member Posts: 2,704
    edited May 2017

    right now our dirt is more like slushy mud. And while I used to like playing in the mud, I'm not such a fan now. I did get out in the 'dirt' over the weekend, mushroom hunting (and finding - yum), but will have to wait another few days to get out again.

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  • cive
    cive Member Posts: 709
    edited May 2017

    Ah yes, a new activity.  Drinking wine while contemplating my dust.  I can test the hypothesis that the contemplation will erridicate the dust.

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  • MTwoman
    MTwoman Member Posts: 2,704
    edited May 2017

    cive, I'll join your little experiment, but maybe as another study 'arm'. I'll look into adding the benefits of cohabitating with the dirt/dust to the benefits of the heart wood metabolites as they occur in wine ;)

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  • sas-schatzi
    sas-schatzi Member Posts: 19,603
    edited May 2017

    Excellent contemplation. Shall we develop a Mantra?


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  • MTwoman
    MTwoman Member Posts: 2,704
    edited May 2017

    Oh, yes please!

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  • magdalene51
    magdalene51 Member Posts: 2,214
    edited May 2017

    image

    This seems appropriate! Would it make a good mantra? It's even circular.

    It's true about gardeners though. My dad, a career Navy man, would come home to San Diego on leave after months at sea, and plant gardens. My mom's letters to him were full of news of us kids and his garden. I apparently could not be made to wear shoes (still can't!) and how his gladioli were blooming or his tomatoes ripening. He loved sweet alyssum and grew cucumbers up the side of a big lathe house in our backyard. We had roses, and night blooming jasmine and a fig tree, a ginger plant and potted geraniums on little shelves attached to the side of the garage. Memories! My mom took care of it all, and years later, in the heat and sand of New Mexico, grew Swiss Chard in a tiny plot in the shade of our military housing.

    I've gardened all my life, and it is one of the hardest things now that I can't. The fatigue, the lungs, the arthritis, I've just had to give it up. Hate that.

    Thanks for this thread!


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  • sas-schatzi
    sas-schatzi Member Posts: 19,603
    edited May 2017

    Hi Mags, so glad to see you here and thanks for sharing such wonderful memories of Dirt and how the whole family was drawn to it. I like your Mantra:)

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  • sas-schatzi
    sas-schatzi Member Posts: 19,603
    edited May 2017

    Look around and see

    the beauty of what has grown

    Why has it grown?

    Was it an accident

    or intentional ?

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  • WenchLori
    WenchLori Member Posts: 1,558
    edited May 2017

    Sassy, I think it was intentional as the dirt and plants were here long before us humans... that's my story and I'm sticking to it lol

    I got my mushroom patch finished yesterday. Now to forget it's there and let Mother Nature do her thing. I'll post pictures once our internet is back to running full steam ahead. I love being out in the middle of nowhere but the internet access has a very long way to go to get here!!


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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited May 2017

    Mushrooms! That sounds awesome.

    I've been playing in the dirt today. 2017 garlic harvest! image

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  • sas-schatzi
    sas-schatzi Member Posts: 19,603
    edited May 2017

    Wow Lucy, nice crop. What else do you plant?

    Wenchie could you please, post your pictures of the straw bale farming that you are doing?

    Wenchie and Lucy do you compost. I know very little about composting, but considering we are talking about Dirt maybe one or two questions. is there a composting bacteria concoction that you can add, that increases certain bacteria in the dirt. The Mycobacterium Vaccae is being added to some probiotics, can you add it to the compost or directly to the dirt.

    I have a septic system. The septic folks provide a jar of liquid bacteria to add to the toilet a few days after the septic is emptied. It is the most awful, stinky, make you gag and throw up smell. They didn't warn me. It's a starter for bacteria in the septic system, like a sourdough starter. Enriches the poop

    That's why I wondered whether you can buy something commercially to enrich the soil? Probably good old manure is the best.

    Wonder if animal manure has Mycobacterium Vaccae in it?

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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited May 2017

    That is all I'm growing this year besides a few standard garden vegetables. I use donkey dookey and chicken poo along with the haycleaned out of the barn. I don't compost per se. I just have a few manure piles. I'm going to check the ph this year and amend as needed. This is my first year to try garlic. I'm sure I'm making loads of mistakes but I'm learning and it is fun.

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  • cive
    cive Member Posts: 709
    edited May 2017

    sas-schatzi, Yeah the stuff they give you for your septic system is NASTY.  That is because it is bacteria growen anaerobically (without oxygen ) as opposed to aerobic decomposition which is with oxygen.  In our streams, gardens etc we want aerobic decomposition but septic nasty does best with anaerobic bacteria that eats all the turds.

    Then the mostly liquid goes to the drainfield where it is decomposed aerobically.

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  • sas-schatzi
    sas-schatzi Member Posts: 19,603
    edited May 2017

    Cive, thank you I new there had to be a difference, very nicely explained. Actually, thank goodness. You are right that septic stuff is NASTY. Couldn't conceive anyone wanting to be around it on a routine basis.

    Random thought: On fb, there was the story of the Rumba that ran over poop in the house and kept on working. The homeowner woke up to poop sprayed all over the walls, furniture and cupboards. I almost peed myself laughing.

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  • WenchLori
    WenchLori Member Posts: 1,558
    edited June 2017

    I don't compost either, I start but then I just toss it all out. No idea why tho?

    I've got 35 bales of straw that I conditioned with fertilizer for 10 days. I started planting on day #12, I only used an inch or so of potting soil to hold the seeds in place and the plants are actually rooted in the bale and not the potting soil. Everything is growing really well. I planted some tomato plants in the ground and their just now catching up to the tomatoes planted in the bales. I have a lot more veggies planted than the ones pictured below

    1. Picture of my straw bale garden (SBG)

    image

    2. My Romano Beans

    image

    3. Romaine

    image

    4. Kale


    image

    5. Sugar Crunch Cucs

    image

    6. Carrots, this is the first year I've been able to get any kind of root veggies to grow! My radishes are doing great also, not so much for my turnips. They seem to be growing above the potting soil?! Go figure!

    image

    7. Giant Red Russian Peppers. You can see some of my cucs in the back ground.

    image

    8. Hillbilly Tomato

    image

    9. Dwarf Cow Okra

    image

    10. Strawberry Stand. My hubby took an old pallet and removed the center boards and added sides and a bottom to the pallet, then placed it on top of an old stand/frame so I don't have to bend over to pick my berries.

    image

    11. My strawberries when I first planted them.

    image

    12. Roots of my radishes, this one measured about 11" long!

    image

    That's how to grow a garden without the dirt!


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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited June 2017

    OMD Lori! What a beautiful garden! I'm going to have to study your pictures. My daughter's wedding is at our farm on Sept. I think I might try the straw bales to plant some cutting flower for the wedding, Straw is not that plentiful here, but don't you think old hay bales would work as well? A lot of people have old hay now and I bet I can get some bales cheap. Thanks for the pics!



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  • WenchLori
    WenchLori Member Posts: 1,558
    edited June 2017

    farmerlucy, thank you. You can use hay bales too they just produce so much more grass than the straw bales as the seeds are kept within the bales. I use my grass clippers to trim the sides and I pull the occasional blade of grass growing on top between the plants. I've seen pictures of bales being used on a patio with flowers planted in them. They are very pleasing to the eye and oh so pretty. I may try a few myself next year.


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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited June 2017

    Ok folks - here is the creepiest thing. One of the baby ducks came up lame so I put him in a dog crate near the rest of the poultry so he could rest it. I went in there to show him to a nine year old visitor. The duck was motionless at the back of the crate. We looked closer and a big black snake was curled around the poor baby and had choked it. I'm not sure the snake had thought things through because if he had swallowed the duck he couldn't get out of the crate. Anywho, he slithered off. I'm armed with the snake grabber when I do chores now. If I find him he'll be relocated. Eek!

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  • WenchLori
    WenchLori Member Posts: 1,558
    edited June 2017

    Oh no, poor baby duck! Danged snakes anyway! I used to breed and raise snakes for pet shops and I know snakes are here to help keep rodents down but I hate it when they take our "family members" away from us. Gggrrrr


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