Slugs and Snails
I don't garden on a large scale but have been gardening and composting for many years and still learning. When I mentioned a few years ago to a neighbor that I was having trouble with the above critters, she gave me some Chinese vegetable protectors. You probably know about them? These are round, green, plastic jobs about the size of a saucer. They taper outwards towards the top and then curve over at the top to point slightly downwards. I have never had a problem with my few lettuces or brassicas since then, by gently pressing them into the soil. I used to protect my young seedlings from the wind, the cold, slugs and snails by cutting out the bases of large fruit or baked-bean tins but these Chinese things last longer and are more efficient. Wouldn't be without them now. But our Army Worms devastated our crops this year. Best way is to go out an hour after sunset with a torch and laboriously go round picking them off with long-nosed pliers and dropping them into soapy water.
I am still battling white fly and will try to invent a solar-powered, yellow light to attract them away from my Kale. Yellow sticky pads cannot keep up with the sheer numbers we have. Any good suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
Slugs and Snails
A good size slug will make a catch for a fish like Bass or Catfish. Be careful to not eat fish from large rivers and reservoirs in densely populated, dense agricultural or industrial areas as the fish could contain high levels of pollutants and heavy metals. Always wash hands after handling snails as they are the primary source of the Liver Fluke.
Slugs and Snails
★★★★★
(USA)
04/25/2009
★★★★★
Slugs and Snails
★★★★★
Slugs and Snails
Slugs and Snails
Soil Health
★★★★★
SOIL HEALTH
Good day.
Here is a BBC article on Soil Health (or the LACK of) which I trust many of you will find as interesting as I did. "The Answer lies in the Soil" etc etc
There is also a book by David Coory entitled "Stay Healthy by Supplying what's Lacking in your Diet" (11th edition 2021) which is claimed to be NZ's top selling health book.
Cheers from Down Under
Tabasco Peppers
My little guy came out to help me plant. Digging in the dirt is fun! Here is a picture of him planting a Tabasco pepper plant. If you can find a Tabasco pepper plant, I would encourage you to plant one. It is the most beautiful plant in the garden when the peppers come in. They are small and upturned and look like Christmas tree lights!
Then you make Pepper Sauce. Super easy. You just put the peppers into a jar and cover with white vinegar. In two weeks you have hot pepper sauce. Not too hot. You are basically making a tincture with vinegar instead of alcohol. And this is so pretty sitting on your table.
By the way Mmsg - my son says we don't have any wild oats growing near us here like we did when we lived in Kentucky!
And Robert Henry, what is the best way to keep down the weeds? I have heard of putting paper bags around the base of the plants to keep down weeds, but should I be concerned about chemicals in the paper? Thanks!
~Mama to Many~
(Somewhere, Europe)
05/23/2017
Ha MtM! Just today I planted some oat groats from the health food store!! I had planted them last week, but the birds dug up every last one and ate them!! So for now I have them in a planter, covered.
Do you know if "oat groat tea" (is there even such a thing??! ) will give the bone benefits that oatstraw tea does?
(Ten Mile , Tn)
05/23/2017
MAMA,,,,,,,,, you doing good and I can't add a whole lot to your program. I too, am planting tabasco pepper plants that a friend who gave us the old peppers. Just wish we still had some snot nose kids at home to help in the garden like you do.
Whatever shuts out the sun will keep down weeds. We use woven mesh, but add last years leaves to augment. As you know you don't save money by growing a garden. You just eat healthier and that the reason EC exists.
ATS ====ORH========
(Ten Mile , Tn)
05/23/2017
MAMA,,,,,,,, reread your post and if you want really hot pepper sauce then add olive oil. I learned that trick from my South Louisiana Cujun friends when I worked down there in the '60's. The oil pulls out the heat from the peppers.
====ORH===
(Ten Mile, Tn)
05/24/2017
MAMA,,,,,,,,, what you know... that some folk don't, is that water is not water. I have an irrigation system from a spring, but that does not have the H2O2 that rain water does. It is raining cats and dogs here in East Tenn and my garden plants are reaching for the sky. It is bettern fertilizer. Plants love H2O2.
How does rain obtain H2O2? The rain passes through the Ozone layer and picks up an extra Oxygen atom. H2O2 is an unstable compound and will soon loose the extra oxygen atom with time . That is the reason you buy it in a dark container. Light, time, and heat kill H2O2. Thus:
2H2O2----2H2O + O2
So... after awhile H2O2 turns to water and oxygen. If you pour it on a open wound and it does not fizz, then pour it out. It is no longer H2O2. It is just water.
Mama, I'll give you $3.50 for that little tow headed boy in your photo. He is precious.
====ORH=======
(Tn)
05/24/2017
Dear Robert Henry,
Well, I didn't know the the difference in water that you have shared. I really appreciate the chemistry lesson!
Would something like this be the reason that farmers would plow snow into the ground?
We have had a lot of rain, too. I have a new appreciation for it.
Glad you like my little guy. I am pretty fond of him myself. He keeps me on my toes and laughing all the way.
~Mama to Many~
(Tn)
05/25/2017
Dear Mmsg,
Regarding oats versus the oatstraw part of the plant- my herb books mostly discuss them interchangeably. I think their nutrient content is similar. This discussion about oats at Mountain Rose Herbs would indicate that the oatstraw tea tends to heal more over time. Both are excellent for the nervous system. Both have calcium and magnesium, making them good for the bones. I love oats and oatstraw as a healing food. Another great way to let your food be your medicine!
I have not heard of using the oats as a tea but don't see why you couldn't. It would likely be tastier than oatstraw tea, which kind of tastes like grass tea, to me. (Hmmm...but I have never actually consumed grass tea....)
https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/oatstraw/profile
~Mama to Many~
(Somewhere, Europe)
06/01/2017
MtM, around here there are tons of a plant that looks like oatstraw pictures on Google, but they have a sliver of an excuse for a seed. So I dunno if they are wild oats at all. So I planted oat groats (seeds) in a flowerpot....but they didn't grow! Makes me wonder if they are fit for human consumption. And they don't sell oatstraw for tea in health food stores here. And, I've cut down on eating grains. So I'm wondering how to get the benefits of oats. Any ideas?
(Tn)
06/03/2017
Dear Mmsg,
Amazon, iherb or Mountain Rose Herbs may ship internationally. I think Fronteir has oatstraw in bulk.
I am not sure how the wild oats plant looks when it is grown.
If oatstraw ends up not being a reasonable option might nettle be available? It is another very nutritive herb. 😀🌱
~Mama to Many~
The Soil Association (UK)
★★★★★
Here is a follow up to my ranting and raving from a little earlier to-day.
This "Soil Association" Site has been around in the UK for long enough (1946) to have a track record to be appreciated for what it achieves. My famous Aunt liked it a lot, which has to be an enviable endorsement! Prince Charles possibly approves also.
You could do a lot worse than this one if you seriously wish to get started on your "Growing Journey".
At least their hemisphere is the same as your one and you don't have to convert Januaries to Julys etc like we do down here !!!
Scroll down to their "Top Tips for Growing at Home" for a nice succinct summary (with no padding and dross).
https://www.soilassociation.org/who-we-are/
Go/grow well.
Cheers from Down Under
Tomato Tips
★★★★★
Tomato Tips
★★★★★
(USA)
04/15/2009
Matt from Burlington, VT replies: "Egg shells are also good for birds' digestion. In the winter when it's hard for birds to find grit or tiny pebbles to break down seeds, I crush dried egg shells and leave them near my bird feeders. They gobble it right up. Coarse sand also does the same trick, but I've always used egg shells.
Tomato Tips
Tomato Tips
Vitamin K Vegetables
Most know that there is a clay hard pan below the topsoil that plant roots cannot penetrate. If you break up this hard pan then your plant roots can go deeper and live longer in drought times. I thought I would be smart at 65, then 75 and maybe will make that goal at 85. Anyways, I can use this knowledge in my next life, if I don't come back as a goat.
Our fall garden consists of lettuce, radish, onions, garlic, beets, kale, rudabeggers, purple top turnips, mustard greens and collards. All loaded with Vitamin K which takes calcium out of your blood and deposits it into your bones, where it should be. Your cardiologist tells you that it is cholesterol that plugs your blood vessels up. Shame on him. It is calcium in your blood that plugs you up.
Finishing up a 'nother 30 round of EDTA CHELATIONS to clean my vessels out. I have now done over 100 chelations in the last 14 years. And no, it is not covered by insurance. Too cheap and too effective. MD's want you coming back add infinitum, which means forever.
Yo Redneck buddy............. ====ORH====
(Ten Mile, Tn)
08/31/2018
HI U GOOD FOLKS DOIN,,,,,,,, might have messed up in my last post ......cause you can clean out your blood vessels with 30 treatments and that will cost you $3000 out of pocket. On the other hand, a 4 vessel bypass will cost someone about $200,000 and is just a temporary fix.
Let me tell you a secret. Go to your doctor and tell him you are having head pains and think your Carotid Arteries are the problem. Get the test done and that pluggage will tell you what is going on around your heart. If your test tells you are over 50% plugged in the neck then find you an Integrative Doctor that does EDTA Chelation and do 30 treatments and get retested. Otherwise, you are ripe for a heart attack.
What this tells you is that you are not eating right. So change that. That is the reason that a heart by-pass operation is only a temporary thing. If you don't change your eating, then you will go through this from now on. I eat best I can, but know that is not the whole picture, but Chelation is the for-giver. A heart by-pass is playing Russian roulette. You are pissen in the wind.
I have spent about 14 years going down this road and talked to some 200 people who had bypass after bypass until they found Chelation. Even then, you have to eat right or you back in deep DoDo.
I am a health preacher and have few converts. Most will only listen to their MD and that is the tragedy .
ATS ====ORH====
Volcanic Ash and Epsom Salt
★★★★★
Today he also learned why a specific elm tree is called Ironwood. The tree has the appearance of the arm of a muscled man. Since he lifts weights, he understood that. He is coming around and it makes me proud to be a part of his education. At my stage of life, I need him more than he needs me. It is a win-win situation.
====ORH====
