"Tim" wrote in message
...
FarmI wrote:
"Tim" wrote in message
George.com wrote:

Tim, I think the point Billy is making, and perhaps not a bad point
either, is think about other sorts of time release fertilisers also.
Poop based fertilisers for example are also slow release but are also
good for your soil. Don't just look at symthetic slow release, think
about natural fertilisers that deliver a managed amount of nutrients to
your plants and also do some benefit to your soils.

Hi Rob. Thanks for the well written post.
At the beginning of each growing season, I do mix in some
composted poop into my containers.

And what do you observe? Have you tried using only composted poop in one
lot, a mix of composted poopand chemicals in another lot and just
chenmicals in a third lot?

I wouldn't mind betting pounds to peanuts that the chemical lot looks fat
and huge.
First of all...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your
prior post. 8-) If I needed attention getting, I wouldn't be here.

Now, no I never did that experiment!
But you raised a good point in "taste".

Tim, here is my simplistic view on using fertilisers - synthetic and
natural. I figured out a while ago that humus and organic matter in my soil
is good for it. Stripping away the humus was bad for my soil. Therefore, I
practise putting organic matter in to my gardens. I use composted manure,
compost or mulch. Bunging that stuff on my garden improves my soil over
time, but also beneifcally adds nutrients in a soil friendly manner which
are released in a controlled and time released way. Therefore, I concluded,
as long as I am adding organic matter tom my soil, the plants will get fed
in the process. Ipso facto, why bother adding extra fertiliser. To date my
veges have done nicely following this line of reasoning. They are not the
largest and fastest growing, but they are healthy and aboput right size for
me & the family, and they taste good. If I look after my soil, my veges look
after me.

rob

George.com wrote:

"Tim" wrote in message
...
FarmI wrote:
"Tim" wrote in message
George.com wrote:

Tim, I think the point Billy is making, and perhaps not a bad point
either, is think about other sorts of time release fertilisers
also. Poop based fertilisers for example are also slow release but
are also good for your soil. Don't just look at symthetic slow
release, think about natural fertilisers that deliver a managed
amount of nutrients to your plants and also do some benefit to
your soils.

Hi Rob. Thanks for the well written post.
At the beginning of each growing season, I do mix in some
composted poop into my containers.

And what do you observe? Have you tried using only composted poop in
one lot, a mix of composted poopand chemicals in another lot and just
chenmicals in a third lot?

I wouldn't mind betting pounds to peanuts that the chemical lot looks
fat and huge.
First of all...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your
prior post. 8-) If I needed attention getting, I wouldn't be here.

Now, no I never did that experiment!
But you raised a good point in "taste".

Tim, here is my simplistic view on using fertilisers - synthetic and
natural. I figured out a while ago that humus and organic matter in my
soil is good for it. Stripping away the humus was bad for my soil.
Therefore, I practise putting organic matter in to my gardens. I use
composted manure, compost or mulch. Bunging that stuff on my garden
improves my soil over time, but also beneifcally adds nutrients in a
soil friendly manner which are released in a controlled and time
released way. Therefore, I concluded, as long as I am adding organic
matter tom my soil, the plants will get fed in the process. Ipso facto,
why bother adding extra fertiliser. To date my veges have done nicely
following this line of reasoning. They are not the largest and fastest
growing, but they are healthy and aboput right size for me & the family,
and they taste good. If I look after my soil, my veges look after me.

rob
Thank you all for your posts.
I think perhaps I may have come across different than I intended, as I
am aware of most of what is being posted here. In other threads, I've
stated before that I *used* to grow in raised beds, had a mulch pile,
etc...and never used duck chemfer....Had great plants.
When I had to switch to containers, I first started to make my own soil,
and included much organic material in the pots, as that was what I was
used too. Results became sporadic, both in varieties that grew well,
as well as years that would differ. I played with the mix of my soil,
with mixed results. Nothing consistent.
See, I don't view this as a "political", or "green" thing, but one of
consistency.
What I have learned just having inet connectivity restored after years
is that the eco-systems of containers is vastly different than land
based eco-systems. ie, what works great in the ground, may not work
in a container. Now, having read many posts from container specific
sites, everyone else has the same problem, that try the organic approach.
Looking at sites that sell organic material, one finds that the majority
of fertilizers are in need of microbes and other critters to make the
organic fert inorganic so the plant can use it. That, I think is the
problem for organic container gardeners, some time you have the
critters, some times you don't.
Heck, even the temp of the growing medium makes a difference. To high
or low, the critters don't work as well, or may die off.

Wow, this is long, sorry. The bottom line seems to be one of
consistency. The best results for most 'weekend' gardeners, seems to be
a mixture of the two worlds, at least with containers.


--
Tim

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ "Strange days indeed." +
+ Dr. Winston O'Boogie +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You seem to have friends in high places, boy. Pull up a chair.

Having a hard time finding consistency in agriculture (gardening,
farming)? Welcome to the club. "Man proposes, God disposes", pretty well
sums it up.

Let's look again at what Rob said.
"Tim, here is my simplistic view on using fertilisers - synthetic and
natural. I figured out a while ago that humus and organic matter in my
soil is good for it. Stripping away the humus was bad for my soil.
Therefore, I practise putting organic matter in to my gardens. I use
composted manure, compost or mulch. Bunging that stuff on my garden
improves my soil over time, but also beneifcally adds nutrients in a
soil friendly manner which are released in a controlled and time
released way. Therefore, I concluded, as long as I am adding organic
matter tom my soil, the plants will get fed in the process. Ipso facto,
why bother adding extra fertiliser. To date my veges have done nicely
following this line of reasoning. They are not the largest and fastest
growing, but they are healthy and aboput right size for me & the family,
and they taste good. If I look after my soil, my veges look after me."
- Rob

If you don't want the smell of manure around, you might try dropping a
small fish into your container before planting, or you could try hair
(human, dog, cat, whatever). Organic fish emulsion is handy and easy.
You could plant pulse cover crops in your containers over the winter.
They will have recharged your pots by spring planting. You could even
bury meat scraps in your containers, over the winter.

If that doesn't satisfy you look at
Organic Fertilizers
http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/en...rtilizer/jan89
pr6.html
.. . . Compared to synthetic fertilizer formulations,organic fertilizers
contain relatively low concentrations of actual nutrients, but they
perform important functions which the synthetic formulations do not.
They increase the organic content and consequently the water-holding
capacity of the soil. They improve the physical structure of the soil
which allows more air to get to plant roots. Where organic sources are
used for fertilizer, bacterial and fungal activity increases in the
soil. Mycorrhizal fungi which make other nutrients more available to
plants thrive in soil where the organic matter content is high.
Organically derived plant nutrients are slow to leach from the soil
making them less likely to contribute to water pollution than synthetic
fertilizers.
(Excerpted from The Virginia Gardener Handbook, Diane Relf, Editor.)

On the note of mycorrhizal fungi ( mycorrhizal*inoculants).
Mycorrhizae is the relationship between roots and the fungi....

"They are a must if you are starting stuff in pots. They are a must if
your garden and yard have had the chemical treatment, rototilled,
compacted or water logged. *After a year or so, they are not needed,
except for things grown in pots or unless there has been the damage
described above."
- Jeff Lowenfeld, co-author of
Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web
Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis
http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microb.../dp/0881927775
/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206815176&sr= 1-1

Then there are commercial preparations, for example
http://www.extremelygreen.com/fertilizerguide.cfm

Three books that I would consider essential for any gardener to read
would be Jeff's and Wayne's book above.

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
http://www.amazon.com/Omnivores-Dile...ls/dp/01430385
83/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206815576&sr=1-1

and

"How to Grow More Vegetables" by John Jeavons
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/...=search-alias%
3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=How+to+Grow+More+Vegetables&x=0&y=0

For a perspective on insecticides see:
American Pests: The Losing War on Insects from Colonial Times to DDT
by James E. McWilliams
http://www.amazon.com/American-Pests...l/dp/023113942
X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238975011&sr=1-1

OK, enough chin wagging. The following are taken from "The Omnivore's
Dilemma" which is cited above.
-------
p. 145 - 6
When you add together the natural gas in the fertilizer to the fossil
fuels it takes to make the pesticides, drive the tractors, and harvest,
dry, and transport the corn, you find that every bushel of industrial
corn requires the equivalent of between a quarter and a third of a
gallon of oil to grow it-or around fifty gallons of oil per acre of
corn. (Some estimates are much higher.) Put another way, it takes more
than a calorie of fossil fuel energy to produce a calorie of food;
before the advent of chemical fertilizer the Naylor farm produced more
than two calories of food energy for every calorie of energy invested.

---------
p.165
To provide fertility‹the farm's biggest expense‹compost is trucked in;
some crops also receive fish emulsion along with their water and a side
dressing of pelleted chicken manure. Over the winter a cover crop of
legumes is planted to build up nitrogen in the soil.

Harsh chemicals can scorch young leaves, and nitrogen fertilizers render
lettuces (and other plants) more vulnerable to insects. It seems the
bugs are attracted to the free nitrogen in their leaves, and because of
the more rapid growth of chemically nourished plants, insects find their
leaves easier to pierce.

-----
p.179
A study by University of California-Davis researchers published in the
Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry in 2003 described an
experiment in which identical varieties of corn, strawberries, and
blackberries grown in neighboring plots using different methods
(including organically and conventionally) were compared for levels of
vitamins and polyphenols. Polyphenols are a group of secondary
metabolites manufactured by plants that we've recently learned play an
important role in human health and nutrition. Many are potent
antioxidants; some play a role in preventing or fighting cancer; others
exhibit antimicrobial properties. The Davis researchers found that
organic and otherwise sustainably grown fruits and vegetables contained
significantly higher levels of both ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and a wide
range of polyphenols. . .

.. . . Why in the world should organically grown blackberries or corn
contain significantly more of these compounds? The authors of Davis
study haven't settled the question, but they offer two suggest theories.
The reason plants produce these compounds in the first place is to
defend themselves against pests and diseases; the more pressure from
pathogens, the more polyphenols a plant will produce. These compounds,
then, are the products of natural selection and, more specifically, the
coevolutionary relationship between plants and the species that prey on
them. Who would have guessed that humans evolved to profit from a diet
of these plant pesticides? Or that we would invent an agriculture that
then deprived us of them? The Davis authors hypothesize that plants
being defended by man-made pesticides don't need to work as hard to make
their own polyphenol pesticides. Coddled by us and our chemicals, the
plants see no reason to invest their sources in mounting a strong
defense.

------
OK, study-up. There will be a test at the end of the week.
------
On a personal note, what have been your most informative container
gardening sites?

In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.
Oscar Wilde

In article ,
Tim wrote:

But you raised a good point in "taste".

Tim, here is my simplistic view on using fertilisers - synthetic and
natural. I figured out a while ago that humus and organic matter in my
soil is good for it. Stripping away the humus was bad for my soil.
Therefore, I practise putting organic matter in to my gardens. I use
composted manure, compost or mulch. Bunging that stuff on my garden
improves my soil over time, but also beneifcally adds nutrients in a
soil friendly manner which are released in a controlled and time
released way. Therefore, I concluded, as long as I am adding organic
matter tom my soil, the plants will get fed in the process. Ipso facto,
why bother adding extra fertiliser. To date my veges have done nicely
following this line of reasoning. They are not the largest and fastest
growing, but they are healthy and aboput right size for me & the family,
and they taste good. If I look after my soil, my veges look after me.

rob
Thank you all for your posts.
I think perhaps I may have come across different than I intended, as I
am aware of most of what is being posted here. In other threads, I've
stated before that I *used* to grow in raised beds, had a mulch pile,
etc...and never used duck chemfer....Had great plants.
When I had to switch to containers, I first started to make my own soil,
and included much organic material in the pots, as that was what I was
used too. Results became sporadic, both in varieties that grew well,
as well as years that would differ. I played with the mix of my soil,
with mixed results. Nothing consistent.
See, I don't view this as a "political", or "green" thing, but one of
consistency.
What I have learned just having inet connectivity restored after years
is that the eco-systems of containers is vastly different than land
based eco-systems. ie, what works great in the ground, may not work
in a container. Now, having read many posts from container specific
sites, everyone else has the same problem, that try the organic approach.
Looking at sites that sell organic material, one finds that the majority
of fertilizers are in need of microbes and other critters to make the
organic fert inorganic so the plant can use it. That, I think is the
problem for organic container gardeners, some time you have the
critters, some times you don't.
Heck, even the temp of the growing medium makes a difference. To high
or low, the critters don't work as well, or may die off.

Wow, this is long, sorry. The bottom line seems to be one of
consistency. The best results for most 'weekend' gardeners, seems to be
a mixture of the two worlds, at least with containers.


--
Tim
--

- Billy
"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being
is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the
moment of conception until death." - Rachel Carson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI29wVQN8Go

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html

"Billy" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

Don't clean you teeth
yet, they might fall out because of the shock you've given them :-))
Yes mum, I was just goin' to bush them out a bit, sort of a comb over;O)

Snort! That'd I'd love to see. Teeth with a comb over! Just let them go
bald and be proud of them as there is nothing worse than a comb over.

I saw a chap in a cafe a couple of weeks ago who had a comb over that came
from about 1 inch above his collar. It was so disgusting and fascinating
that I couldn't stop staring. He must have used Super Glue to keep it in
place.

"Tim" wrote in message

Wow, this is long, sorry. The bottom line seems to be one of consistency.
The best results for most 'weekend' gardeners, seems to be
a mixture of the two worlds, at least with containers.

I'm not sure what you mean by your reference to 'weekend' gardeners. I
think I probably achieved more in the garden when I still had a full time
job than I do now that I just do occasional work. I was more organised when
I worked as I knew I had to get it done. Now I know I have all the time in
the world (or at leas till the Grim Reaper comes calling).

In article
,
Billy wrote:

There will be a test at the end of the week.

Take your time. You have until the end of the month to complete this
test.
For 100 points.

Q. What is your favorite color?

A. _ _ _ _ _ _
--

- Billy
"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being
is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the
moment of conception until death." - Rachel Carson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI29wVQN8Go

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html

Once you finish the test, you may wish to look at the following sights,
er, sites.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/conten...nic-garden.htm
l

and

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/conten...from-seed-and-
seedling.html

As I may be away for a couple of days, I'm asking Ms. Rice to sub for
me, and I'm sure she will do a wonderful job of maintaining the
continuity of the class.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/am...45748353446.ht
ml

In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.
Oscar Wilde
--

- Billy
"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being
is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the
moment of conception until death." - Rachel Carson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI29wVQN8Go

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...
"Billy" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

Don't clean you teeth
yet, they might fall out because of the shock you've given them :-))
Yes mum, I was just goin' to bush them out a bit, sort of a comb over;O)

Snort! That'd I'd love to see. Teeth with a comb over! Just let them go
bald and be proud of them as there is nothing worse than a comb over.

I saw a chap in a cafe a couple of weeks ago who had a comb over that came
from about 1 inch above his collar. It was so disgusting and fascinating
that I couldn't stop staring. He must have used Super Glue to keep it in
place.

pictures?

Comb overs, groan. Hoped they'd have gone out with walk shorts and walk
socks. Guy in my office still does a comb over, though not from that far
down. That said, I maintain a "comb forward" to disguise the advancing
forehead.

rob

"George.com" wrote in message
...

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...
"Billy" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

Don't clean you teeth
yet, they might fall out because of the shock you've given them :-))
Yes mum, I was just goin' to bush them out a bit, sort of a comb over;O)

Snort! That'd I'd love to see. Teeth with a comb over! Just let them
go bald and be proud of them as there is nothing worse than a comb over.

I saw a chap in a cafe a couple of weeks ago who had a comb over that
came from about 1 inch above his collar. It was so disgusting and
fascinating that I couldn't stop staring. He must have used Super Glue
to keep it in place.

pictures?

Comb overs, groan.

as bad as this one?
half way down the page
http://www.everythingismiscellaneous...008/12/page/2/

In article ,
"George.com" wrote:

"George.com" wrote in message
...

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...
"Billy" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

Don't clean you teeth
yet, they might fall out because of the shock you've given them :-))
Yes mum, I was just goin' to bush them out a bit, sort of a comb over;O)

Snort! That'd I'd love to see. Teeth with a comb over! Just let them
go bald and be proud of them as there is nothing worse than a comb over.

I saw a chap in a cafe a couple of weeks ago who had a comb over that
came from about 1 inch above his collar. It was so disgusting and
fascinating that I couldn't stop staring. He must have used Super Glue
to keep it in place.

pictures?

Comb overs, groan.

as bad as this one?
half way down the page
http://www.everythingismiscellaneous...008/12/page/2/

Another alternative is to preemptively shave your head, which is OK,
except, if you are a white guy, your head looks like a thumb.
--

- Billy
"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being
is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the
moment of conception until death." - Rachel Carson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI29wVQN8Go

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html

In article
. easynews.com,
Steve wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 09:09:50 -0700, Billy
wrote:

Another alternative is to preemptively shave your head, which is OK,
except, if you are a white guy, your head looks like a thumb.

Or something...

Just as long as it is held up high. Very chinese with the top knot as
a reminder. The opposite is hanging ones head down not too many things
to be said about that are positive . Unless humility posture and
subjection matters to one . Grieving a major exception and pulling
weeds.

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

Not all who wander are lost.
- J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973)

"Billy" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"George.com" wrote:

"George.com" wrote in message
...

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...
"Billy" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

Don't clean you teeth
yet, they might fall out because of the shock you've given them :-))
Yes mum, I was just goin' to bush them out a bit, sort of a comb
over;O)

Snort! That'd I'd love to see. Teeth with a comb over! Just let
them
go bald and be proud of them as there is nothing worse than a comb
over.

I saw a chap in a cafe a couple of weeks ago who had a comb over that
came from about 1 inch above his collar. It was so disgusting and
fascinating that I couldn't stop staring. He must have used Super
Glue
to keep it in place.

pictures?

Comb overs, groan.

as bad as this one?
half way down the page
http://www.everythingismiscellaneous...008/12/page/2/

Another alternative is to preemptively shave your head, which is OK,
except, if you are a white guy, your head looks like a thumb.

except, if you had hair and then shaved it, it'd be a disaster if you
decided to grow it back and ...........nothing

Elaine enters with her new boyfriend, Kurt.

ELAINE: Hey! Look who's here! Hey Kurt, this is Jerry, and George, and
Kramer.

JERRY: Is he from the future?

ELAINE: No, he just shaves his head. I think it's pretty gutsy.

GEORGE: Listen, sweetheart, let me tell you a little something about guts.
Points to his head. This is guts.

ELAINE: What? Clinging to some scraps?

GEORGE: These are not "scraps." These are historic remains of a once great
society of hair.



ELAINE (looking at Kurt's driver's licence photo): Hey, driver's licence.
Oh...my God.

KURT: What?

ELAINE: Your hair. It's so thick and lustrous. I mean, it...it was.

KURT: Well, it still is. I shave my head for my swim team. I just liked the
way it looked, so I kept it.

ELAINE: Are you saying that I could be dating this hair? With you under it?
Kurt shrugs.



ELAINE: Here. Shows Kurt's driver's licence to Jerry. Take a look at that.

JERRY: Huh. Kurt's an organ donor.

ELAINE: No! He's not bald. Look! He's got a full head of hair. George
overhears and stands up, concerned.

JERRY: So he just shaves his head for no reason?

GEORGE: That's like using a wheelchair for the fun of it!

ELAINE: And he's growing it in just for me. (Happily) It's mine. It's all
mine.

JERRY: It's just hair.

ELAINE: It's not just hair! Look! Shows Kurt's licence to Jerry again.

JERRY: It's brown.

ELAINE: It's chestnut with auburn highlights!

JERRY: So?

ELAINE: You're not around women. You don't know how important a man's hair
is. They both look at George, who is reading a newspaper and struggling to
keep his composure. I'm sorry, George, but it's true.



New scene - Elaine checking out Kurt's head at her apartment.

ELAINE: Oh, it's coming in already! Wow, you have some very nice little
seedlings here. Huh...

KURT: What?

ELAINE: Well, it doesn't seem to be coming in so good over here. Or here.

KURT: What do you mean? Goes into the bedroom to look in the mirror.

ELAINE: Well, I don't know...how long have you been shaving your head for?

KURT (from the bedroom): About three years.

ELAINE: Huh.

KURT: Oh my God! Steps into the doorway I'm going bald!

"George.com" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
"Billy" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

Don't clean you teeth
yet, they might fall out because of the shock you've given them :-))
Yes mum, I was just goin' to bush them out a bit, sort of a comb over;O)

Snort! That'd I'd love to see. Teeth with a comb over! Just let them
go bald and be proud of them as there is nothing worse than a comb over.

I saw a chap in a cafe a couple of weeks ago who had a comb over that
came from about 1 inch above his collar. It was so disgusting and
fascinating that I couldn't stop staring. He must have used Super Glue
to keep it in place.

pictures?

Nah. I was rude enough to stare, but asking him to pose would have been a
bridge too far.

"George.com" wrote in message

Comb overs, groan.

as bad as this one?
half way down the page
http://www.everythingismiscellaneous...008/12/page/2/

OMG! that chap is even worse than the chap I saw - not much worse, but
still worse.

On Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:22:47 -0700, Billy
wrote:

:In article ,
: Tim wrote:
:
: Billy wrote:
: In article ,
: Tim wrote:
:
: nanzi wrote:
: On Apr 20, 10:12 am, Tim wrote:
: I grow everything in containers, and use Pro-Mix BX as the soil medium.
: Very happy with it. It drains so well, I worry that the water soluble
: fertilizer leeches out too quick. A garden expert whose podcast I listen
: to Ron Wilson is an avid proponent of Osmakote, a time release
: fertilizer.
: Does anyone use a time release, and how do you think it works for you?
: Do you still give your plants extra feedings?
:
: Tim
:
: Pro-Mixhttp://www.greenhousemegastore.com/Pro-Mix-BX-38CF-Compressed/prod
: uc
: t...
:
: Osmakotehttp://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?tabs=usage&
: pr
: oI...
: I have used Osmakote for a couple of years with good results, and I do
: not feed inbetween.
: Thanks !
: Perhaps I will try it this year..It does surprise me that no other
: feedings are needed, I thought maybe once a month or so, but if you are
: happy with the results...............
:
: Tim
:
: btw--Down boy, down....I figured I may get some grumbles from this,
: but I have to ask questions based on what I do...
: See Charlie, it sure didn't take me long!! P-)
:
: Yeah, it's all there in black and white for everyone to see. You don't
: even know the name of the poison that you use, "Osmocote". That really
: encourages the faint hope that you can use it wisely. There are just no
: words to describe your brilliance. None at all.
:
: lol...Doesn't take much to get you riled, does it?
: Well, as long as you feel better.
:
:Riled? I haven't even dipped into my scatological references yet.
:I just hope that this chemfert never sees topsoil. Granted you're not
:distributing this witch's brew over 1000s of acres, but every bit of
:remaining topsoil is precious.
:
:Humankind has not woven the web of life.* We are but one thread within
:it.* Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.* All things are
:bound together.* All things connect.* ~Chief Seattle, 1855

Well, I guess it's on your advice, but this year I think I'll not do
what I've always done in the past which is to fertilize my veges with a
solution made from 5-10-10 or similar. I got the method from a book:

Tomatoes, the Multiplant Method - Klein

Klein's method produces prodigious crops. He plants in rich soil but
after golf ball sized tomatoes hang, he starts doing weekly dousings
with the dissolved fertilizer to simulate hydroponic growing conditions.
You (I think it was you, Billy) counseled that this is killing the soil.
Well, I added enough compost this year that I think I'll get a fine crop
with no additional fertilizer. I'll see how it goes.

Dan


Email: dmusicant at pacbell dot net