On 2/20/2016 6:28 PM, Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:


one writer down in Aussieland found a source of deader
fish from such a place that he could use in his garden.
wanted to know how to make fish emulsion. AFAIC fish are
a near perfect fertilizer for high demand plants, why
would anyone want to go through extra work when the worms,
bugs and other soil critters will take care of the process?
Well, for one thing, dead fish are exceptionally aromatic and, if
buried deeply enough not to attract a rather large gamut of neighboring
digging beasts, the decay product (which is, after all, what is desired)
is largely unavailable to the garden. Down here in the sand, one must
bury fish more deeply than, for example, cats (with which the burying of
I have some experience....). Commercially produced fish "emulsion" has
been processed, after a fashion, largely by simple cooking, to kill off
pathogens and reduce the odor.

the only downside is that if the raccoons start finding
the gardens smelling really good they might go after some
of the plants thinking there is food down there.
Here, the raccoons seem to dig randomly in search of subterranean
treasure ("grubs"), although, they clearly do follow mole trails—in
competition for the same food, no doubt. Here, the most likely pests to
be attracted to garden soil amendments are free range dogs.

we used to have troubles with the onion transplants
getting uprooted by raccoons because they could smell
the fertilizer used on them. they'd pull the plants
up and leave them laying on the surface, didn't eat
them, just looking for food.
That happened to me in 2014. The cute little monsters damaged the
plants so badly that I just started over with new seeds and got the
onions transplanted late.


you gots acres there, some selected thinning and chipping
would provide plenty of carbon. or just walking around picking
up sticks might be enough.
Oh, you know that I don't do that. I'm the guy who's trying to
encourage more of this place to return to its native state. Besides, I
have an unending supply of "brown": I have enough tree tops laid by
from harvested firewood to last the remainder of my lifetime, +, and I
certainly hope that I have more coming :-) It is fresh tender, ready to
rot, _green_ vegetative material that always is in short supply.

And our Home Owner's Association doesn't allow open composting, must be
in a barrel or a composter. Every tree in the subdivision is a live oak,
don't drop leaves. We're the only folks with a fruit tree in the front
yard and a couple more in the back. I watched the new neighbor next door
fail to water his expensive live oak during the summer drought, tried to
warn him, tree died. He hired someone to come and take it out of the
ground and haul it off. City people, hmmpf!

George Shirley wrote:
....
And our Home Owner's Association doesn't allow open composting, must be
in a barrel or a composter. Every tree in the subdivision is a live oak,
don't drop leaves. We're the only folks with a fruit tree in the front
yard and a couple more in the back. I watched the new neighbor next door
fail to water his expensive live oak during the summer drought, tried to
warn him, tree died. He hired someone to come and take it out of the
ground and haul it off. City people, hmmpf!

sounds like a regulation written by people who don't
know how to garden or all the various ways you can
compost.

i've not had any "traditional" compost piles around here
for many years. but i've processed tons of materials.

i doubt anyone would notice if you'd done some layered
compost gardens topped by wood chips. or buried things
for slower composting. clay likes organic stuff.


songbird

On 2/21/2016 6:38 PM, songbird wrote:
George Shirley wrote:
...
And our Home Owner's Association doesn't allow open composting, must be
in a barrel or a composter. Every tree in the subdivision is a live oak,
don't drop leaves. We're the only folks with a fruit tree in the front
yard and a couple more in the back. I watched the new neighbor next door
fail to water his expensive live oak during the summer drought, tried to
warn him, tree died. He hired someone to come and take it out of the
ground and haul it off. City people, hmmpf!

sounds like a regulation written by people who don't
know how to garden or all the various ways you can
compost.

i've not had any "traditional" compost piles around here
for many years. but i've processed tons of materials.

i doubt anyone would notice if you'd done some layered
compost gardens topped by wood chips. or buried things
for slower composting. clay likes organic stuff.


songbird

There are about three people here that garden, all of us in raised beds.
One of them is the HOA President, he has a large, black trash can on
wheels that he composts in, the other guy has a compost heap in his
backyard but doesn't let out any hints it is there. It's hard to find a
home in Houston area that isn't run by an HOA. State had to step in in
2011 and write a new law about HOA's. Seems many of them were seizing
peoples homes if their dues weren't paid on time, plus a lot of silly
rules, which it seems that there are still many of. Our HOA just takes
out a lien if the dues aren't paid and, when the house is sold by the
owner the HOA gets their money. Subdivision is now ten years old and
some of the owners have never paid their dues. Dues are $290 a year and
the money just sits in the bank. No amenities at all but a lot of
promises for a club house and maybe a basketball court. We shall see. DW
likes the closeness to our large extended family. When she and I married
it was just us, now it's our two kids, five grandkids, six great grands
and two of our granddaughters haven't married and spawned as yet plus
one grandson that is still in high school. It hasn't ended yet, we've
got a 16 year old great grand daughter and I worry about her. Happens
she has a really good mind so I think she will be okay. Our youngest
great granddaughter will be here with us every other day for the week
while her mom goes to therapy for a bad shoulder. We're happy with the
deal, and we're slowly getting her into gardening. She's pretty good at
digging in the raised beds.