Sacha wrote:
All I'm going to say to that very useful list is that if you get
Convallaria to grow it's quite possible that I shall never speak to you
again. I have failed with it in every garden I've ever had, wherever
situated. I'm now so paranoid about this that I have asked a member of our
staff to plant it for me and I haven't even touched it!

Well, Sacha, if we DO get some and it grows, I'll HAVE to let you know
how we managed it! :-)

Eddy.

In article ,
Eddy says...
David in Normandy wrote:
I'll continue each year with the leaf folding and fleece to
be on the safe side. I'd hate to lose it.

Very interesting hear you talk about your giant, David. Have you ever
discovered or noticed how deep its roots go?

Eddy.



Mine hasn't reached the giant stage yet, it's only a couple
of years old. I don't know how long they take to reach
mature size or how deep the roots of mature specimens go.

It is positioned at the bottom of our soakaway next to the
drainage ditch. It's roots can go as deep and wide as they
like there without interfering with anything.
--
David in Normandy

shazzbat writes

"Eddy" wrote in message
...
Thanks, Fuschia & Shazzbat. Rhubarb! Hee, hee, hee. I would never
have imagined it. A surfeit of rhubarb to give me endless bellyache! I
had ulcers some years ago and rhubarb, which is very acidic, is one of
the things I have to avoid!

But the custard, being made almost entirely of milk, must be alkaline,
surely they cancel each other out PH-wise?

Is milk alkaline?

If it goes off, the sourness is lactic acid.

I'd have expected fresh milk to be more or less neutral. Googling gives:


A study of the pH of individual milk samples

Authors: TSIOULPAS, A; LEWIS, M J; GRANDISON, A S

Source: International Journal of Dairy Technology, Volume 60, Number 2,
May 2007 , pp. 96-97(2)

Abstract:
The pH of 285 milk samples was measured from early, middle and late
stages of lactation. In total, 35 individual cows were used in this
study.

It was found that the average pH value for all individual samples
analysed was 6.63 ± 0.08. There was no significant difference (P 0.05)
in mean pH between early, middle and late lactation. The overall data
and that for early lactation displayed normal distributions.
--
Kay

On Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:22:18 GMT, Eddy
wrote:

Sacha wrote:
Try the giant rhubarb, the inedible one! Gunnera manicata
http://tinyurl.com/2rd8mr

Some Gunnera Manicatas would look great, Sacha. But how deeply do the
roots grow? They're not evergreen, are they? They'ld be something that
the frost would turn to "cabbage", wouldn't they?

I've been mooching about in Google this morning, and until you suggested
Gunneras it seemed that ornamental grass is the only safe option. Stuff
I've been reading this morning has made me start to worry about the
roots of three large ornamental cherries on the edge of my
leach--plain/soakaway.

Eddy.



What about some of that elephant grass they grow for biofuel?

I suspect it'll have to be something that needs regularly cropping -
like the lawn you have there - shallow roots sound very important.
--
http://www.orderonlinepickupinstore.co.uk
Ah fetch it yourself if you can't wait for delivery
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
Or get it delivered for free

"K" wrote in message
...
shazzbat writes

"Eddy" wrote in message
...
Thanks, Fuschia & Shazzbat. Rhubarb! Hee, hee, hee. I would never
have imagined it. A surfeit of rhubarb to give me endless bellyache! I
had ulcers some years ago and rhubarb, which is very acidic, is one of
the things I have to avoid!

But the custard, being made almost entirely of milk, must be alkaline,
surely they cancel each other out PH-wise?

Is milk alkaline?

If it goes off, the sourness is lactic acid.

I'd have expected fresh milk to be more or less neutral. Googling gives:


A study of the pH of individual milk samples

Authors: TSIOULPAS, A; LEWIS, M J; GRANDISON, A S

Source: International Journal of Dairy Technology, Volume 60, Number 2,
May 2007 , pp. 96-97(2)

Abstract:
The pH of 285 milk samples was measured from early, middle and late stages
of lactation. In total, 35 individual cows were used in this study.

It was found that the average pH value for all individual samples analysed
was 6.63 ± 0.08. There was no significant difference (P 0.05) in mean pH
between early, middle and late lactation. The overall data and that for
early lactation displayed normal distributions.

Well I'll be damned. I've always thought of milk as alkaline, I don't know
why. I sit corrected.

Steve

On 9/1/08 20:25, in article ,
"Eddy" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
All I'm going to say to that very useful list is that if you get
Convallaria to grow it's quite possible that I shall never speak to you
again. I have failed with it in every garden I've ever had, wherever
situated. I'm now so paranoid about this that I have asked a member of our
staff to plant it for me and I haven't even touched it!

Well, Sacha, if we DO get some and it grows, I'll HAVE to let you know
how we managed it! :-)

Eddy.

Yes please. And you might like to try the pink variety, too. Very pretty
little thing.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On 9/1/08 22:54, in article ,
"Sacha" wrote:

On 9/1/08 20:25, in article ,
"Eddy" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
All I'm going to say to that very useful list is that if you get
Convallaria to grow it's quite possible that I shall never speak to you
again. I have failed with it in every garden I've ever had, wherever
situated. I'm now so paranoid about this that I have asked a member of our
staff to plant it for me and I haven't even touched it!

Well, Sacha, if we DO get some and it grows, I'll HAVE to let you know
how we managed it! :-)

Eddy.

Yes please. And you might like to try the pink variety, too. Very pretty
little thing.

Oh! Have just realised this means you won't want to speak to me again.
Damn. Now I'll never learn the secret.......
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

In message , shazzbat
writes

"K" wrote in message
...
shazzbat writes

"Eddy" wrote in message
...
Thanks, Fuschia & Shazzbat. Rhubarb! Hee, hee, hee. I would never
have imagined it. A surfeit of rhubarb to give me endless bellyache! I
had ulcers some years ago and rhubarb, which is very acidic, is one of
the things I have to avoid!

But the custard, being made almost entirely of milk, must be alkaline,
surely they cancel each other out PH-wise?

Is milk alkaline?

If it goes off, the sourness is lactic acid.

I'd have expected fresh milk to be more or less neutral. Googling gives:


A study of the pH of individual milk samples

Authors: TSIOULPAS, A; LEWIS, M J; GRANDISON, A S

Source: International Journal of Dairy Technology, Volume 60, Number 2,
May 2007 , pp. 96-97(2)

Abstract:
The pH of 285 milk samples was measured from early, middle and late stages
of lactation. In total, 35 individual cows were used in this study.

It was found that the average pH value for all individual samples analysed
was 6.63 ± 0.08. There was no significant difference (P 0.05) in mean pH
between early, middle and late lactation. The overall data and that for
early lactation displayed normal distributions.

Well I'll be damned. I've always thought of milk as alkaline, I don't know
why. I sit corrected.

Common wisdom is that milk is rich in Calcium. Calcium is an alkaline
earth metal. The impression that milk is alkaline probably derives from
this (and milk being less acidic than many other foods).

--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

shazzbat wrote:
It was found that the average pH value for all individual samples analysed
was 6.63 ± 0.08. There was no significant difference (P 0.05) in mean pH
between early, middle and late lactation. The overall data and that for
early lactation displayed normal distributions.

Well I'll be damned. I've always thought of milk as alkaline, I don't know
why. I sit corrected.

Me too. I think the reason why we've always thought that milk is the
opposite of acid is because it has a good "mopping up" effect. I can't
remember the verb! But it "jellifies" and in this process absorbs and
contains stronger acids that may be causing discomfort to the stomach
lining. Been suffering with acid tummy all my life!

Eddy.