judith anne

The old mattress question is a very big issue here in Puerto Rico. Because of the hurricane many folks had to throw out their mattresses due to major water damage. There were great piles of them along the roadside. Later they were picked up and carted to dumping sites and there they sit. They will never dry out so trying to burn them would be a disaster. The old metal springs do come in handy. I used some to make a small goat pen, and thought it looked cool.

How about pine needles? I used to love camping in pine forests because we could make a pile of pine needles and put the tent on top of that. It also kept us off the damp ground. The sample lasted all summer. Also filled a large burlap sack to make a dog bed. We would refill at the beginning of each summer and the dog was comfy all year.

Hi.....I have been gardening in tropical Puerto Rico for over thirty years now. Every year we have rainy season with huge amounts of rain.The saving grace is that we also get mornings of bright sun to help dry things out. Many years ago, I read an article in Mother Earth News about folks wanting to get rid of tree stumps. It was recomended that you chop a small basin in the top of the stump, put in a handful of dirt, and plant a pumpkin. Apparently something from the pumpkin plant helps rot the stump rather quickly, and the rotting stump provides nutrition. Well, I did not have a lot of stumps, but I did have logs so I laid them close together, stuffed branches and leaves in the spaces between and a bit of dirt on top. Worked perfectly and so next season I used this method for various other plants. They did not need to be watered in dry season, and were kept out of the water during the wet. I would also like to add that the trunks of banana plants work very well for this especially in the dry, as they contain an enormous amount of water. This was also very good on my steep hillside where most plants grew in terraces. You just stake in the logs [using pieces of their branches for stakes] an in another two years add more logs to the edge and your terrace gradually gets bigget and the soil better. And.....we used composted humanureNow I am gardening on flat land and the bottom of the garden is low so we are using the logs from the radically pruned avocado. You can also stand the shorter logs on end for instant" stumps".....a great place to plant orchids!