Perry Tart

I have a bit of an off the wall question. If I use wood ash as the primary brown layer in a compost, am I making effectively weed-killer compost? I have a lot of wood ash and I've recently learned that you can use ash as an effective weed killer against more difficult to kill invasive species. I'm thinking mixing it in with old gardening soil and scraps would result in a compost I could just smother some blackberry vines with (the low growing kind). Am I right or over thinking it?

Also how long do I wait after applying wood ash as weed killer before I start to neutralize that area in preparation for gardening? I do recognize it would leave behind a lot of salt but I know both that some plants like a higher salt content and that salt can be diluted in soil.

Rez Zircon wrote:

Linda Secker wrote:How do you guys cope with cold and wet?? My feet always feel cold

Get your thyroid checked (full workup, not just TSH test). Borderline or low thyroid is the usual cause of chronically cold hands and feet (especially cold feet at night, or inability to quickly warm up again after being cold).

Or Reynaud's, which is not inherently related to the thyroid.

Hal Hurst wrote:I've been running a reality check while reading this thread, comparing it to my acres of heaven, and I have to say that I will never be able to lose my sole the way some posters have done.  

My place is overrun with Himalayan blackberries, wild roses, and poison oak. So I don't imagine I could ever go shoeless except in strictly controlled areas like my annual garden, where I weed regularly and the paths are strewn with wood chips and straw.  

Now when I get my runner bean hedge going I might shed whatever gets in the way of the sun, but only while in the curated patch for annuals, and for sure a session of blackberry picking has got to include boots and overalls.

I recently got a splinter in my foot from deep mulching my mother's garden with sandals (and by recently I mean July) and that was noooooooooot fun. My fault for wearing sandals though.

What about using simple syrup instead of sugar to make mixing easier?

In my limited experience, doing a yakisugi (the 'nickname' for shousugiban, means "grilled wood") as a finish and then planking the wood isn't going to give you much. Better to plank it first and then do a yakisugi finish.

Rebecca, that may have more to do with the differences between goat and sheep than anything, but I can't be certain of that. It seems like it wouldn't be difficult to make thick, partially felted batts to use as insulation, and then treat the batts with some sort of pest deterrant (borax, possibly more lanolin, possibly other things).

Edit: I am reading some posts about making natural wool insulation, and stumbled across this one. Which basically details what's already been discussed here, sans using lanolin or felting. In retrospect, felting is a bad idea, lol. If I'd thought about it for more than a minute I would realize that.

There is absolutely no way I could go barefoot outside for longer than a few feet of smooth concrete. I am allergic to grass and also have VERY sensitive feet - so sensitive that I had to have a doctor remove a shard of glass from my foot, and needed two lidocaine shots before she could actually remove it.

I do prefer less firm soles, however. Since I broke my foot a couple years ago (well, my foot AND a toe), firm soles make walking even short distances painful as it puts pressure on the places where I broke my foot.

(If this is the wrong section to post this question in, I apologize. I couldn't figure out where to ask this question.)

For people who dry their own herbs in by tying them up and hanging them: Why tie them up in a bunch? Why not string them up in smaller bundles like one might with drying yarn?

This is an old thread, obviously, but it appears to have been recently bumped. Anyway, the only thing that I wanted to point out directly is that any time you're working with things that have dusty particles, make sure you wear protective eye gear and a mask. Once the lime is mixed into a paste it's fine, generally, but the particles can be pretty irritating to the eye and any dusty particle getting into the lungs will cause damage. It's not fun.