"Do the best you can in the place where you are, and be kind." - Scott Nearing
Argue for your limitations and they are yours forever.
--------------------
Be Content. And work for more time, not money. Money is inconsequential.
"Do the best you can in the place where you are, and be kind." - Scott Nearing
"We will never be truly healthy, satisfied, or fulfilled if we live apart and alienated from the environment from which we evolved." -Stephen Kellert
Mike Barkley wrote:I've been using scoops of soil from the best part of the garden mixed with soil scraped from under piles of leaves. Quick & easy & it seems to be working well.
Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner
A piece of land is worth as much as the person farming it.
-Le Livre du Colon, 1902
Justin Gerardot wrote:Here in Michigan nurseries have been deemed nonessential, yet liquor stores and marijuana shops are still open. I would like it if steps were being made to encourage gardening. I guess they want people to continue to strain the grocery stores and supply chains. I guess you can see what brings in the most taxes.
Anyways, the info in this thread will be helpful for potential gardeners.
I think I will start extra veggies and try to give them away.
Sorry if I got too political for you.
Beth Wilder wrote:
Brandon, do you use an oven to bake soil? Without an oven (don't have one yet), could it be done either just exposed to the sun over the course of a few days -- potentially under a pane of glass -- or alternatively over an outside fire in a big dutch oven or covered oval roasting pan, you think? It seems like the kiln might be overkill for that. ;)
Thanks again!
Brandon McCarthy wrote:That's a tough one. If you don't have an oven, you likely don't have a microwave either. And the pane of glass likely won't work if it's still chilly outside.
You could try chemical sanitation (like alcohol and letting it evaporate), H2O2 would probably be too weak. Or, maybe boiling? Anything to get the temp as high as you can without changing the chemistry - which I imagine the kiln would do. Your roasting pan idea seems like it would work.
"Do the best you can in the place where you are, and be kind." - Scott Nearing
Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Justin Gerardot wrote:Here in Michigan nurseries have been deemed nonessential, yet liquor stores and marijuana shops are still open. I would like it if steps were being made to encourage gardening. I guess they want people to continue to strain the grocery stores and supply chains. I guess you can see what brings in the most taxes.
Anyways, the info in this thread will be helpful for potential gardeners.
I think I will start extra veggies and try to give them away.
Sorry if I got too political for you.
Anne Miller wrote:How important is it to sanitize the soil? I plant seeds directly into the soil outdoors so how is it different if I am planting inside?
Another option to sanitize the soil might be just using a light. Kind of like the kids easy bake oven that will actually bake things? Use a light over the soil in a confined space so it will heat up.
Assistant Fruit Picker at Floodplain Fruits
I think some people worry about damping off. My concern is that if you use sterile potting mix, there are no good microbes forcing people to use artificial fertilizers instead of compost or compost tea to feed their plants. Since molds are an issue in my ecosystem, I compromise. I use 3" deep pots (at least) and put mostly compost mixed with soil and a bit of perlite, a bit of ash from the woodstove, some vermiculite, and a bit of coir if it needs it to also help hold moisture. I put that mix in the bottom 3/4 of the pots and only use a thin layer of the sterile mix on top. Beth doesn't have the perlite or vermiculite, but using fresh char will steal the nutrients from the seedlings. If she can make char, I would suggest she mix it with water and the best compost she can and stir it for 3 days or so in a warm place and I've heard adding some molasses to help feed the microbes can help them multiply quickly. Then I'd scoop the char out and mix it with compost and soil and give it a try. She's suggested she's going to try sterilizing some soil, so I would also suggest she put mostly unsterilized soil in the pots first, and only use the sterilized soil for the top bit. So much also depends on the type of soil (I have to thin our heavy clay with something), how bad you think the weed seeds are in the soil, and how long the seeds you're planting will take to germinate. Some bottom heat can go a long way to helping seeds germinate at the short end of their window, but if you don't have a RMH bench to use (it's in my dreams!) I've resorted to an insulated container with hot water under seed trays (but I use small seed trays.)That's what I was wondering too. I just trick the weed seeds in my potting soil into germinating too early by watering the soil and keeping it in a warm and dark location for a week or two. While there might be bad microbes in the soil, sterilizing it would also kill the good ones.
Visit Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
How permies.com works: https://permies.com/wiki/34193/permies-works-links-threads
Anne Miller wrote:How important is it to sanitize the soil? I plant seeds directly into the soil outdoors so how is it different if I am planting inside?
Another option to sanitize the soil might be just using a light. Kind of like the kids easy bake oven that will actually bake things? Use a light over the soil in a confined space so it will heat up.
The City calls upon her steadfast protectors. Now for a tiny ad:
2022 SKIP: Skills to Inherit Property (PEP1) event --July 11-22nd, Wheaton Labs
https://permies.com/w/skip-2022
|