Friday, December 15, 2006
Summer Is Over
It's December now so it's time to be realistic about removing the last of the summer plants. The problem is that I can never quite get this done. Something always needs to stay just a little longer.For example the garden pictured here gets about half of the amount of sun lite that it received during the summer. The eggplant in the front may not be the most beautiful plant, but it is still producing fruit. I have two other eggplants still producing also, so I can get rid of this one. The main reason I want to pull it out is that it is shading 2 Koto cucumbers behind it.
Again summer plants, but I had planted seeds in containers way late just to see if I could get the plants to take off in late fall. The seeds never sprouted and the containers were pushed off to the side. Many weeks later they did sprout. Not being able to discard them I decided to plant them and felt that If I could get just one cucumber off of these transplants I would be happy. They are that good!
If you haven't tried Japanese cucumbers you should. During the summer I had Koto and the regular garden variety Straight 8 and I'm not sure if I will even bother with the Straight 8 next summer. I'll look for more of the Japanese varieties.
This is the first time that I've grown Okra. The variety pictured is Louisiana Green Velvet. The other variety I tried this summer was Clemson Spineless.The Louisiana Green Velvet is 9' tall. I just picked some the other day and there are more on the plant and also new blossoms. It can stay awhile longer as it is not shading my cucumbers.
Each of the Koto plants has one cucumber growing. If I can get both to mature in this cool weather I'll be happy.
Labels: Clemson Spineless Okra, Japanese Cucumber, Koto Cucumber, Louisiana Green Velvet Okra, Straight 8 Cucumber
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Time To Move The Sage
Back in May I had gotten 2 / 4" Sage and 2 / 4" Lemon Thyme plants. They came from Home Depot, so I don't have the vaeriety for the sage. Both of the Lemon Thyme plants lasted about 3 months and then died. Not sure why, both were planted in different plots as were the Sage.Both of the sage plants have done OK even after one of them was covered for a few months by melon vines, Sweet Barcelona Hybrid. After the melons were done and the vines were removed the Sage plant made a nice recovery.
The Sage in the first photo was put in an area that was the first plot in which I removed all of the soil down to a depth of about 2 1/2 feet and then but it back with a mixture of compost and manure. This plot produced nice Cherry Tomatoes, Early Girl Tomatoes and Bell Peppers. The soil here is perfect but now needs to have new compost tilled into it to be ready for new plants, so it's time to move the Sage. I don't want it here anymore because I want to keep digging new compost into this plot each time I put in new plants, so the sage is just in the way.
A few months ago I had taken a volunteer King Palm out of the ground and put it in a large pot. It has now recovered from the transplanting, but why waste the space around the Palm, so I had been thinking of putting some Spinach in there.So with nowhere else to go with it I started to divide the Sage and put 4 of them in with the palm. They should recover and cover nicely, but I still have to find a home for about 10 more plants once I finish dividing it.
Labels: Bell Pepper, Cherry Tomato, Early Girl, King Palm, Lemon Thyme, Sage, Sweet Barcelona Hybrid
Sunday, December 3, 2006
Compost The Turkey Oil?
I found this article on the web and felt there needed to be more input. My comments follow this article.The Nevada Appeal / JoAnne Skelly
A caller asked me if she could compost the used oil after deep-frying a turkey. It was a good question, because what does one do with all that used oil? Before answering the question, let's talk about what compost is.
On compostguide.com., it is defined as "the end product of a complex feeding patter involving hundreds of different organisms including bacteria, fungi, worms, and insects."
Composting requires green vegetative material as a nitrogen source, dried plant matter to supply carbon and some soil, water, air and microorganisms. Mixing all the ingredients in the right proportion produces a rich, crumbly end product called humus.
Composting is a great way to recycle leaves, stems and clippings from the yard. Vegetable refuse from the house, including vegetable peelings, melon rinds, fruit skins and cores, and houseplant trimmings can also be composted. Tea bags and coffee grounds and filters are excellent additions to the compost pile.
Although meat and fish products can be composted, they break down very slowly. They smell bad and can attract a number of pests, including coyotes, dogs, cats, skunks, bears and rodents. Meat and fish bits can contaminate the compost pile with disease organisms. For these reasons, avoid composting all bones, fats, greases and oils, including the oil used to fry the turkey.
There are additional reasons to refrain from composting oil. Many gardeners are aware of horticulture oil sprays used to suffocate overwintering insect eggs and adults. Although cooking oil is not the same formulation as horticulture oils, it would produce the same result in the compost pile, smothering the organisms needed to break down vegetative matter into humus.
Oil would also fill up pore spaces in the developing compost, squeezing out air and moisture. This would create a foul-smelling situation!
Oil for deep-frying can usually be reused. The USDA says to let it cool, strain it, pour it into containers for the refrigerator, cover the containers, and use the oil or dispose of it within one month.
Or if you don't want to reuse it, simply put it in a plastic container that seals and put it in the trash. You may also be able to work with a local restaurant to recycle your oil with theirs. Do not dump oil down the drain, where it can clog the drain and eventually cause problems at sewage treatment plants.
Perhaps one day, all cooking oil will be turned into biodiesel fuels for our cars, freeing us from relying on foreign oil!
JoAnne,
Composting used turkey oil can be done, but it depends on what type of compost pile you are building.
The ones that you are describing in your article are compost piles that people keep throwing organic mater at and by next season they hope to have a usable compost.
Other methods can produce compost in 14 days. I prefer a method that produces compost in 20 to 30 days. Either way, both methods are suitable for oil, fish and meats.
Because of the high temperatures created in these compost piles there is no smell and other pests are not attracted.
The result is a beautiful compost.
http:/www.cityorganicgardener.blogspot.com
Labels: Compost, J0Anne Skelly, Turkey Oil
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
