The park wasn't too far from Troy Missouri, where some of my relatives lived at the time. It was the first time in my life I'd ever seen buzzards (I thought they were pretty cool). Actually it was the first time I'd seen a lot of things - like pickled pigs feat and greased pig contests, and folks used terms like "sodi" instead of "pop." It was also the first time I'd ever ridden a horse, saw fireflies or walked through a corn field. And I got to help my grandfather shell black eyed peas. It was a taste of the country I took back with me to the city, sans the pigs feat. Thankfully, city life is now a thing of the past.

We've got our fair share of ticks up here too....nasty things. What constructive purpose can they possibly serve? Kinda like fleas only worse. Thankfully, it gets so freakin' cold here in the winter blood sucking fleas don't seem to thrive. We've got these weird insects called "snow fleas" that thrive in the snow. Thankfully, they don't seem to be intent on sucking my blood. Still working on my tick immunity, though.

Yeah, you're certainly right about shelter critters and adoption policies. The fact is indoor cats live longer - generally speaking. We've got two cats which we allow outside during the day, but we get them in well before nightfall so they don't fall prey to coyotes, dog packs and the like. If I lived in an urban area I wouldn't even let them out during the day. Too many cat haters and unknowns out there. Skunks and rabies ......oh dear. Guess I better be more careful, 'cause I get awfully close to the little guys on occasion. Do they spread it mostly to dogs? They've acted pretty tame toward me so far. Some people take them in as pets after they get them "de-skunked." Me, I prefer the traditional cat or dog as pet.

Seems I did hear something about shelter animals being shipped up from Mexico - as if we don't have enough unwanted animals here. We're busting at the seams, for crying out loud! Funny, this seems to parallel our misguided immigration policy as well. We invite hungry mouths from without when we can't (or won't) even take care of those from within. It would be funny (in a tragic-comic sort of way) if it weren't so true.

 

 

 

Reply

What kind of grow light are you using? There are many different kinds, sounds to me like your using Floro's, if they were the 40 watt stick type. They do not generate enough heat to burn your seedlings. You can practically put it right on top of them, When I was useing them. I'd put them about 1" above the seedlings, with a fan, to help strengthen the stems. I now use 200 watt Compact floro's with a fan, and they need to be about 6" above the seedlings, to prevent burning.



This problem is called freeze off, they can't break out, and the new seedling dies. The only way I know to fix this problem is to remove the seed shell, if the plant looks like it's gonna freeze off. You have to be very careful removing the seed cap when doing this. I use two toothpicks to accomplish this, and yes I've killed many Pepper and Tomato plants, learning how to do this right.

I add this part only to serve as another Idea, in the gardening arena.
Have you ever tried to grow Hydroponicly?
I grow Tomatoes and Peppers most of the year with HID lighting, and what I've done in the past is to, Take cuttings from the Tomato or Pepper plant and clone them, Put them outside, and when it is time to bring them in take more cuttings, and keep right on growing the same plant. I've kept 1 tomato plant for 2 years, just taking cuttings.
Tomato's believe it or not clone rather easily, Peppers are a little more difficult to clone, but it can be done.
I'm not gonna lie to ya here. Indoor Gardening is an expensive hobby to get started in. The hydroponic chambers are rather cheap, or you can build one. The lights are the expensive part, a used 400 watt High Pressure Sodium Light is about $350 US, and about 25 bucks a month to run. Well worth it when you can eat fresh homegrown tasty Tomatoes and Peppers, when its blowing snow outside!!!!

 

 

 

Reply

Hummmm.....that's interesting. I didn't know they had hydroponic set ups for inside homes. That would be cool! We have wanted a greenhouse for years, just never have the time or money to set one up. We have a great south facing hill that an earth sheltered greenhouse would be perfect on.

How are the hyrdo tomatoes on taste? I absolutly refuse to eat tomatoes in the winter, they taste greatly simular to cardboard and are not in the least appealing to me. But vine ripened, home grown, oh my, heaven on earth! I noticed tonight that our one and only tomato plant in the frount yard has 2 tomatoes just starting to get a bit of orange tint, thank goodness 2 will come ripe about the same time so I don't have to arm wrestle the old man for the first one!

I did try to remove the cap on a couple of the pepper plants, but they were stuck tight and I just broke the tops off and killed 'em anyway. Pretty bummed out over that one. Oh well, maybe next year.

At least my driveway flower bed is looking good. Although I may of planted it too thick. First time I have ever seen flowers so thick they choke out the weeds! It is mostly Zinna's and cosmo's. Hey, what's a good organic spray for the mold (I think it's mold) that turns zinna leaves black? I haven't had it too bad in previous years, usually doesn't effect them until real late season, but this year they are so thick I may have some problems and would like to head them off if possible.

LOL, you caught the immigration thing too I see. Isn't that just nuts!? And even funnier one (well, really not funny if it passes) is the new proposed mandatory spay/neuter law for ALL pets over age 4 months now proposed in California! Good Grief, they can't even control illegal aliens, how are they going to police pets?????

It is funny to talk to people from different area's even in this country. I always assumed that buzzards and fireflys were everywhere. The pigs feet thing though....being from the country and seeing where pigs feet spend their lives makes me think there are much better things out there to eat, even Moutain oysters aren't wallowed in the muck 24/7

I agree, I have never been able to think of one single reason to have ticks on this earth. Flys are up there close to as useless, mosquito's do at least furnish baby fishes some food, but ticks? They are completely without any reason for existance.

Yes, please do be careful around skunks. If you see one acting strangly, stay away! I've been told that when a skunk is acting friendly or unafraid, it is most likely rabid.

Reply

Heck yeah I caught it! Excellent analogy, by the way. Our country has literally been sold out from under us, and the public concerns itself with Paris Hilton and the like. Meanwhile, Bush and his corporate puppeteers push for "amnesty" for millions of illegal aliens. Yes, Kookifornia seems to be the testing ground for all things draconian and anti-American, I've noticed. Last place in the country (short of Florida) I'd ever live. I imagine it's just a matter of time before that state bans gardening as well. Monsanto (the seed Nazis) might not want the public propagating any "dangerous," non-hybrid seed that they can't control. They only have our best interest at heart, ya understand.

Interesting. I wonder what causes it, though? In Sheepdog's case, all the seed was affected even though she took all the standard precautions. I've thought about getting into hydroponics to support a more self sufficient lifestyle. In a time or war or disaster, food shipments to grocery stores could cease for days, weeks, or months on end. On the other hand (this is my lazy side talking), I kind of like the respite winter provides from summer's gardening toil. More time for sitting on my butt, reading, writing and drinking Tequila. I'd sure be interesting in hearing more about hydroponics, though. At least no weed pulling is involved!

Reply

Oh, I understand all too well. My friend calls California the Peoples Republic of California, but I just call it the land of Fruits and Nuts. We pass through there just briefly every year and I always hold my breath till we get out, because I'm sure I'm breaking some law that I am totally unaware of.
When you control the food supply, you control the people. Look at the way people are screaming about the oil companys these days. Wait until giant coperate farms are in control of what we eat and then listen to the screaming. And as you say, all we hear from the media is Paris Hilton this, OJ that, like who really cares?

Funny we were just discusing skunks and of all things, last night about the time I decided it was time to hit the sack, I got a whiff of that old familiar smell, I realized our house dog, a miniture schnauzer that thinks she rules the world, was out sitting on the front porch yapping her head off, and I thought, OH NO, she's been had. Luckily she must of just spooked him. She was ok, and the oder soon drifted off, but had me going for a minute. I never see skunks around the house for some reason, maybe too many dogs, I know they are thick in this neck of the woods, I see a lot of them as road kill.

Reply

There are many systems out there you can buy for the home hobby people. If you don't have a Hydroponic store near you, look online. The Hydro Shop in my area, is owned by a master gardener. it helps when you are having problems. You can also find plans on the Internet to build your own home system. they work just as good as the ones you can buy in the store, alot more work involved in the beginning. Gathering the supplies and tools needed, then building the system.
I have 2 store bought ones, and one I built. No difference in production...


I've seen many different size Greenhouse's for sale on the Internet. I have a neighbor down the street, that built his own, with 2X4's and heavy gauge plastic. He takes it down in the winter and puts it back up in the Spring. I've never been in it, to see how its put together, so it can be set up and taken down quickly though.


You can add ingredients to your nute water, to enhance flavor. More than anything else in the beginning you'll need luck. When I started out doing this 5-6 years ago. one crop would be great, nice flavor and texture. next grow do everything the same, and after pulling the first few Tomatoes/Peppers off the plant they were nasty tasting, cut it down and start over again!!!!



I know the feeling, because I've lost count on how many I've killed, trying to figure out when to try this. I will go see the guys at my local Hydro Shop and ask them what can be done, I have to go up there anyways.....

Hydroponics could be its own sub forum.
Growing Hydroponiclly is a near perfect environment for growing plants.You are less likely to be invaded by Pests, have better disease control, no weeds to compete for the nutes!!!

Hydroponics is nothing more than growing with water, and some kind of substrate, to give the plants roots something to attach to, it does help with supporting the plant, but you also, even with a fan, need to support the plant itself. they sell a clip you can attach a string to, then you just need somewhere above to attach the other end. As the plant grows, just wrap it around the string.

Water alone is not enough, there is a whole array of nutrients to choose from.
Nutes are mixed into the water. They range from chemically derived to organically derived, a combination of the two. There is an array of additives to add also, from growth stimulates, flowering stimulates, flavor enhancing compounds. They to are sold as chemically derived and organically derived, or a combination of the two.
Nutes and additives can be either in concentrated liquid form, or concentrated powder form. Most of the nutes I use are in the liquid form. I do use one that is in powder form.

This a gross overview of hydroponics. Hydroponics is nothing more than a big MAD scientist experiment.
One nice aspect of hydroponics is when you do your water change, you can take that water and use it in your outside growing beds. Mainly you have to find what works for you!!!

If you decide to do an Internet Search on hydroponics, be for warned, you will have to wade through all kinds of sites on hydro, lets just say they deal with something of an illegal aspect, of the hobby!!!!

This really does not even began to cover it.
I find it relaxing to go into my grow room and tend to my plants.
Hope this helps, if not I can try to clear something up for ya, but i'm no expert!!

Reply

Interesting......Very Interesting!
Now I've got another project to consider! LOL, just want I needed! If I live to be 103, I probably won't finish all the one's I'm considering now.

I do love the internet though, it makes reasearching things like hydroponics a whole lot easier to do. That sounds like a great thing to dig into this comming winter when my yearning for a real tomato kicks in hard.

Thanks for the incentive!

Reply

Indeed! Why limit the topic of gardening to a mere three months a year? I've googled the subject in the past, and yes - most of the topics do seem to cater to a certain, uhmm...subculture. Guess they figure most people won't bother to go to all the trouble and expense unless the promise of a big, non taxed payoff awaits. They forget about those of us who would highly value a home grown, non-medicinal tasting tomato in the dead of winter.

Yeah, they always propose something that on the surface sounds quite benign. Admittedly, we have a serious problem with pet overpopulation, but this law (if it becomes one) will not stop scum bags from allowing their pets to run loose and indiscriminately breed, or the assorted scum who breed for dog fights, research labs, etc. As usual, the law abiding citizen will be targeted; in this case, the legitimate breeder and responsible pet owner. Kinda reminds me of the lame gun laws they keep imposing on law abiding citizens, while criminals wreak havoc virtually unchecked. Rather than enforce laws/ordinances/statutes already on the books, they keep looking for ways to eliminate what few rights we have left. And you're dead on regarding the food supply. Thankfully, there's a movement to perpetuate heirloom seeds and all things "slow food."

Ahhh, that old familiar smell.. Don't you just wish you could bottle up that wonderful stench and dish it up for "special" occasions? I've got a pair of pants that have taken on a new, and apparently permanent odor after an unfortunate meeting with a skunk. I admit it was my fault, as I had the little guy cornered after he took the bate for what was meant for a feral cat. We've got a stray cat problem here and I've got a serious soft spot for felines. People like to dump their kitties and they form colonies, so I trap them, get them fixed and release them. If they're young enough, they can be adopted out, but the older ones have to be put back in the environment they came from. Anyway, it's not uncommon for skunks to get caught in the trap, and usually they behave quite well when I use soft, dulcet tones on them. But last time I was in a hurry and the little guy let loose a little spray - not even directly on me, but it was enough to stink me up pretty good. He waddled off and I took off for the shower....a very, very long shower. I must have washed those pants a dozen times and the smell lingers to this day. I guess I've been pretty lucky with them so far, other than this one occasion. Yes, we see a lot of skunk road kill here too. Not sure why it's so hard to avoid hitting them. It's not like they just dart out in front of cars like deer. Some idiot hit a moose last winter. The idiot lived, but poor mama moose died. I was kind of hoping it would have turned out the other way around.

Reply

"As usual, the law abiding citizen will be targeted"
Always the way it goes. The majority pays for the stupidity of the minority.

Now I have another question for you. When you trap a feral cat, how on earth do you get it out of the trap, to the vet, etc without getting eaten alive? I didn't think you could sweet talk a wild cat.
Too bad your probably far away, I am once again catless. I haven't seen our old momma cat for ages, she used to come buy every time I ran out and deliver me another litter. Most of the people with give aways just have little kittens, which wouldn't stand a chance around here.

Ya know, you should keep those pants in a plastic bag, and rent them out to people. They would be handy to wear when you had to go someplacy you didn't want to be!

Reply

It's easier to sweet talk a skunk than a tomcat, that's for sure! Thankfully, the trap is small enough to simply pick up and take to the vet. We usually cover it with a blanket to keep the poor little things from stressing anymore than necessary. After being altered the vet will cut a small notch off the ear to identify it as a sterilized feral cat. This is really important. I once made the mistake of bringing in what I thought was an unaltered male to be spayed. This particular vet actually cut into the poor thing to perform the spay surgery before realizing that "she" was actually a he - and he had already been nuetered! Needless to say I felt horrible. At any rate, they've actually coined the phrase, "Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) to describe the whole process.

Poor mama cat - they don't live long out in the wild. Hopefully another kitty will grace you with it's presence soon.

Heck! Why didn't I think of that? I'll have to wear them next time I get invited to some tedious affair. Thankfully, that doesn't happen very often as I've pretty much limited my social interaction to family and unseen entities in cyber-space. Must be that whole misanthropic thing....

Are you going to get into doing an earth sheltered greenhouse? Sounds time intensive but the rewards would be great, I'm sure. I'd love to get into that some day. Actually, what I'd really like is some flat property to do some large scale gardening. Our little garden doesn't produce near what I'd like it to.

Reply