Straw Bale Gardening Report
Straw bale gardening seems to be enjoying its moment in the sun. I had a chance to acquire 11 bales for a fair price so in Spring 2020, I put them to work in the auxiliary garden area. For the gardener who is limited on space, especially if they don’t have time to build raised beds or amend their existing soil, bales could act as a gap filling measure. Position the bales where there’s adequate sun and good drainage. Place them on the narrow side where the straw is curved around. You should be able to see the cut ends facing upwards. The general idea is that the gardener introduces a fertilizer into the bales (I used blood meal supplemented with old chicken bedding) which begins the decomposition process. As the bales begin to break down, introduce your started plants or if the timing is appropriate, start from…
When Water Finds a Way
Water finds a way. Especially in an urban environment with excessive runoff from paved areas and poor grading, water finds a way into the least preferred places, like in a crawlspace. Not long after we purchased our urban lot, we experienced heavy, enduring rain. Something to the tune of 4 inches in 24 hours and somewhere on an old phone of mine, there’s a photo of water in my backyard deep enough to launch a canoe in. That wasn’t a good day. It turned out that our yard sat in a bowl, with the water from several households coming our way. Looking back, I wish I’d noticed that sooner. Over time, by mulching and building up the soil, we had improvement but it still wasn’t a solution. Eventually I just decided to dig a pond. So for about ½ of the winter here and well…
The Progress Problem
Over the last four years, I have observed that many of my friends, family and associates have become increasingly distressed and disheartened with the path that our world is following. It’s been going on much longer but I began paying more attention circa 2016. I should add that this problem is beyond the American scope, though all of my experience is as an American. The problem is progress and the fact that’s becoming increasingly clear to many people that it just isn’t happening anymore. Or if it is, it’s only happening for certain people in certain classes. Let’s break down the concept for a moment. Belief in progress, from a western perspective, might as well be considered a religion. Through the lens of our leaders and mass media, we should believe, above all else, that things should always be getting better. Any other path is unfathomable. For a few years,…
The Basics of Quail Keeping
Keeping quail is an ideal method for urban meat raising but it’s not without its learning curve. Here’s how my experience went: I sourced fertilized eggs from a small supplier via a Cotournix quail Facebook group. They were shipped quickly and safely and I’ll order from them again when I’m ready to do the next hatch. Expect to pay around $30 for 3 dozen eggs. Prices will vary though, especially for breeders who specialize in rare or unusual breeds. Most importantly: have all of your infrastructure ready to go. Before I even bought eggs, I had an incubator, brooder box and cage with all accessories and food on hand. As well, buy a decent incubator. I built a DIY system and even though I was home quite a bit to check on temps and rotate eggs, I found it very difficult to keep an even temperature (around 99…