Hello all, (newbie gardener here) Wanted to say THANK YOU for this thread. Although some of it went right over my head, what I did get from this discussion was perhaps a reason why my plants may not be happy in containers. Since we had an organic garden as kids, I started my gardening career trying to use mostly those methods. In past years, I've planted in a mix of about 50/50 soilless+compost. For plants that I thought would like a lighter mix, I threw in a little perlite or vermiculite (whichever I had on hand). This has been for my tiny collection of house and patio plants. Though I have tried patio containers of tomatoes and peppers planted in compost+peat+perlite. I fed with Terra Cycle liquid worm "juice". Indoors, the result has been that all goes well for about half the year. But late in the season, the soil looks dead and is very compacted. In my houseplants, I refresh it each Spring. But needless to say, the plants don't look at all happy through Winter. I'd like to improve that!!! We just moved from zone 8 to zone 6A. This year I want to try EB's on my deck. But which veggies should this beginner try? Was thinking of some small, determinate tomatoes, sweet peppers, and mulling over pole beans and maybe squash or cukes. I'm also anxious to try growing fingerling potatoes in a container of straw+compost mix b/c I hear it's easy. So what soil mix would you suggest for the houseplants. And what soil mix for the outdoor EB's? I have spent days reading here and at the EB forums and was wondering if I should use the moisture retaining crystals. I'm guessing the answer is NO from what was said above. I was frankly nervous about using chemical fertilizers. I still don't understand why slow-release fertilizer is not a good idea for the EBs. Some gardeners posted that feeding with weak compost tea, worm "juice" or fish emulsion was fine in the EBs. But most say stick with the strip of fertilizer on top. In a soilless mix, can someone suggest a brand of fertilizer to use or an NPK ratio that might work well on this year's veggie crop for this newbie? Thanks in advance for your time.

"It looks like you switched to the Dyna grow 9-3-6 last year. Do you still use CRF in your soil mix if you are still using this fert?" Actually, I rarely use the CRFs at all. I like the near complete control the soluble fertilizers give me in containers. I'm pretty diligent about fertilizer applications, so I really don't need the CRFs to cover the 'in case I forget' base, or for any minor elements they might supply. I included them in the soil recipes to make it easier for others. As long as you're faithful to your nutrient supplementation program, you can easily do w.o them. If you think you'll be lax at times, I'd include them. 109 ppm alkalinity is nothing to be overly concerned about with fast container soils. It would be interesting to learn how the Ca and Mg levels are though. Alkalinity is related to pH because alkalinity (practically speaking and for our applications) determines your water's resistance to pH changes. If you have water 'A' at a pH of 9.0 with an alkalinity of 75 mg/L CaCO3, and water 'B', with a pH of 8.0 (a full point lower to begin with) and alkalinity of 300 mg/L CaCO3, it will take about 4 times as much 35% H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) to bring the water with the lower pH down to That aside - your water is better than mine, so I really doubt you'll have Fe/Mn issues if you're using either the 9-3-6 or MG. I will say though, that bark/peat soils have a potentially high Fe:Mn ratio, so applying Fe w/o Mn could easily create a deficiency of Mn. If I were in your shoes, I would do nothing until I actually saw evidence of an Fe deficiency. Then, I would acidify. Oh - the other likely cause of an Fe deficiency is too much P, which combines with the Fe to form an insoluble precipitate, so avoid the high P fertilizers - they are useless unless you are using them to supply the exact amount of P needed while intentionally (severely) limiting N. I used this strategy last year: I fertilized with regular dosages of 9-3-6 until the plants were well established. I then cut way back on the dosage and added ProTeKt to the solution. I rather like to envision that I used the added K (and got the benefit of the added silicon) to change the fertilizer ratio to 3:1:3 from a 3:1:2. This allowed me to reduce the dosage of N (reducing vegetative growth) while still having adequate P and K. Take care. Al

Greetings All, I am very pleased to see more women exploring natural options for various aspects of daily living. But I do have a curiosity about those who claim to be "environmentalist" but seem unsure about how to collect their menstrual fluid. Any female who is an environmentalist would have no doubt considered using a non-disposable product for handling her menstrual flow--I would hope. Since some posters have touched on it, but haven't gone into great detail about collection/reusable menstrual products I will provide more information. Menstrual Cups: Not limited just the Diva or the Keeper/Knock off MoonCup are a great option for both improving your foot print on the environment and allowing you to neatly collect your menstrual flow. Insteads fall into this category but because they are worn very high in the vagina, next to the cervix like a diaphragm I would not recommend it for those that want to stay neat or collect blood. I would imagine it difficult to remove the Instead without spilling the flow but you would have to check out a forum of actual Instead users to find out if I am right. I personally use a Mooncup UK. If you are looking to switch to a menstrual cup you should explore all your options and brands that are made world wide and get one that you think will be better suited to your body. If you look at the bottom of my article on The Culture of Menstruation http://theanthroblogogist.50webs.com/body/the_culture_of_menstruation.html you will see links to every known menstrual cup made. If you need more information you can indefinitely feel free to contact me through my website. I've also heard about people using the rinse water from their cloth pads. Thats great as long as all natural detergents are used to launder your pads. Try etsy or ebay to find very cute cloth pads, or find a pattern and make some yourself. With sea sponges I am not really sure how much of an environmentalist one could be, since these were actually living creatures at once. I can't assume but can only imagine how far down hill things might go in the harvesting/farming of sea sponges just to be used as your personal tampon. I wouldn't recommend it as they are not a readily renewable source & something like a menstrual cup has more positives on this option. I do not recommend using disposable products to harvest your menstrual fluid from as they are laden with chemicals which is why most truly heath and environmentally conscious people have looked for better options. I am sure that if these are just house plants and nothing edible it might be fine, but for your health benefit switching to one of the healthier options discussed would be an excellent choice for yourself and the environment. To all of those people here who are "grossed out" by this I can only lend a sad laugh that you think of your body that way. It is silly to think that far "grosser" things aren't being put into every product you could possibly buy in a store. I do think that there are valid points about pathogens and disease, etc. But I would expect a person to know their body, know if they are taking BC to be careful or avoid fertilizing edibles. And use common curtesy and not fertilize a public (especially edible) garden without the consent of those who share it. Other than that, there is little if anything gross or dangerous about using your own bio-goods to contribute to the natural life cycle of the earth. To answer someone's question about being married. Yes I am married & my husband knows about all of this. He was weirded out by me bringing up the watering of plants with the blood from my cup (I haven't done it yet) But he is pretty open minded and would never try to stop me from doing so. Also I am sure he would eat plants I have grown that way (We use natural methods of BC, so no extra hormones). Why do people think its accptable to eat plants grown from animal feces or even animal blood as fertilizer, but somehow our own is just disgusting suddenly? Goodluck & health to everyone, please visit my page if you would like more info, or to discuss any of these topics further. Sincerely, The Anthroblogogist http://TheAnthroblogogist.50webs.com Here is a link that might be useful: Visit The Anthroblogogist Website

"I moved into a new-to-me house last spring that has a small pond in the backyard - about 6'x3'x3'. It doesn't have any fish or plants growing in it, so pretty much all I did last year was clean out the leaves and pull out some of the rocks that had fallen in that were supposed to be around the edge. Tadpoles took over in May, so I left them alone, hoping that frogs would help with summer mosquitoes. If they did, I shudder to think what it would have been like without them around. (I also used dunks on a regular basis throughout the summer.) The water stayed remarkably clear overall." Hello Rosten18, If you had no plants and clear water last year then consider yourself lucky. Also, I wonder if you had frogs or toads. I'm in KS too and the Eastern American Toad is the primary visitor to my pond. My first year I had lots of mosquito larvae in the pond and used the dunks to take care of them. But last year I bought about 2 dozen Gambuzzia (sp), the mosquito fish, from the local tropical fish store and had absolutely no mosquito problem. "Now that spring is coming around again, I'm wondering what I should do with it. I'm afraid I simply don't have the time to deal with fish, and any plants would have to be really low maintenance. At one point it had a filter - it's still sitting out there - but the cord has been cut, and I have no idea where the rest of the cord is, or whether there is still power running to it. It's far enough from the house that I don't really want to try to run another line, so I was thinking about trying something solar powered." If you were to try mosquito fish you wouldn't have to do anything, at least not very much. They feed on the larvae that accumulates on the edges. My experience is that they have a hard time overwintering here in KS so you might have to spend a few bucks but they're not expensive (about the same as buying guppies). I'm not sure of the filter you speak. Is it a filter in a skimmer, or, is it a power filter in-line between a pump and a discharge? Perhaps it is part of a biological filter in a filter box? And what cable has been cut, the buried electrical cable or the cord to the plug of a pump? Sorry for so many questions. I would want water moving to help enjoy the pond so I would repair the setup. "I'd appreciate any advice, but in particular I'm wondering whether I need a filter if I don't have anything living in the pond. I would also like to know whether anyone has experience with solar powered pumps, and whether there are any brands in particular to look for. The main reason I would do a pump is to keep the water circulating, which I'm assuming would eliminate the need for mosquito dunks. Is that a safe assumption? " Do you need a filter? I would think you don't need much of a filter for a 6 x6 x 3 pond with out too much load but you will have sediment to handle. How do you want to keep your pond clean, by hand? It's your call. I don't have any experience with a solar pump. Sorry. I like mag drive pumps because they are oil-less and have great dependability and don't use as much electricity as regular pumps. A simple pump will do for you and your situation. You won't have to spend more than $100. You won't get a break from discouraging mosquitos, at least not too much of one, if you add a pump and circulate water. There are always areas or pockets that can support their existence. It is best to do the dunks or the fish. "Also, I've cleaned out most of the leaves again, but is there any reason why I shouldn't empty the pond entirely and refill it with clean water? I'm assuming the tadpoles will be back, so I should probably take care of most of this within the next month." Water chemistry, I guess. I would try to leave water that doesn't include chlorine or chloramines in it. If your water supported tadpoles last year then you probably have sufficient water this year. If you go and empty the pond you should expect an algae bloom and perhaps a reduction in aquatic life, unless you use a de-chlorinating water conditioner. Most city water in KS uses chloramines (make sure your water de-chlor. is able to handle this because some dry formulas cannot). I'm really not that lazy, but it's just me, and between working full time and going to grad school, there's only so much I can do! I'd like this to be fairly maintenance free, so I can devote any spare time I have to a garden. Thanks in advance for your help! It sounds to me that you can go either way. Not do a whole lot besides hand cleaning, or. you can invest and make a beautiful ornamental pond out of it and have aquatic plants. I just can't imagine a pond without plants! One or two hardy water lilies and some anacharis (sp), a few floating water hyacinths. And you have an easy and beautiful pond. Good luck!